Tallaght Childcare Centre celebrates 20 years
Staff at Tallaght Childcare Centre celebrated 20 years in operation last weekend, as the community creche continues to provide affordable childcare and allow parents to avail of education and training.
The 16 staff at TCC celebrated their two decades of providing community-based full and part time childcare, as well as allowing parents and guardians to enhance their parenting skills and take up opportunities in education, training and employment. TCC was set up in September 1997 in Millbrook Lawns. In June, TCC opened a second centre in Fettercairn.
Manager of the centre, Liz Jackson, spoke to The Echo about TCC’s celebration on Friday.
“We got great support from Farmyard in Your Schoolyard, who brought their petting zoo for our kids.
“We had a bouncy castle as well as a children’s entertainer. All the parents were invited and there were refreshments for them.”
Ms Jackson thanked local businesses for donating to their celebrations last Friday: “We want to give a big thank you to the businesses: Complete pest control and Wilson’s Butchers donated money, and Breathnach’s Bargains for donating a ton of sweets for the kids.”
The Tallaght Childcare Centre, which open fifty weeks of the year, caters for three age groups: Waddlers aged one to two three-years olds.; toddlers aged two to three, and preschoolers: aged three to five. TCC prides itself on having a strong staff retention, with one staff member, Esther Maloney working at TCC for 15 years and another, Una Doherty, has been there since it was founded.
She said: “Over 80 per cent of staff have been with TCC for over 10 years. One of our staff members, Una, has been there since the beginning. The 22nd of September was her anniversary so we celebrated the two events.”
Ms Jackson, who has been with TCC since 2003, said she has seen childcare change over the years in terms of the focus on quality.
She said: “We have highly qualified staff members with degrees, rather than women who would have trained through a labour market scheme”.
TAGS Tallaght
