Early-Years Education-focused Inspections (EYEI) 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, the quality of the nature, range and appropriateness of the early educational experiences for children participating in the ECCE Programme is evaluated.
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 the early-years practitioners and the owners/managers (where available) are given 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 further developed or improved.
The inspection report is published on the Department of Education and Skills website and on the website of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.