Síolta: the National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education.

 

Síolta contains the Principles, Standards, Components of Quality and Signposts for Reflection.

Síolta has been designed to support engagement in all aspects of quality practice and may be used by an individual Early Years educator, in working with colleagues and also as a support for networking with other professional colleagues who work with young children from birth to six years. See Síolta

Aistear: Aistear the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework

 
 
Aistear is the early childhood curriculum framework for children from birth to 6 years in Ireland. It provides information for adults to help them plan for and provide enjoyable and challenging experiences so that all children can grow and develop as competent and confident learners within loving relationships with others. 
 
Aistear celebrates early childhood as a time of being, and of enjoying and learning from experiences as they unfold. It is underpinned by interconnecting principles presented in groups:

• Children and their lives in early childhood
• Children’s connections with others
• How children learn and develop

The framework uses the following interconnectedly to describe children’s learning and development:

• Well-being
• Identity and Belonging
• Communicating
• Exploring and Thinking

The adult’s role in supporting children’s early learning and development is highlighted. The adult nurtures in children the dispositions, attitudes and values, skills, knowledge, and understanding, to help them learn and develop.

Guidelines for good practice take a children’s rights-based approach to

• building partnerships between parents and practitioners
• learning and developing through interactions
• learning and developing through play supporting
• learning and development through assessment

 
The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) is updated Aistear the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework. 

See the link below to the updated Aistear (2024) https://curriculumonline.ie/early-childhood/ 

 

Aistear Síolta Practice Guide:

The purpose of the Aistear Síolta Practice Guide (NCCA, 2015) is to support practitioners in using Aistear The Early Childhood Curriculum Framework and Síolta The National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education together to develop the quality of their practice and in doing so, to better support children’s learning and development. The Practice Guide includes resources to help practitioners to critically reflect on their curriculum and to identify what works well. Additionally, the resources can help practitioners to identify priorities for development and to plan actions for positive change. Each learning experience in the practice guide:

• Is linked to Aistear’s themes and Síolta’s standards

• Contains viewing and reading materials to support educators in their professional role working with Aistear and Síolta

• Contains a section at the end for key reflections on learning and possible future actions.

An Introduction video to Aistear, Síolta and the Practice Guide is available here.

The Quality Regulatory Framework

Tusla Early Years Inspectorate has developed a Quality and Regulatory Framework (QRF) relevant to all services, to support registered Early Years Services to comply with the Early Years Services 2016 Regulations. The QRF aims to support registered providers in achieving compliance with the regulations and enhance the safety and care of children who attend these services. It does this does this by setting out the core regulatory requirements in a transparent way. The QRF is child-centred, with a specific focus on the quality and safety of the care provided directly to children using the services.