Written answers

Tuesday, 15 October 2013

Department of Children and Youth Affairs

Child Care Services Provision

Photo of Seán KyneSeán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

385. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will consider the use of the city-county childcare committees structure for the implementation of the new mentioning system for childcare providers; her views on whether that the CCC structure could undertake this important new task relatively quickly and effectively. [43600/13]

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

As I have outlined on a number of occasions, my Department and I, in conjunction with the Health Service Executive (HSE) and other stakeholders, are progressing a Pre-School Quality Agenda involving a range of actions in eight key areas, aimed at improving quality within early years services and enhancing the regulatory regime. The actions include:

- Increasing the qualification requirements for all staff in pre-school services to a minimum standard at FETAC Level 5

- Improving the quality and curricular supports for pre-school services when implementing the Siolta Framework and Aistear Curriculum

- Implementing the new National Pre-School Standards

- Introducing a registration system for all pre-school services

- Taking steps to make the inspection system more consistent and more robust

- Publishing inspection reports online

- Ensuring appropriate action is taken in response to findings of non-compliance

- Increasing and widening the sanctions which can be taken for non-compliance

Síolta, the Childcare Quality Framework (2006), is a set of National Principles, Standards and Components of Quality which collectively articulate a national vision and practical guidelines on quality in practice across all early childhood care and education settings. Aistear, the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework (2009), is organised around four themes - Well-being, Identity and Belonging, Communication, Exploring and Thinking - and expresses the national vision for good practice in relation to curriculum in early childhood.

Financial resources to support the implementation of Síolta and Aistear in pre-schools are provided by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs via the local Childcare Committees and Voluntary Childcare Organisations. International practice indicates that the best way to support quality in pre-school services is to provide regular mentoring support. Northern Ireland, which introduced a free pre-school year some time ago, did so with Early Education experts providing mentoring support to services. As a result, pre-school services in Northern Ireland have been evaluated as having very high standards of provision.

My Department is currently examining the introduction of such a mentoring system in order to support the implementation of Síolta and Aistear, and the financial implications of introducing such a system in the context of budgetary discussions.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.