The Inspectorate of the Department of Education and Skills has today published 11 Initial Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspection reports and 11 Final Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspection reports on its website.

The reports arise from the new Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspection model introduced by the Minister for Education and Skills Joe McHugh T.D. in January 2019. This fulfils a commitment made in the Government’s Action Plan for Education 2018.

The Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspections are focused and in-depth inspections which look at how school boards and school staff are fulfilling their legal responsibilities in relation to the protection and safeguarding of children as required of them under the Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools 2017.

Welcoming the publication of the inspection reports Minister McHugh said: “The new inspections are designed to strengthen our child protection systems. They help to guide and direct schools in relation to meeting their child protection obligations.

“The publication of the inspection reports today is an important step in this process as they provide clear information to the public about the levels of compliance with the Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools 2017 and the quality of provision for mandatory aspects of the curriculum such as Social Personal and Health Education (SPHE), Stay Safe and Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in our schools.’’

Minister McHugh noted the value of each school having an Initial Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspection followed, within a relatively short period of time, by a Final Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspection. This feature of the inspection model was developed following an extensive research and consultation process with the education partners, the Office of the Ombudsman for Children, and the schools that participated in the trial phase of the inspections.

Minister McHugh said: “The process of conducting an initial and final inspection is important in promoting improvement in the implementation of child protection procedures by schools; it also facilitates the promotion of best practice in school leadership as it relates to child protection.”

The reports published today show: