In recent months, the Tusla Early Years Inspectorate has provided a number of regulatory notices and updates which have sought to make implementation of the regulations more straightforward and flexible, and provide transparency and accountability to the inspection process. These changes are often flagged for providers on the Tusla Early Years Inspectorate website, along with other Regulatory Notices. This is a useful resource for providers and educators alike, and recent updates have included guidance on outdoors, sleep and the new Inspection Findings Review. Throughout these processes, Early ..read more

A report by the UK Government, released last year, looks at the aims and purposes of Early Years provision in an international context. It also reflects on where England is within the international context. In part three of our review, we looked at what the report says on curriculum and pedagogy, and in this final part in a series of four, we look at what the report says on inspection and regulation in Early Years. Purpose . Ofsted is responsible for the inspection and regulation of all Early Years settings in England. Its inspections evaluate the overall quality and standards of provision. It ..read more

Lullabies from around the world help to foster inclusion and celebrate multilingualism in Early Years settings nationwide . Thursday, April 11, 2024 1,250 Early Years settings caring for babies and young children aged from birth to 2-years all over Ireland will this week receive the gift of an illustrated children’s book of lullabies in a variety of world languages as part of a new initiative called OWLET: Lullabies of the World. The project is led by Early Childhood Ireland and delivered in collaboration with Mother Tongues. Early Childhood Ireland is proud and grateful to have been supported ..read more

A report by the UK Government on international perspectives in Early Years, published last year, looks at the aims and purposes of Early Years provision in an international context. It also reflects on where England is within the international context. In part two of our review we looked at what the report says on the Early Years workforce and in this third part in a series of four, we look at what the report says on the curriculum and pedagogy in Early Years. Role of Curriculum . A curriculum sets out what is taught. In England, all Early Years services must follow the Early Years Foundation ..read more

This month’s Making the News examines recent media events, including coverage of the Oireachtas Children’s Committee report on challenges facing the Early Years sector, and a series of articles by the Irish Independent. New Children’s Committee report . On Wednesday, 6 March we welcomed the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth’s report on the challenges facing the Early Childhood Care and Education Sector. The report included several Early Childhood Ireland recommendations and proposals, which we outlined to the Committee in November 2023, all o ..read more

At least 80 per cent of workers should be covered by collective bargaining agreements and the National Minimum Wage (NMW) should move on a phased basis to a “genuine living wage,” according to a recent report published by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU). In the report, Challenging myths and improving working conditions in a strong economy, ICTU challenges what it says is “a lot of rhetoric and anecdotes about the rising cost of doing business in Ireland today.” It seeks to represent the voice of workers and to rebut “the rather weak and false arguments put forward by some business gr ..read more

Oireachtas Update . Two significant Early Childhood Ireland policy proposals raised in the Dáil . We were pleased to see that significant proposals contained in our Budget 2024 submission and in our Policy Proposal: Closures or Early Years and School Age Care were raised in the Dáil by Deputy Colm Burke (Fine Gael). Through Parliamentary Questions (PQs), Deputy Burke asked the Minister for Children, Roderic O’Gorman TD, if he would consider two policy proposals from our Budget 2024 submission, namely, moving to a publicly-funded model of Early Years and School Age Care and to ringfence funding ..read more

A report by the UK Government on international perspectives in Early Years, published last year, looks at the aims and purposes of Early Years provision in an international context. It also reflects on where England is within the international context. In part one of our review we looked at what the report says on availability and access to Early Years and in this second part in a series of four, we look at what the report says on the Early Years workforce. Qualifications . Research has shown that staff qualifications impact the quality of Early Years provision. Although qualifications do not ..read more

A report by the UK Government on international perspectives in Early Years, published last year, looks at the aims and purposes of Early Years provision in an international context. It also reflects on where England is within the international context. In this first part in a series of four, we look at what the report says on availability and access to Early Years. Participation The report details how children participate in Early Years provision at different ages across countries. Children under the age of three are less likely to attend an Early Years service compared to older children. Denm ..read more

Oireachtas This week, we look at the work of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and its importance for Early Years (EY) and School Age Care (SAC) provision. Oireachtas Committees advise the Houses of the Oireachtas on a range of specific areas. They may consist of members of the Dáil only, or Seanad only, or both. The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is a cross-party committee comprising members of the Dáil and Seanad. It was established by Dáil Eireann on Thursday, 30 July 2020 and Seanad ..read more