Achieve and Maintain Regulatory Compliance with the New Annual Review!

Aim to achieve and maintain regulatory compliance with the new Annual Review for Early Years Services. This comprehensive new document was developed by Childcare Experts Canavan Byrne in line with Tusla's Quality and Regulatory Framework (QRF) and the Early Years Services Regulations 2016.

Under TUSLA’s Regulation 14 (Governance), Early Years Services are expected to conduct a comprehensive Annual Review (in the form of a comprehensive self-assessment). This review examines the implementation of policies and procedures from the previous year and assesses where practices can be improved upon for the future. Tusla states;

‘As a registered provider, you must ensure that the Quality and Safety of the care and service provided to children is reviewed at least once a year in line with the regulations. The review is a formal assessment of the service, including its policies, procedures and statements, with the intention of making changes if necessary. A review of practice helps you to make informed judgements about the quality and effectiveness of the service, with a view to improving the quality of care and education of the children. You must keep a record of the review for three years after it was done.’

This new documentation from Canavan Byrne will guide and help services to carry out this annual review.

Achieve and Maintain Regulatory Compliance: 5 Main Objectives

1. To assess policies, procedures and statements - To ensure all of the correct paperwork is on file and/or on display to meet regulatory compliance. Similarly, to ensure that policies, procedures and statements are implemented correctly in every day practice.
2. The assess safety - To assess the safety of an early years service. This is divided into three parts - Safety of Premises, Safety of Care Rooms and Facilities and Safety of Outdoor Space.
3. To assess quality - To ensure that the service is meeting all of the quality requirements in relation to the care and education of children.
4. To identify and make changes - The annual review will help services to identify and make changes. This allows services to improve the quality of care and education of the children for the coming year.
5. To record outcomes and improvements - The outcome of an annual review needs to be recorded and kept on file for three years. The outcome will highlight where improvements need to be made (if any).

Each section of the document includes a Score Page, an Audit List and an Action Plan. The Score Page allows services to score themselves for each item listed and a subtotal at the end indicates how services are performing. The Audit List allows services to form a list of practices that are missing, unavailable, not in use, N/A or not practiced etc. From the Audit List an Action Plan can be created. The Action Plan allows services to input the Corrective and Preventative Measures to ensure a specific area is correctly addressed. Furthermore, it ensures that the prevention of recurrence is actioned going forward. 

For more information on this new pack, have a look at the below video from Canavan Byrne's General Manager, Jennifer Lee, who explains this comprehensive new pack in more detail! Remember all Early Years Resource Factory members receive a 15% discount on the pack ( a savings of €27.00!)!