Due to the increased emphasis on the importance of reflective practice in the new ETB Early Learning and Care programmes, the Further Education Support Service (FESS) is delighted to offer online professional development in the area of reflective practice to support early learning and care staff in the implementation and delivery of these new programmes.

This live online session will be facilitated by Carmel Lillis. Carmel is an independent education consultant and personal coach with experience as a teacher, home/school/community coordinator, and school principal. She currently supports the work of school principals, deputy principals, and teachers through facilitated workshops on leadership and coaching. She is a tutor on the Innovative Teaching and Learning Master’s programme in Maynooth University and is committed to lifelong learning.

Overview of the session 
Practicing in a professional capacity in early childhood education settings is a complex and challenging career choice. Each setting is a learning environment not only for the children but for the adults involved.

Adults involved in these learning communities, are professionals who commit to lifelong learning and take every opportunity to deepen their understanding of their roles and responsibilities.

Central to every learning community is the habit of reflection, through which we examine our work, individually and with others, in order to ensure that it is in accordance with both the values/ethics of our organisation and our own values.

Reflective practice requires that we engage in thought processes that make us aware, in a critical way, of our everyday activities ‘with a view to continuously improving and refining practice’ (Síolta, 2017). Developing the skills and dispositions for reflection “requires practice, intellectual engagement and purpose” (Rocco, 2010, p. 313).

This session will give participants an opportunity to learn about the critical importance of reflection as an aid to personal and professional development order to enhance the care and education provision offered in early childhood education settings.

Please register for one of the following two dates in September 2021.

	Dates	Time	Venue
	Thursday 2nd September 2021 This session is now fully booked and there is a long waiting list. Places are still available on the 8th September	10.00 - 12.00	Online Link to the event will be emailed in advance Please keep an eye on your Junk/Spam folder in case the e-mail with the link to the online event ends up there
OR
	Wednesday 8th September 2021	10.00 - 12.00	Online Link to the event will be emailed in advance Please keep an eye on your Junk/Spam folder in case the e-mail with the link to the online event ends up there

Please note: If you would like further information about a PD event, please contact FESS on cpdbookings@fess.ie. If you would like to cancel a place at a PD event, please contact FESS on cpdcancellations@fess.ie. To ensure that the maximum number of people get the opportunity to attend a FESS PD event, please give a minimum of four working days notice when cancelling attendance.

Please also note that in response to the fact that a number of people booked a place at PD events in Autumn/Winter 2020 and then didn't log into those events, FESS took the decision to oversubscribe our events. This means that we will allow more people book a place at an event than there are places for. Those who log in first at the designated time for the live online event will be those who will be accommodated with a place. We hope that by taking this action, we will be able to maximise the number of people who are getting to log in to our PD events.