Síolta
Síolta, the National Quality Framework for Early Childhood
Education was developed by the Centre for Early Childhood Development and
Education (CECDE) on behalf of the Department of Education and Science.
The Framework was published in 2006 following a three-year developmental
process, which involved consultation with more than 50 diverse organisations,
representing childcare workers, teachers, parents, policy makers,
researchers and other interested parties. For the first time in
Ireland, Síolta provides a common set of quality standards across a
diverse range of settings for children aged from birth to six years based on
the most up-to-date Irish and international research evidence.
Since the publication of Síolta, many early childhood services and
individual practitioners have engaged informally with the Framework. This
informal engagement has been supported by the dissemination of Síolta
documentation and a large number of Síolta information workshops
across the country.
The implementation of Síolta, as the National Quality Framework for
Early Childhood Education, is an objective of the National Childcare
Strategy and is supported by the National Childcare Investment Programme.
Síolta has been designed to complement the existing regulatory and curricular frameworks relevant to the ECCE sector in Ireland. Síolta can be used by services who are beginning to develop quality in practice and who are endeavouring to comply with minimum standards as represented by the Child Care (Pre-School Services) (No. 2) Regulations 2006.
Equally, highly developed services can use Síolta to constantly refresh and revitalise their planning and development activities and can also avail of the opportunity to get external validation of their quality practice.
More information on how these two frameworks work together to support the achievement of high quality ECCE services can be found here.
Full details of the Síolta principles, standards and components are available on-line on www.siolta.ie
