What is Solas?
Solas is an exciting after-school project for children aged 8-12. The project runs from 2.30pm to 6pm Monday to Thursday during school term in Basin Lane flats, Dublin 8. Solas started in February 2007.
The vision of Solas is:
To provide purposeful activity in a caring and secure environment in an attempt to meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the children involved.
The project aims to help prevent early school-leaving by providing a stable, positive home-like environment, where the children are encouraged to do the best they can, to attempt work they might find difficult and to take pride in what they produce.
Solas also aims to help the children learn the life-skills they need to cope with the challenges and difficulties of life without resorting to drug-abuse, violence and crime.
Who can you find at Solas?
The project currently works with 10 children. At the moment, all the children come from Mater Dei girls’ primary school in Basin Lane. The same 10 children attend the project every day. Since Solas is a long-term intervention, the children start in 3rd class and ideally stay with the project until 6th class. The project plans to expand in the future by acquiring a larger venue and therefore being able to include more children.
Solas also seeks to involve the whole family by encouraging parents’ involvement in the project through open days, family outings, inclusion in evaluating and planning activities, and by working closely with the home-school liaison teacher of the local school.
