2.1 Introduction

2.1 Introduction

The Inspectorate works to improve the quality of learning and teaching that children and young people experience in Irish schools, centres for education and other settings, and to support the development of the Irish education system. We do this through providing high-quality evaluation, analysis, support and advice in relation to education provision, mainly at early years, primary and post-primary levels.

The Education Act 1998 sets out in Section 13 the statutory functions of the Inspectorate. Our work is also shaped by the principles and commitments set out in the Code of Practice for the Inspectorate. Essentially, these relate to:

■keeping the quality of the education provision for children and young people at

the heart of what we do

■promoting ongoing development and improvement of education provision from

early years through to Senior Cycle

■respectful engagement with all in the course of our work

■promoting responsibility and accountability in all education settings that we evaluate,

including settings that support children and young people with special educational needs.

We endeavour to bring about improvement in the learning experiences and learning outcomes of all children and young people through the advice and support we give to teachers, early years educators, school and pre-school leaders. We also strive to promote improvement and the sharing of good practice through our communications, publications, guidance and advice. Through our direct engagement with settings and schools, and through the provision of evidence and advice to inform policy and practice, we seek to build the capacity of settings and schools to become self-improving learning organisations.

In addition to our advisory and support roles, we provide an assurance of quality and public accountability in the education system through, for example, reporting back to schools and parents and the whole school/pre-school community on the outcomes of our inspections. This accountability dimension of our function helps to assure trust in the education system. The improvement and accountability functions of the Inspectorate are interconnected functions of inspection.

The inspections that we carry out in early learning and care (ELC) settings focus specifically on the educational dimensions of ELC provision and are intended to complement the regulatory inspections of settings conducted by the Tusla Early Years Inspectorate, the independent statutory regulator for the sector. Over the period 2016 to 2020, our inspections were confined to the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme. While the two inspectorates operate independently under separate frameworks, they collaborate with one another where possible, including through formal structures

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