Care-A-Lot-Childcare | Child Daycare in Upton, Cork

Care-A-Lot Childcare

A Brighter Future For All.

A home from home where each child can be individual, express themselves and have a warm, safe and welcoming environment to play, explore and socialise.

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Welcome to Care-A-Lot

Our Core Values

At Care-A-Lot our vision is simple and that is to provide the highest quality of childcare. A home from home where each child can be individual, express themselves and have a warm, safe and welcoming environment to play, explore and socialise. We aim for the children to be happy and for you the parents to have peace of mind when you leave your children in our care. As Bill Gates states “the first five years have so much to do with how the next eighty turnout”. We believe all children to be individual, diverse, who will develop physically, socially and emotionally at their own rate.

Learn And Play

Care-A-Lot is easily accessible in a wonderful countryside setting.

Outdoor Activities

We engage in plentiful outdoor activities in all weathers

Great Staff

Our staff are fully qualified and highly talented professionals

Safe Environment

We provide a quality safe and welcoming environment

Get Started enquire about enrollment today

Let your child attend Care-A-Lot Childcare to help your child develop comprehensively in all aspects.

Enrollment Now!

At Care-A-Lot

Why choose Us

Care-A-Lot is easily accessible in a wonderful countryside setting.

Outdoor Play

The outdoors is one of the best learning environments for young children, providing an opportunity to explore, experience and make meaning of the natural world.

Healthy Food

Nutritious Meals EHO registered and compliant with our nutritionally balanced menus.

We are Local

Our location is based in Upton, Innishannon, Co. Cork. We open at 7.30am and close at 6pm sharp.

Our Staff

Our staff are fully qualified and highly talented professionals who provide the best care and education for the children at Care-A-Lot Childcare.

our programs

Our Classes

We engage in plentiful outdoor activities in all weathers and as research shows it helps with anxiety and behavioural issues in children.

3 Lullaby Lane (6 Months – 12/18 Months)

Handing over the care of your baby is a huge step for any parent. We aim for the baby to adapt to its new surroundings slowly and safely. We have an individual settling in programme for each family according to their needs, so you and your baby can get to know and trust their key workers. Your baby will receive individual attention and the care they need at this very important stage. There is constant interaction between the carers and the children to encourage their boundless curiosity. We document all feeding, sleeping, nappy changing and administration of medicine daily and give regular updates to you in relation to their development. The ratios in this room as per regulations is 1 member of staff to 3 children. We have space for three babies with a waiting list.

5 Tender Terrace (12/18 Months – 2 Years)

Once the babies start to find their feet, they graduate to our Wobbler Room. This group spends much of their time experimenting, exploring and beginning to socialise. They will learn to walk more confidently and they engage in large movement activities that develop children’s balance and gross motor skills and are stimulated to become more co-ordinated using visual, physical and audio educational resources. All of our activities promote communication and social skills. Each child has their individual periods of play and sleep.
Off this room we have a lovely outdoor exploration area, which the children have access to at all times. Each day they will spend as much time as possible outside.
The ratios in this room as per regulations is 1 member of staff to 5 children.

6 Kindergarten Crossing (2-3 Years)

In this room we introduce more advanced equipment, arts and crafts and a daily schedule of activities based on an emergent curriculum. They make sociable connections and enjoy group learning as well as individual learning. We pay especially close attention to the development of speech and language and encourage the development of your child’s speech and language through a range of fun and social activities such as songs, role play and storytelling. Toilet training may also begin at this stage. We will assist with toilet training once it has been undertaken at home over a few days.
The ratios in this room as per regulations is 1 member of staff to 5 children.

11 Learners Lane (3-4 Years)

This room started out in 2013 and is our first year of Preschool and the ECCE scheme. The curriculum in this room is high scope and is based on the Aistear and Siolta Curriculum Framework. The activities are based on an emergent curriculum, in other words based on their own individual interests. These include arts and crafts, sensory play, role play, stories, songs, experiments, baking and a whole lot more. We are lucky to have such a vast amount of outdoor space which we utilise regularly for exploration and learning.
At this stage as well as all other stages we assess each child’s development and report back to you, the parent, routinely. We also participate in the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) which is a model of supports designed to ensure that children with disabilities can access the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme.
The ratios in this room as per regulations are 1 member of staff to 11 children.

11 Big Learners Grand Parade (4- 5 Years)

In this room the children are getting ready to graduate onto primary school and enjoying time learning inside and outside at Care-A-Lot. The curriculum framework is similar to that in Little Learners Lane, however we are focused on developing their independence in preparation for their next stage.
The ratios in this room as per regulations are 1 member of staff to 11 children.

Outdoor Play

Averil is an advocate for outdoor play and learning.

Aistear Guidelines for Good Practice discusses where and how children like to play. Children love to play inside and outside, and benefit from both. Some children will take part in activities more enthusiastically, and show greater confidence in the outdoor environment than inside. Ideally the outdoor play area should be directly connected to the indoor area providing ease of access throughout the day. We achieve this by closing the main gate to the property and let the children roam freely within the grounds. Most of the things that can be done inside can also be done outside, for example reading stories, taking part in pretend play, doing group art projects, and playing with sand or water. In the outdoors, activities can also be provided on a larger and more expansive scale ...