General information
Users photos
Uploaded 0 photo
General information
We are a family-run childcare service, with two centres in Churchtown and Rathfarnham. We offer both full-time and part-time care for your child, and we are guided by a child-led ethos that informs all we do with the children in our care. We would love to hear from you, if you have any questions about us or would like to drop by for a viewing!
Our Care
We offer both full-time and part-time care for children aged 1 to 5 years. We are very much strength-focused, looking at what your child can do and what they enjoy doing, helping them to grow and learn in a positive and nurturing environment.
Our curriculum is devised around Aistear, the National Curriculum Framework, which gives us the tools to ensure that every aspect of your child's development is being looked after. From toddlers learning to walk, to our Montessori children getting ready for school, we tailor what they learn so that it is age-appropriate, fun and engaging. We use observations to get to know what each child enjoys doing or playing with, and then integrate this knowledge into our weekly curriculum plans.
We take care to offer our children wholesome, nutritionally balanced meals that are sourced locally. All of our meals are cooked and prepared on-site at each centre, every day. Our meat is from a local butcher in Rathfarnham, and our fruit and vegetables are delivered from the market every week. Our 3-week menus are available and displayed at each centre.
About Us
Catherine Giblin comes from a secondary teaching background, and is a qualified Montessori teacher. She first opened doors in 1997 in Churchtown, with a Montessori group. Offering child-led care, we expanded to caring for 40 children, with a wonderful and caring team, who are all qualified and Garda vetted.
In 2000, Catherine decided to open another centre in her own area, Rathfarnham, which has been going from strength to strength ever since. In 2008, Catherine's daughter Anna joined the team; she has a background in Psychology, and is also a qualified Montessori teacher. She taught the Montessori class in Rathfarnham for four years and is now managing the Churchtown centre, while Catherine manages the Rathfarnham centre.
What is unique about our service is the small group sizes in each centre; this means we have the time and capacity to really get to know your child. We offer children the best level of care, education at their own pace, and opportunity to play and discover. We can also maintain a homely setting where everybody knows each other's names, children make friends for life and are given the space to develop into happy, confident and independent people.