We would like to thank all of the children and families that have made Little Stars such a unique place over the past 10 years. It is a joy and a privilege to work with you all every day.
There have been a good few changes over 10 years at Little Stars: we have grown from just 2 members of staff to 7, have opened a junior group and have had many adventures along the way!
We have developed and now enjoy a beautiful shore front garden enabling the children to plant and grow, with a fantastic polytunnel featuring mud kitchen, sensory planters, relaxation area with sofa and fruit trees looking out to sea.
This new facility is in keeping with our preschool ethos:
Little Stars childrern play in and with the natural environment and community of Moville. We promote confidence, independence and resilience: we listen to children. The outdoors is integral to our ethos. Through Aistear, we facilitate child led learning experiences, focusing on Communicating, Exploring and Thinking, Well-being and Identity and Belonging. We work with you to meet the needs of your family, and your family is welcome to stay and play.
As a preschool we have received a number of awards over the years, including the quality award from the Donegal County Childcare PPP project, the Trust Agency Award in Outstanding Achievement in the Early Years (Donna Curran), the Healthy Ireland Preschool award and a Donegal Sports Partnership equipment and training prize.
Little Stars Preschool directly contributed to the Department of Education’s preschool inspection guide, when beautiful photographs of the children playing outdoors were used by the Department.
The staff team have also been working hard to gain qualifications, including an MSc in Children’s Rights from Queens University Belfast, (Maria Furlong), Leadership for Inclusion from the University of Limerick (Aideen Fitzpatrick), Childcare Practice from NUI Galway (Katie Fitzpatrick) and HNDs in Advanced Practice in Working with Families and Children achieved by Leanne McColgan and Donna Curran.
Our most recent Inspection bears out the results of this commitment:
‘The quality of the children’s learning experiences and achievements is excellent. Children are deeply engaged and involved in their play experiences. They confidently organise their learning using resourceful and imaginative dispositions to create and explore. The provision of open-ended play encourages problem-solving and captivation in learning. Accordingly, the children are developing a strong sense of curiosity and exploration.’ Department of Education Inspection Report on Little Stars Preschool.
One of our parents has the following to say:
‘We have been part of the Little Stars family for 5 years having had 4 children attend the preschool (and one more to go) and the individual love and patience shown to each child is clear to see. I have total faith that every need they have is met, and met with kindness, and they are no less loved and cared for than they would be in a family home. Each child in their care is listened to and respected and they have created a wonderful safe, expressive environment for all their children. The confidence they have instilled in each of my children, all with their very different personalities, has made their transition to primary school so smooth. I love the staff’s continuous commitment to career development and their keenness to have families involved in preschool life… even just to come in and read a story. We are very proud Little Stars parents and are delighted to celebrate their 10th birthday with them.’
We’ll leave the final word with one of our Little Stars:
‘I like my friends, we go on the spinner super fast. My favourite is going outside. I love my playschool! Little Star, Age 4.
