Naíonra

A (; plural: ) is an Irish medium playgroup for pre-school children, which follows the principle of Total Early Immersion.

Definitions

Republic of Ireland

In the Republic of Ireland, a ''Naíonra'' or ''Naíscoil'' is an Irish-medium pre-school in which a ''Stiúrthóir'', or Leader, speaks only Irish while interacting with the children, who are usually aged between 3 and 5 years of age.Hickey, T., 1997. Pre-schooling and Early Immersion: Na Naíonraí. ''In'': Hickey, T., ''Early Immersion Education in Ireland''. Ireland:Institiúid Teangeolaíochta Éireann. Pp. 1-21. ''Naíonraí'' sessions usually last between 2 and 3.5 hours per day, which a child attends on a daily basis.

The staff of the ''naíonra'' seek to encourage the child's development "physically, intellectually, creatively, aesthetically, socially, emotionally and linguistically". Operators of ''naíonraí'' believe that the most suitable method of learning for children at this age is through the medium of play.

Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland ''Naíonra'' specifically refers to Irish language childcare for 2–3 year olds, whereas ''Naíscoil'' (infant school) is the term used for the 3 hour sessional care for 3–5 year olds.

History

The first ''Naíonra'' opened in 1968. In 1974 a voluntary organisation called ''Na Naíonraí Gaelacha'' was established by Conradh na Gaeilge with a view of promoting Irish medium pre-school education throughout Ireland. In 1978 Bord na Gaeilge (now Foras na Gaeilge) was founded by the Irish Government to act as a directly funded body to promote the use of Irish in all facets of life on the Island. That year, ''Na Naíonraí Gaelacha'' was absorbed by ''Bord Na Gaeilge,'' and renamed ''An Comhchoiste Réamhscolaíochta'' and were funded to carry out their mission. They remain active as a networking organisation for all the Irish language preschool providers on the Island. They organise annual events like 'Lá na Naíonra' in May and an annual conference 'Comhdháil na Naíonraí Gaelacha' on the first Saturday of October.

''Altram'' was established in 1990 by childcare providers in Belfast and Derry to oversee the development of the Irish language childcare sector in Northern Ireland and continue to this day. But in the Republic of Ireland a further change in 2003 would see ''An Comhchoiste Réamhscolaíochta'' replaced by two separate organisations in order to better focus efforts on Gaeltacht and non-Gaeltacht regions. In 2003, '' Forbairt Naíonraí Teoranta'' (FNT) became the successor to ''An Comhchoiste'', (which in turn was succeeded by Gaelscoileanna in 2015) while ''Comhar Naíonraí na Gaeltachta'' was established in 2004 by '' Údarás na Gaeltachta'' to operate in the Gaeltacht regions.

In a controversial move by Foras na Gaeilge to concentrate the work of 19 Irish language organisations to six, entitled ''An Samhail Nua Maoinithe'', FNT had their funding withdrawn in June 2015 and the overseeing and the development of Gaelic preschool care in Ireland was passed to Gaelscoileanna. On top of this they were also given responsibility for primary and secondary schooling in the Gaeltacht regions. In view of their greater responsibility ''Gaelscoileanna'' was rebranded as ''Gaeloideachais'' meaning Gaelic education. Responsibilities for the overseeing and development of Irish language early childhood care remained with ''Comhar Naíonra na Gaeltacht'' in the Gaeltacht regions and with ''Altram'' in the 6 counties.

These organisations provide advice, training and grant aid to existing ''naíonraí'' and those interested in starting their own ''naíonra''.

The Gaeloideachais website, at gaelscoileanna.ie, contains a section dedicated to naíonraí.

Numbers of naíonraí

As of 2017, there were 327 Naíonra / Naíscoileanna in Ireland. Of these:

* ''Gaeloideachas'' had 203 naíonra under its stewardship.
* ''Comhar Naíonra na Gaeltacha'' had 69 naíonra under its stewardship, with a further 18 other early childcare services including full day care and after school hour services.
* ''Altram'' had 49 naíscoil, 6 naíonra, 5 "Sure Start" programs and 1 full day child care under its stewardship.

References

External links

Comhar Naíonraí na Gaeltachta Teoranta

Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta

Gaelscoileanna

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naionra
Irish-language education