Parents to go online for preschool previews

Parents can soon look online to find out how preschools in their area are teaching children and catering for their development.

Parents to go online for preschool previews

While issues like facilities and safety have been previously covered by inspections, a team of Department of Education inspectors has been visiting early childhood care and education settings since last month.

The reports of their findings will be published on the department’s website alongside inspections of primary and second-level schools.

The recruitment of nine early years inspectors last November facilitated education-focused inspections to be trialled at a number of providers up to January. Approval for the formal inspection system was given in April by previous education minister Jan O’Sullivan and children’s minister James Reilly.

The main focus will be on the quality of learning and development for children, including the context and processes to support this work. The experiences of children in learning and their achievement will also be monitored along with management and leadership for learning.

“In such inspections, inspectors affirm good educational practice and offer advice and practical suggestions to early-years practitioners as to how educational experiences for children in a setting can be developed,” Department of Education officials have told Education Minister Richard Bruton.

The move to improve quality should mark a significant step towards standardising levels of provision among thousands of settings where about 67,000 children under six avail of the free preschool year at an annual cost of over €170m.

Early Childhood Ireland which represents over 3,500 members in the sector, says it is important that teaching and learning be at the centre of what happens in these settings. But it has concerns about the impact of adding a third inspection regime to providers, which are also inspected by Pobal on behalf of the Government, and by child and family agency Tusla.

“We already have an example where a department inspector said an outdoor area was a really positive learning space, but a Tusla inspector recommended change for health and safety reasons,” said Early Childhood Ireland chief executive Teresa Heeney.

She said a single inspection system with clear, unconflicting requirements would ease difficulties for service providers struggling to deal with the paperwork that goes with inspector visits.

The option of a second year of the State-funded ECCE scheme should be available to families from September, although concerns have been raised about providers’ ability to meet the demand. The number of places required is expected to jump from 67,000 in 2015 to 127,000 by next April.

Before leaving office earlier this month, Mr Reilly signed regulations meaning a minimum Level 5 qualification in early childhood care and education must be held by anyone working directly with children in pre-school services. The requirements take effect for new providers at the end of June, and for existing services at the end of the year.

All providers who are paid to cater for children under the scheme are required to have a staff member with a higher qualification in each room. A €5m Department of Children and Youth Affairs fund has allowed over 3,000 early years staff to reach minimum qualification standards in the past two years.

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