Getting Ready for School

Preparing For Life unites multiple local agencies in ROI to help disadvantaged children enter the classroom confidently at age five.

Over half the children in disadvantaged neighbourhoods of north Dublin were not ready to start school, according to the teachers surveyed in an Atlantic-funded study. Many of these children lived in single-parent families, often led by young mothers, 40% of whom had left school at age 12.

Purpose and Impact of the Grant

Government services for children and families in Ireland tend to react to crises, rather than proactively tackle the underlying problems. Understanding and application of proven models of early intervention and prevention remain limited.

Since 1991, the Northside Partnership of public and private agencies has served disadvantaged children and families in north Dublin. In 2004, with Atlantic support, the Partnership launched a new effort: Preparing For Life.

Preparing For Life unites multiple local agencies around a single goal: getting disadvantaged children ready for school by age five. To achieve this goal, the programme plans to provide services to improve the health, education, and behaviour of 140 children, from conception to age five, and their families. Key components of Preparing For Life will include training and other services to build parenting skills and high-quality pre-school programmes for the children. The planning phase supported through the Atlantic grant included detailed needs analysis and preparation of a programme logic model detailing planned outcomes and activities.

Preparing For Life will also conduct the rigorous evaluation needed to show that these services can be provided cost-effectively, with significant short- and long-term impact on children and families. This evaluation should pave the way for mainstream public investment to replicate the programme in other disadvantaged areas.