Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 December 2022
306. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Education if actions such as suspensions, exclusions, isolations, restraint and prone restraint appear in inspection reports; if not, if they will appear in reports as soon as possible; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [60582/22]
View answerSchools are obliged to maintain records of students’ attendance. Student Absence Reports (SAR) are submitted by schools to Tusla twice a year for those students absent from school for a cumulative total of 20 days or more. Only children over the age of 6 years and children who have not reached the age of 16 years or have not completed 3 years of post-primary education, whichever occurs later, are included, in accordance with the legislation which stipulates that attendance is compulsory from ages 6 to 16. The Education Welfare Service (EWS) must also be informed when a school intends to suspend a student for a period of not less than 6 consecutive school days or where the Board of Management has agreed to expel a student. In addition each school should complete and submit an Annual Attendance Report (AAR) to Tusla within 6 weeks of the end of the school year. The AAR is a whole school report on the attendance of all students in the school including those aged under 6 and over 16 (students attending PLC or adult education courses should not be included).
Tusla Education Support Services (TESS) publish an Annual Attendance Report on the levels of school attendance each year. This report provides details on rates of non-attendance, expulsion, and suspensions in all primary and post-primary schools at national level.
The published reports are available at - Research and StatisticsTusla - Child and Family Agency
The Inspectorate of the Department of Education works to improve the quality of learning for children and young people in Irish schools, early learning and care settings, centres for education and other learning settings. This is done through the provision of high quality evaluation, analysis and advice.
Inspections are carried out in accordance with Section 7(2)(b) and Section 13(3)(a)(i) of the Education Act 1998, and with the Code of Practice for the Department of Education Inspectorate (2022).
Responsibility for school improvement rests primarily with the board of management, principal and staff of individual schools and school management and teachers are encouraged to reflect on the quality of teaching, learning and student achievement in their schools. External inspections of schools facilitate improvement and change in schools. They provide an external perspective on the work of the school.
Inspectors and inspection reports provide judgements on the quality of provision in a school, affirm the aspects of practice that are working well and help to inform and complement the school’s self-evaluation process. Recommendations in inspection reports provide important direction for the school community as it seeks to bring about ongoing school improvement. Almost all inspection types focus on the quality of teaching, learning, assessment and student achievement. Depending on the focus of the evaluation, they may also focus on the quality of support for students, the quality of action planning for school improvement, and the quality of leadership and management.
As part of all school inspections, the Inspectorate evaluates and reports on the work of the school in creating a school culture that prevents and tackles bullying and/or implementing key aspects of the Anti-Bullying Procedures for Primary and Post-primary Schools (2013). These procedures give direction and guidance to school authorities and school personnel on how to prevent and address school-based bullying behaviour, and on how to deal with any negative impact within school of bullying behaviour that occurs elsewhere. As part of whole-school type evaluation work, inspectors review schools’ published code of practice and make judgements in relation to its application in classrooms and across the school.
