Department of Education and Youth
Early Years Education Inspections (EYEIs)
Early Years Education Inspections (EYEIs) are carried out in early years services participating in the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme – a programme which provides a period of free early childhood care and education for children before they start school.
During these inspections, we evaluate the quality of the nature, range and appropriateness of the early educational experiences for children participating in the ECCE Programme. The main activity of an EYEI inspection is the observation, by the inspector, of the processes and practices relating to children’s learning in one or more learning rooms or areas in the early years setting.
At the end of each inspection we provide the early years practitioners and the owners/managers (where available) with feedback on the quality of educational provision in the setting. Subsequently we send a written report to the pre-school inspected outlining the inspection findings and providing advice as to how educational provision in the setting can be developed further or improved.
Early Years Follow Through Inspections
Follow-through inspections evaluate the progress an early years service has made on implementing actions advised in an earlier early years inspection where a written report has been published or issued to the service. The format of the follow-through inspection is determined by the original actions advised in the published inspection report.
The process allows for sufficient flexibility to gather evidence relating to the progress made in implementing some or all of the actions advised in the original published or issued inspection report. At the end of the inspection we provide oral feedback about the findings and we provide a written report which is published on our website.