Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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213. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her Department's strategy for rolling out Síolta and Aistear; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25193/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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My Department, in conjunction with the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, recently launched a new Aistear / Síolta Practice Guide.

This Practice Guide distils the key principles of Aistear, the national early childhood curriculum framework, and Síolta, the national quality framework for early years services. It is intended to be a practical guide for childcare practitioners on how to implement the two frameworks in their practice. To this end it includes a number of podcasts and examples of children's learning and development that will illustrate how the key principles of Aistear and Siolta can be transferred into any early years setting.

The new Practice Guide will be a resource for all early years practitioners who wish to improve the quality of their practice across the early years sector. It will also serve to assist the new Better Start team, that have been established by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, in their work in strengthening quality in early years services.

Phase 1 of the Practice Guide was made available on-line via the NCCA website in March 2015. The second – and final phase – of the Practice Guide will be made available during the summer.