Press release
Publication of the first set of Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspection Reports
Published on
Last updated on
Published on
Last updated on
The Inspectorate of the Department of Education and Skills has today published 11 Initial Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspection reports and 11 Final Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspection reports on its website www.education.ie.
The reports arise from the new Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspection model introduced by the Minister for Education and Skills, Joe McHugh TD, in January 2019. This fulfils a commitment made in the government’s Action Plan for Education 2018.
The Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspections are focused and in-depth inspections which look at how school boards and school staff are fulfilling their legal responsibilities in relation to the protection and safeguarding of children as required of them under the Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools 2017.
Welcoming the publication of the inspection reports Minister McHugh said:
“The new inspections are designed to strengthen our child protection systems. They help to guide and direct schools in relation to meeting their child protection obligations."
“The publication of the inspection reports today is an important step in this process as they provide clear information to the public about the levels of compliance with the Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools 2017 and the quality of provision for mandatory aspects of the curriculum such as Social Personal and Health Education (SPHE), Stay Safe and Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in our schools.’’
Minister McHugh noted the value of each school having an Initial Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspection followed, within a relatively short period of time, by a Final Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspection. This feature of the inspection model was developed following an extensive research and consultation process with the education partners, the Office of the Ombudsman for Children, and the schools that participated in the trial phase of the inspections.
Minister McHugh said:
“The process of conducting an initial and final inspection is important in promoting improvement in the implementation of child protection procedures by schools; it also facilitates the promotion of best practice in school leadership as it relates to child protection.”
The reports published today show:
Minister McHugh noted that, where a school is less than fully compliant with the checks undertaken in this new form of child protection inspection, the department will continue to engage with the school until deficiencies found during the final inspection have been successfully addressed.
He said:
“The process of having an initial and final inspection facilitates real improvements in areas such as the way schools communicate their child protection procedures to parents, the provision of information and training about child protection to school personnel, and the provision of a child protection oversight report to boards of management. It also enables schools to improve their provision for important aspects of the SPHE and RSE programmes.”
A link to the reports is available here: https://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Inspection-Reports-Publications/child-protection-and-safeguarding-inspection/.
ENDS
Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspections are part of a range of inspection work to support the implementation of the Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools 2017. The 2017 Procedures provide direction and guidance to schools in relation to meeting their child protection obligations under the Children First Act 2015 and in the continued implementation of the best practice guidance in Children First National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children 2017:
The Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspections enable the Inspectorate to:
Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspections are based on an inspection framework based on the Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools 2017. Essentially, the inspections comprise ten overarching checks, each of which has a number of sub-checks. The inspection framework, that is, the ten checks and sub-checks, is set out in the published Guide to Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspections available at www.education.ie.
Normally, a school receives between 24 hours and 48 hours’ notice of a Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspection. However, the Inspectorate reserves the right to conduct the inspections without any notice.
In each school selected for a Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspection, two inspections are held – an Initial Child Protection Inspection and a Final Child Protection Inspection. Usually, the inspections take place within four to six weeks of each other.
A separate report from each inspection is published simultaneously. Having two inspections provides schools with a period for developing and improving its child protection procedures in order to become more fully compliant with the Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools 2017.
During the inspections, inspectors:
hold meetings with:
review the following documents:
review child protection records
Following the inspection: