Enhancing Child Protection Inspections: Safeguarding the Child's Welfare

1. Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspections (CPSI)Yvonne Keating - Assistant Chief InspectorGer Power - Senior Inspector Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI) Annual Conference for Principals & Deputy Principals 2019 The Mount Wolseley Hotel, Thursday January 31st

2. Introduction • Child protection and safeguarding inspections - the child and the child’s safety and welfare are central • DLPs have a crucial leadership role in relation to child protection – Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspections support this • Respectful engagement - our Code of Practice underpins our inspections • We want to support the implementation of the 2017 Procedures • Inspection – a formative process: • Welfare of the child central • Fair to schools • In developing the model – cognisant of GDPR requirements

3. Overview of presentation • The context of the Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspections: the Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools 2017 • Aims of Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspections (CPSIs) • The Inspection Framework • Features and procedures of Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspections (CPSIs) • The report format • Supports available for schools • Conclusion

4. Context - Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspections • 2015 – Oireachtas passed ‘Children First Act’ • Placed the Children First National Guidance 2017 and child protection procedures on a statutory footing • Introduced new statutory obligations for mandated persons, “service providers” such as schools and for all Government Departments.

5. Context - Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspections • Children First National Guidance 2017 • Outlines the statutory obligations that apply to teachers and schools. • Outlines non-statutory obligations which are in place for all individuals, including teachers and for all sectors of society.

6. Context – Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspections • 11 December 2017 – All parts of the Children First Act 2015 came into force • New requirements on schools re child protection • The Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools 2017 • Provides guidance to schools in relation to meeting their statutory obligations • A requirement on the Inspectorate to monitor schools’ compliance with the 2017 Procedures • The CPSI Inspections are checks made under and with reference to the 2017 Procedures

7. Context - Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspections • Section 9.13.2 of the 2017 Procedures requires the Inspectorate to: • Use a range of models to monitor implementation of the 2017 Procedures • Conduct intensive, full-scale inspections focused on the implementation of the 2017 Procedures during a model of inspection designed specifically for this purpose • Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspection model

8. Fulfilling requirement for Inspectorate oversight

9. Level One Monitoring – 3 Checks

10. Fulfilling the requirement for Inspectorate oversight

11. Level Two Monitoring – Checks 1, 2 and 3

12. Level Two Monitoring – Checks 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8

13. Level Three Monitoring

14. Aims – Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspections • Promote best practice in school leadership as it relates to child protection • Monitor the implementation of the 2017 Procedures in a sample of schools annually • Publish written reports on the implementation of the procedures in the sample of schools inspected • Report to the Parents, Learners and Database section and to the Child Protection Oversight Group of the Department on the extent to which the Child Protection Procedures 2017 are implemented in a sample of schools • Gather information to inform the development of child protection and safeguarding requirements by the Department and by other government departments and agencies involved in child protection

15. Focus of Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspections

16. Developing the model – extensive consultation

17. The Inspection Framework outlines what we check • There is a published Guide to Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspections • We devised a set of checks/criteria based exclusively on the Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools 2017 • Ten overarching checks; each has a number of sub-checks • They reflect a range of aspects of a school’s life in relation to child protection

18. The inspection framework – the main checks

19. A continuum of compliance… • For each of the first 9 of the 10 checks, we arrive at a finding of:

20. Example: Check 2 and its Sub-Checks

21. Sharing perspectives

22. Check 10 - The Curriculum check • Primary: There is a programme for Social Personal and Health Education for all children in the school (Yes / No) • Primary: The Stay Safe Programme is implemented within the school (Yes /No) • There is a Social Personal and Health Education Programme for all students in Junior Cycle (Yes / No) • There is a Relationships and Sexuality Education Programme (RSE) for all students in the school (Yes / No)

23. The Curriculum check

24. The Curriculum check • The overall quality of planning for and implementation of the curriculum is…

25. Features – Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspection

26. Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspection – Two Inspections

27. The initial and final inspection • Why 2 inspections? • Provide a real opportunity for learning by the school • A fair, balanced approach, keeping the child at the centre • The two inspections will be carried out in a school within a relatively short timeframe – 4 to 6 weeks between Initial and Final inspections • The Initial Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspection report and the Final Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspection report will be published simultaneously on the website of the Department of Education and Skills • 2 inspections in all cases; even where there is full compliance on Initial inspection

28. CPSI Inspection – What happens? • Engagement with learners • Meetings: • DLP / Deputy DLP • Chair person of board of management • Sample of school personnel • SPHE coordinator • School self-report form on vetting • Parent survey during initial inspection • Review of documents: • Board of management minutes • Child safeguarding statement and risk assessment • Relevant school plans, monthly progress records (primary) and timetable data (post-primary) • Review of child protection records • Parent focus group discussion during final inspection

29. Review of documents and files – points to note

30. The Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspection Report The report is designed to • Explain the purpose of the CPSI inspection • Present a fair and accurate picture of a school’s compliance with Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools 2017 • Communicate in a clear and accessible way the inspection findings

31. The publication process

32. The publication process

33. Report format • A detailed introduction • What a child protection and safeguarding inspection is • The inspection procedures • The scale used for Checks 1 to 9 • The quality continuum used for the Curriculum check (Check 10) • Where a school is less than fully compliant with a particular requirement the report: • Provides some additional evaluative comment on the check • Advises actions that the school should take • Each report also provides an evaluative comment on the school’s planning for and implementation of the mandatory aspects of the curriculum and a short reference to the parent questionnaire (initial CPSI) or parent focus group (final CPSI).

35. Supports for Schools – A suite of mandatory and optional templates https://www.education.ie/en/Schools-Colleges/Information/Child-Protection/Information.html

36. Mandatory Templates – You must use these

37. Optional templates – You may use these

38. Questions

39. Mílebuíochas www.education.ie