Duignan, Maresa and Fallon, Jacqueline and O'Dwyer, Maria and Schonfeld, Heino and Walsh, Thomas (2007) Síolta: The National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education. An Leanbh Og, 1 (1). pp. 40-56.

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Abstract

This paper introduces Síolta, the National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education (NQF) that has been developed under the auspices of the Department of Education and Science (DES). Síolta is a quality assurance programme that has been developed by the Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education (CECDE), in consultation with the wider early childhood care and education (ECCE) sector in Ireland. It is applicable to all settings in which children aged from birth to six years are present and therefore crosses many of the traditional divides between care and education and between the formal school sector and the informal ECCE sector. The Framework has been produced at a time when national and international attention is focused as never before on the issue of quality ECCE services, and their role in enhancing the lives of our youngest children. It distils and captures the concerted momentum of the sector in recent years towards the attainment of quality and provides a reference point for all those involved in ECCE services towards this end. The paper begins by detailing the development process involved in creating Síolta. The substantive focus pivots on the content of Síolta, namely the Principles, Standards and Components of Quality. This is followed by an overview of the assessment and support systems proposed for Síolta. The paper concludes by describing the national testing and evaluation process envisaged for Síolta.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	early childhood education; ireland; framework; siolta;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Education
Item ID:	9690
Depositing User:	Thomas Walsh
Date Deposited:	18 Jul 2018 14:45
Journal or Publication Title:	An Leanbh Og
Publisher:	OMEP Ireland
Refereed:	Yes
URI:
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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