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Status
Received: 2 days late
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Income
£368.0K
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Spending
£356.1K
- Charity no. 103690
- Date registered. 07/07/2015
Public benefits
1 The advancement of Irish-medium early years’ care and education in Northern Ireland through ensuring access to the latter, and promoting and representing the early years’ sector to relevant agencies and authorities. Beneficiaries are children who attend Irish-Medium (IM) early years settings, which prepares them for successful transition to IM
primary schools, benefitting the child, the school and ultimately the wider Irish language community. Staff, professionals and committees gain hands-on training in support of their respective roles. Parents and carers access a range of language resources which support positive play and learning. Relevant authorities and support agencies are better informed of the benefits, needs and challenges of the sector and the value of bilingual education. 2 To promote and deliver quality IM early years’ care and education services to meet community need and demand. Benefits are demonstrated through the year-on-year increase in demand for IM Early Years Education which now includes over 65 settings across the North. Children benefit from a quality early years’ experience and the recognised benefits of bilingualism. Government policies and statements (Belfast Agreement, Programme for Cohesion, Sharing and Integration, NI Programme for Government, 2011-2015) have identified the Irish language as a shared expression of our cultural wealth and therefore of public benefit. Increased numbers of speakers make a contribution to our intangible heritage. 3 To involve families, parents and carers in the early learning experiences. Benefits are demonstrated through the increased uptake of places at IM early years’ settings; the number of parents and families opting to receive advice and support and learning opportunities; the enhanced confidence and self-esteem of children and parents; the increasing engagement of participants in government family support initiatives. 4 To provide related training and support to the IM early years’ sector. Benefits are demonstrated through uptake and delivery of services in a given year (2014): over 300 Early Years Specialists’ on-site support visits; attendance of over 300 at cluster/in-service training and curriculum and child protection courses; positive outcomes from the Education and Training Inspectorate inspections. Young children and families benefit from appropriately trained staff who, in turn, are more confident and competent as a result of additional training and support. Children benefit from parents who are more engaged and involved in their early education. Committees benefit from training in support of their roles. 5 The development of Irish-medium early years’ care and educational services as the foundation for IM education. Irish-medium education is the most effective way of producing fluent, confident Irish speakers who will contribute to the Irish language community, helping to maintain and preserve an important part of our shared cultural heritage. The direct benefits which flow from this purpose are children who become fluent second language speakers; schools which benefit from the quality foundation experience of children and the early engagement of parents in their children’s education. Benefits to the wider community include enhanced awareness of the value of education and increased knowledge of a variety of aspects of our intangible culture such as language, literature, art, folklore etc. These benefits are demonstrated through the growing numbers of children attending all phases of Irish-medium schooling; the increased involvement of parents and carers; the increased numbers of workers in the early years sector who opt for further training in language pedagogy and immersion language methodology. Private benefit may arise from time to time when Altram secures the services of workshop facilitators, speakers or educationalists. These benefits are incidental and are a necessary result or by-product of our purposes. No identifiable public harm arises.
What your organisation does
Altram promotes high quality Irish-medium early years childcare and education, and supports family involvement as a keystone in the development of an Irish language community. Altram is a Regional Advocacy and Support Group for Irish Language Early Years settings in Northern Ireland. It seeks to advance Irish language early years care and education
by promoting good practice, maintaining and improving standards, by providing a wide range of specialist support and training services to practitioners, committees and families. Altram plays a key role in the enhancement and development of Irish-medium education which has grown steadily from a single school with a small number of children in the 1970s to attendance of over 5,000 children across all phases of Irish-medium education today. Altram provides on-site front-line support and advice to practitioners and committees in relation to regulatory and statutory obligations; curriculum planning and delivery; language immersion methodology; and the development of self-reflective improvement and action planning. Altram develops and disseminates specific resources to support practitioners and committees. It also develops and delivers accredited training and qualifications. Altram advises on the transition from preschool to primary school to ensure continuity and progression for the child. It engages with parents to support them in positive quality interaction with their children, particularly in relation to the development of second language competence. It develops and disseminates specific Irish language support material to widen the use of Irish in the family home and within the community. It represents the Early Years’ Irish Immersion sector to government bodies, statutory agencies, educational, policy development and programme delivery organisations, and lobby groups. It also regularly contributes, on behalf of Early Years’ Irish Immersion sector, to statutory consultation exercises on issues of relevance to the sector.
The charity’s classifications
- The advancement of education
- The advancement of the arts, culture, heritage or science
Who the charity helps
- Adult training
- Carers
- Children (5-13 year olds)
- Ethnic minorities
- Language community
- Parents
- Preschool (0-5 year olds)
- Sensory disabilities
- Voluntary and community sector
How the charity works
- Advice/advocacy/information
- Community development
- Cross-border/cross-community
- Cultural
- Education/training
- Heritage/historical
- Playgroup/after schools
- Research/evaluation