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 ''NaÃonra'' or ''NaÃscoil'' 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 NaÃonraÃ. ''In'': Hickey, T., ''Early Immersion Education in Ireland''. Ireland:Institiúid TeangeolaÃochta Éireann. Pp. 1-21.] ''NaÃonraÃ'' sessions usually last between 2 and 3.5 hours per day, which a child attends on a daily basis.
The staff of the ''naÃonra'' seek to encourage the child's development "physically, intellectually, creatively, aesthetically, socially, emotionally and linguistically". Operators of ''naÃonraÃ'' believe that the most suitable method of learning for children at this age is through the medium of play.
Northern Ireland
In Northern Ireland ''NaÃonra'' specifically refers to Irish language childcare for 2–3 year olds, whereas ''NaÃscoil'' (infant school) is the term used for the 3 hour sessional care for 3–5 year olds.
History
The first ''NaÃonra'' opened in 1968. In 1974 a voluntary organisation called ''Na NaÃonraà Gaelacha'' was established by
Conradh na Gaeilge
(; historically known in English as the Gaelic League) is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it emer ...
with a view of promoting Irish medium pre-school education throughout Ireland. In 1978 Bord na Gaeilge (now
Foras na Gaeilge
(, " Irish Institute"; ) is a public body responsible for the promotion of the Irish language throughout the island of Ireland, including both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It was set up on 2 December 1999, assuming the rol ...
) 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 NaÃonraà Gaelacha'' was absorbed by ''Bord Na Gaeilge,'' and renamed ''An Comhchoiste RéamhscolaÃochta'' 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 NaÃonra' in May and an annual conference 'Comhdháil na NaÃonraà 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 RéamhscolaÃochta'' replaced by two separate organisations in order to better focus efforts on
Gaeltacht
A ( , , ) is a district of Ireland, either individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home.
The districts were first officially recognised ...
and non-Gaeltacht regions. In 2003, ''
Forbairt NaÃonraà Teoranta'' (FNT) became the successor to ''An Comhchoiste'', (which in turn was succeeded by Gaelscoileanna in 2015) while ''Comhar NaÃonraà 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 NaÃonra na Gaeltacht'' in the Gaeltacht regions and with ''Altram'' in the 6 counties.
These organisations provide advice, training and grant aid to existing ''naÃonraÃ'' and those interested in starting their own ''naÃonra''.
The Gaeloideachais website, at gaelscoileanna.ie, contains a section dedicated to naÃonraÃ.
Numbers of naÃonraÃ
As of 2017, there were 327 NaÃonra / NaÃscoileanna in Ireland. Of these:
* ''Gaeloideachas'' had 203 naÃonra under its stewardship.
* ''Comhar NaÃonra na Gaeltacha'' had 69 naÃonra under its stewardship, with a further 18 other early childcare services including full day care and after school hour services.
* ''Altram'' had 49 naÃscoil, 6 naÃonra, 5 "Sure Start" programs and 1 full day child care under its stewardship.
References
External links
Comhar NaÃonraà na Gaeltachta TeorantaComhairle na GaelscolaÃochtaGaelscoileanna
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naionra
Irish-language education