Inspection of 9 December 2025 — Inspection Report
Regulation 9 — Management and recruitment
- (2)(a)(b) Appropriate consideration had not been given to references for one adult. There was no past employer reference sought and verified for one staff file despite the adult having been employed previously. (2)(d) Four adults who had lived for a period of six months or more as adults in other jurisdictions required police vetting certificates that were not available on the day of inspection. Two staff files contained police vetting records which were not translated and therefore could not be verified as required. (4) Two adults rostered to provide supervision for outdoor play did not hold a major award in Early Childhood Care and Education at least level 5 on the National Framework of Qualifications or a qualification deemed as equivalent, as required. A further 14 adults’ qualifications were not on the Department of Children, Disability and Equality’s list of recognised qualifications as required to work directly with preschool children, ten of whom are rostered to supervise the children for outdoor play or dinnertime. Of the nine adults observed to care for the preschool children in their classrooms, three had qualifications that were not on the DCDE’s recognised qualifications list
Provider's corrective action:
- (2)(a)(b) It is the services policy to seek two satisfactory references from the most recent employment working with children. The service requested the most recent reference from a previous employer. The service is working towards creating a single record style data base that can be accessed by HR and school leadership. (2)(d) Translated police vetting certificates have been acquired. Police vetting has been applied for as required. The service has commissioned a professional company to assist in obtaining outstanding police vetting certificates Going forward the service will ensure to maintain official translations on file, requested before employment start date, and not rely on in-house multi-lingual staff/digital tools to translate documents. Staff working with preschool-age children to have police checks dating back to age 18 as part of school policy
- All relevant staff have been notified and have applied to the DCDE EY for the letter of recognition of qualifications. Some staff qualification recognition letters have been collated, some staff are in the queue, some staff are waiting to hear back from the DCDE EY or have submitted further documentation. School Leadership and HR have completed further checks on staff in other divisions in the school. The visiting inspection team identified 13 adults who held Level 5+ or equivalent – thanks to above processes, we have identified/recognised 20, with more DCDE EY recognitions pending. Staff with Level 5 (or above) major award in early childhood care and education or equivalent recognised qualification have been allocated for direct supervision of KG3 and KG4 students at break times. An indoor play plan has been created ensuring KG3/4 teachers remain with class in event of adverse weather. Qualification recognition through DCDE EY will now be part of the recruitment process where required. Recruitment of teachers and TLAs in KG5 and Grade 1 to also require L5+ EY qualifications or equivalent to increase our number of staff available to work with preschoolers (covering breaks etc.)
Regulation not named in the report text
- (1)(3) The registered provider failed to notify the Early Years Inspectorate of a change in circumstances in relation to the following as per the schedule 4 Form for Notification of Change in Circumstances: • The operating hours of the service were at variance with the hours the service is registered to operate. The service is registered to operate from 07:45-14:30 but is currently operating core hours from 08:00- 14:30 with some preschool children being cared for until 15:30 or up to 18:00
Provider's corrective action:
- The registered provider submitted a change in circumstances form, and the change in hours of operation was approved The service will ensure all operational and contact information is up-to-date, accurate and communicated via CIC form as necessary
Found compliant: Regulation 11, 19, 23, 25, 26.