About Spraoi & Sonas Early Learning Centres
Spraoi & Sonas Early Learning Centres offer home-from-home childcare to children from 6 months of age to 12 years. Here at Spraoi & Sonas Centres, we offer Clare & Galway creche facilities as well as full-time and part-time day-care services, before and after school care, pre-schooling services, and sessional services for all age groups in our purpose-designed childcare centres.
All of our centres are fully equipped with age-appropriate equipment for play and learning, and all centres enjoy large, secure outdoor play areas. Our outdoor play areas are fully-stocked with infant-friendly surfaces, climbing equipment, imaginative play equipment, sports and exercise equipment, sensory toys, natural materials, and mark-making materials to stimulate the senses and create an outdoor playroom of sorts.
With a team of highly experienced, fully-qualified childcare professionals working at each of our centres, we believe in offering a safe, inclusive, and nurturing environment for all children in our care.
Spraoi and Sonas Early Learning Centres Services & Facilities
Babies & Wobblers
Our Nurseries and day-care facilities cater for babies from 6 months up to about 12 months, with mobility-specific care and equipment available. After this, little ones move to our Wobbler Rooms, where they are presented with more challenging activities to help them grow and mature and get the most from their time at Spraoi or Sonas' Clare & Galway Creche services.
Toddlers
Our toddler groups experience all that our curriculum has to offer from role play and dress up to mark-making skills, singing, dancing, natural material exploration, and development of gross and fine motor skills. In each setting, we focus on sensory materials including dark rooms, tactile surfaces, music, and more. We encourage safe spaces for children to allow themselves be distracted and engaged in sensory stimulation of all types.
Pre-School
We offer two different pre-school experiences, one tailored to children experiencing pre-school from 2 years and 8 months and one for those children who have already had some experience of pre-school. We adopt elements of Steiner and Montessori in our pre-school programmes but our curriculum falls under the Aistear framework, preparing kids for school while providing a fun and independent learning experience.
After-School
We offer full after-school services for children aged 4-12, servicing primary schools around the Clare and Galway areas. During our after-school services, all children are served a nutritious homemade meal from a carefully curated menu and can engage in play, learning, and socialisation as well as homework help.
Our Curriculum Statement
At Spraoi & Sonas Early Learning Cenres, our curriculum follows the Aistear Aims and Learning Goals and the Síolta Principles. We link each activity to the four main themes under the following headings, ‘Exploring and Thinking’, ‘Identity and Belonging’, ‘Communicating’ and ‘Well Being’.
Our learning is play based and we are child led in our approach. This means that we take our cues from the children’s expressions of interest and we aim to develop the children’s learning experiences through interaction while they are at play.
Our rooms are laid out to encourage independence and the children have a choice in what areas of the room they interact with. The key areas are rest and relaxation, home, construction, sand and water play and imaginary play.
As part of our day to day experience, we encourage safe risk-taking and we have introduced elements like our outdoor climbing frames to meet this goal. We are conscious of the community in which we are located and we encourage parents and local professionals to get involved in our toddler and pre-school learning experience each year. This can include inviting a Garda, nurse, or fireman in to meet our children and allow the children to ask questions and learn about the community in which they live.
Inclusivity & Learning
We are ever aware of the changing ethnic environment in which we live and we dedicate time in our curriculum to learning about the various types of families and cultures around us. Each week, we have a different topic for the children’s learning experience and we aim to encourage learning using these themes in an enjoyable way.
We encourage independence by encouraging the children to take on tasks like dressing as soon as they are able and work these learning experiences into our curriculum. Each week we display a learning plan for each age group, and this dictates the skeleton of our day to day experiences but we leave flexibility to develop the children’s own ideas and, again, encourage independence.
Our curriculum is emergent in nature in that our focus is on being responsive to children’s interests to create meaningful learning experiences. The primary aim and purpose of our curriculum is to encourage all of the children to become confident and competent young learners through age and stage appropriate activities.
Spraoi and Sonas Early Learning Centres FAQ
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I’m looking for childcare near me- where are you based?Spraoi ELC and Sonas ELC are Galway childcare and Clare childcare providers for kids aged 12 months to 12 years. We span over 8 branches in Galway and Clare, which can be seen from our “find your crèche” and “contact” pages. If you’re unsure of whether we’re in your catchment area, simply get in touch.
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Do you have any childcare jobs available?Here at Spraoi & Sonas ELC, we’re always on the lookout for talented childcare professionals to join our ever-expanding team. If you’re interested in applying for a childcare job at Spraoi or Sonas ELC, visit our careers page or email us in a CV.
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How much do your childcare services cost?The price of our childcare services varies depending on the service you require. We also fulfil the government’s ECCE scheme entitling children of a certain age to free pre-school services. For more information on our pricing and funding options available to parents, get in touch with the team.
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What type of curriculum do you use?We follow an emergent play curriculum linked with Aistear our National Curriculum Framework. Every week is based on a new theme and we link in with the emergent interests of the children. It is important to emphasise that we use a learn through play approach. Each theme links in with daily activities, stories, songs and discussions in circle time.
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Where are your services located?We currently have 8 creche locations in Galway City, Clarinbridge, Tuam, Gort and Ennis.
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How do we communicate with parents?We use an application called Childpaths to communicate with our parents. We will regularly post pictures, activities, observations to this app. You can log on daily to see the sleep times, nappies and food logs from each day. Parents can also communicate with the manager and staff via the app.
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What kind of activities do you provide in your baby and toddler childcare facilities?In our baby and toddler childcare facilities, we offer a wide range of activities including arts & crafts, singing, dancing, dress-up, garden time, role play, physical play, and more. All of these activities are designed to help your little one develop a range of motor skills, communication skills, socialisation skills, and more.
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How do I keep updated when my child is in day-care?Spraoi and Sonas use the Childpaths app in our childcare facilities, allowing you to see real-time information on how your child is doing throughout the day. We also encourage parents to get in touch if they have any queries or concerns.
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What age can I send my child to crèche at?Here at Spraoi and Sonas, we accept babies from the age of six months. Our childcare centres offer facilities to cater for children from twelve months up to twelve years old.
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Does my toddler have to be toilet trained to attend crèche?No, here at Spraoi and Sonas ELC we welcome children who are not toilet trained and help to toilet train kids alongside parents own training at home.
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How do I know when my child is ready to attend day-care?This all depends and varies from child to child. If you’re unsure of whether or not your little one is ready to attend day care, feel free to contact us for a discussion. We provide honest, transparent, and reliable advice to ensure that you’re comfortable, confident, and fully informed before sending your child to our day-care facilities.
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I’m looking for toddlers childcare facilities near me- where are you based?Spraoi ELC and Sonas ELC offers Galway childcare facilities and Clare childcare facilities across 8 branches spanning over both counties. Visit our “contact” page or “find your crèche” page for more info on where we’re located.
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What curriculum do you use in your pre-school?Here at Spraoi and Sonas, we use the Aistear Siolta framework of early education with elements of the Steiner and Montessori methods of teaching. Our curriculum is carefully curated to promote learning and development through play and exploration.
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How much does it cost to send a child to pre-school?Under the Early Childhood Care & Education Scheme (ECCE), children within a certain age bracket are entitled to free pre-school education. Get in touch with the team at Spraoi ELC or Sonas ELC for more information on this.
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I’m looking for a pre-school near me, where are you based?Spraoi ELC and Sonas ELC is a Galway & Clare pre-school service with 8 branches spanning across Clare and Galway. Get in touch or visit our “find your crèche” page to find your nearest pre-school.
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Do you offer hot meals in your after-school services?Yes, absolutely. We pride ourselves on offering nutritious hot meals to each child in our after-school care services. All of our meals are prepared in-house and are available to choose from a menu that is curated by our team of HACCP and Safe Food qualified staff.
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How much does after-school childcare cost?The price of our after-school care varies depending on the services you require. Get in touch today for a free quote on our full range of after-school services or for more information on government supports available to parents availing of after-school care.
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What ages do your after-school services cater for?Our after-school services are suitable for all children in primary school, and cater to kids aged 4 to 12.
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How is the starting of my child arranged?The manager will be in contact with you prior to your start date to arrange times for settling your child. This is usually done over the first week with the time your child attends creche increasing each day. We also give the child opportunity to experience different things in the creche such as meal times, activities and sleep time.
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What should I bring with me on the first day?The manager will be in touch and arrange for you to drop off the essentials before you child’s first day. This will allow the sole focus of the first day being settling the child into the creche.
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What if my child is not settled at the end of the week?The manager and Childcare Practitioners in the room will work closely with you during the first week to work towards a successful settling period. If this needs to be extended for your child you can discuss options with the manager who will find a solution that works for everyone.
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Do you have training opportunities for employees?Yes! We pride ourselves on our extensive training programme for all employees. This includes a thorough induction process including a classroom day on key policies. Ongoing training opportunities are provided to all staff in both classroom and online settings. We also encourage and support staff who wish to seek additional training opportunities to further their career.
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Do you offer work experience placements?Yes we offer placements in all our creches. Please contact hr.spraoi@gmail.com with your CV to enquire if a place is available.
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When should I pay the deposit?In order to confirm your booking you will be asked to pay a deposit. This is refundable with 4 weeks notice at the end of your child’s time in creche.
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What are your opening hours?We are open daily Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm. We are not open bank holidays or weekends.
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My child has a food allergy, what should I do?You will notify us of any allergies in the registration process. We will then notify the kitchen and all staff working with your children. We use clear signage in the creche. All allergies are accommodated in our rotating menu and your child will enjoy a varied choice of meals within the creche.
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Do parents have to supply any dinners or snacks?Parents are asked to bring a morning and afternoon snack for their children. An example of some of the snacks are fruit, sandwiches, yoghurts etc. We follow a healthy eating policy and we are a nut free facility. Our Chef Kathryn cooks dinner and afternoon tea daily for the children on a rotating menu