The report, Begin with Quality, produced by DENI's Education and Training Inspectorate, also found that of the country's five Education and Library Boards, the Western ELB area had the highest proportion - more than 40 per cent - of good-quality daycare provision. It also said that overall, almost three-quarters of settings were either judged to be satisfactory, good or of very good quality, while one in four settings was deemed 'less than satisfactory'.
The Inspectorate's report, which is the first since the start of the Department of Education's Pre-school Expansion Plan in 1998, drew on about 295 inspections of pre-schools and day nurseries carried out from September 1998 to June 2001 and follow-up inspections six months later. It said they had five main strengths - the quality of the ethos, including a caring atmosphere, good relationships, and the promotion of appropriate behaviour; the relationship with the parents and the efforts made to inform them about the centres' work; the breadth of the play programme; the provision for promoting children's language, and personal, social and emotional development; and the quality of management, including teamwork and staff support, and the provision of support and guidance.
The Inspectorate also found that of the seven areas of the Northern Ireland pre-school curriculum, settings were strongest in the areas of language development and personal, social and emotional development, but weakest in physical development and maths, science and technology.
Regarding children's physical development, this was often hampered by 'inadequate facilities for energetic play', in particular the lack of suitable outdoor areas and shortcomings in the range and variety of equipment.
NIPPA, which represents playgroups and day nurseries in Northern Ireland, welcomed the report and said it was pleased with its findings. NIPPA director Siobhan Fitzpatrick, said, 'We are delighted that 70 per cent of the voluntary and independent sectors have been found to be providing children with a good education. Before 1998 there had been playgroups operating for more than 30 years that had been totally underfunded, receiving about 1,000 per year prior to the Pre-school Expansion Plan. Yet they have proved themselves able to meet the requirements and provide quality education.
'We weren't shocked about the areas for improvement, particularly with regard to physical recreation, for without Government funding for outdoor play the sector can't provide it.'
The report is on the DENI website on www.deni.gov.uk.
