122 - 124 Harrison Street, Allenton, Ashburton
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
BestStart Allenton is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
BestStart Allenton, previously known as ABC Allenton, operates under the BestStart management structure. BestStart is a large national organisation that owns early childhood education services across Aotearoa New Zealand.
BestStart Allenton is licensed for 60 children, including 24 aged up to two years. Families from an increasing range of cultural backgrounds attend the centre. Some children are learning English as an additional language.
Children play and learn in four separate rooms specifically organised to meet the needs of age groups. There are two shared outdoor play areas, one for older children and the other for the youngest children. The centre philosophy emphasises personalised care, nurturing relationships, the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and learning through play.
The centre manager has responsibility for the day-to-day operation of the centre. Most staff are qualified early childhood teachers. They are supported by a small number of untrained caregivers. Since the December 2016 ERO review there have been significant staff changes including the appointment of a new centre manager. Three head teachers were promoted from within the centre, and different BestStart professional services and business managers are supporting the team.
The centre manager has established links with local schools and early childhood services and applied for membership of the Hakatere Kāhui Ako | Community of Learning (CoL).
Since the 2016 ERO review, the centre has made good progress in addressing most areas for development. However, more work is needed to build culturally responsive practice and programmes.
Children experience respectful, caring relationships with each other, their teachers and staff. This helps to foster their sense of belonging and wellbeing while at the centre. Children confidently engage in their chosen activities. They have many opportunities to work cooperatively in small groups. Some children work alone while exploring activities and equipment at their own pace.
Leaders and teachers are inclusive and welcoming. They place strong emphasis on building positive relationships with children and whānau. This is clearly evident in planning for learning and daily interactions. Teachers use an appropriate range of questions to extend learning and help children develop their social skills. Teachers support children to interact successfully with others and resolve conflict.
Teachers have successfully trialled new assessment, planning and evaluation processes. They identify key learning priorities and regularly plan to extend these for individual children. They now need to evaluate the consistency of teachers' assessment practices, strengthen group planning and ensure that their assessment, planning and evaluation processes meet the intended purpose and expectations.
Leaders and teachers are highly responsive to children with additional needs. They work in partnership with whānau and external agencies to provide flexible support and achieve positive outcomes for children and whānau.
Infants and toddlers experience nurturing interactions within the unhurried learning programme. They confidently seek the company of familiar adults. Teachers and caregivers skilfully follow children's interests and individual care routines. They sensitively respond to children's cues and purposefully foster communication skills and language development.
Transition into the centre is thoughtfully based on the needs of each child and family. As children move between rooms their transition is supported naturally by the way they play together in the shared outdoor areas. Teachers encourage children to be independent and develop self-management skills to support their successful transition to school.
The teaching team effectively evaluated the centre philosophy. As a new team, they established shared understanding of centre-wide learning priorities and values that guide teaching practice.
The centre manager promotes improved outcomes for children by ensuring consistent, shared leadership approaches across the centre. The leadership team makes strategic decisions alongside the very relevant support provided by the BestStart professional services and business managers. Regular monitoring of the strategic plan by the whole team helps to maintain a strong focus on improvement. The well-established internal evaluation process results in positive changes to teaching practices.
Leaders and teachers are well supported by BestStart managers and systems. BestStart has a well-established management structure. Policies and procedures provide clear guidance to centre managers and teachers for the operation of the centre and the maintenance of health and safety for children and adults.
BestStart managers and ERO agree that key next steps are to:
refine assessment, planning and evaluation processes and practices to clearly show how parent aspirations are used, teaching strategies are planned and evaluated, and children's languages and cultures are valued and recognised
increase teachers' understanding of culturally responsive practice to promote success for Māori, Pacific and all children by making this practice more visible in all aspects of centre operations, including key documentation
evaluate the range and use of resources designed to support the quality of interactions for learning
Before the review, the staff and management of BestStart Allenton completed an ERO Centre Assurance Statement and Self-Audit Checklist. In these documents they attested that they have taken all reasonable steps to meet their legal obligations related to:
During the review, ERO looked at the service’s systems for managing the following areas that have a potentially high impact on children's wellbeing:
emotional safety (including positive guidance and child protection)
physical safety (including supervision; sleep procedures; accidents; medication; hygiene; excursion policies and procedures)
suitable staffing (including qualification levels; police vetting; teacher registration; ratios)
evacuation procedures and practices for fire and earthquake.
All early childhood services are required to promote children's health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region - Te Tai Tini
30 March 2020
The Education Review Office (ERO) is the government department that, as part of its work, reviews early childhood services throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. ERO’s reports provide information for parents and communities about each service’s strengths and next steps for development. ERO’s bicultural evaluation framework Ngā Pou Here is described in SECTION 3 of this report. Early childhood services are partners in the review process and are expected to make use of the review findings to enhance children's wellbeing and learning.
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Location |
Ashburton |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
70113 |
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Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
60 children, including up to 24 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
103 |
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Gender composition |
Male 53% Female 47% |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
13% |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% + |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:5 |
Meets minimum requirements |
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Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
December 2019 |
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Date of this report |
30 March 2020 |
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Most recent ERO reports |
Education Review |
December 2016 |
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Education Review |
July 2013 |
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Education Review |
June 2010 |
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ERO’s overarching question for an early childhood education review is ‘How well placed is this service to promote positive learning outcomes for children?’ ERO focuses on the following factors as described in the bicultural framework Ngā Pou Here:
Pou Whakahaere – how the service determines its vision, philosophy and direction to ensure positive outcomes for children
Pou Ārahi – how leadership is enacted to enhance positive outcomes for children
Mātauranga – whose knowledge is valued and how the curriculum is designed to achieve positive outcomes for children
Tikanga whakaako – how approaches to teaching and learning respond to diversity and support positive outcomes for children.
Within these areas ERO considers the effectiveness of arotake – self review and of whanaungatanga – partnerships with parents and whānau.
ERO evaluates how well placed a service is to sustain good practice and make ongoing improvements for the benefit of all children at the service.
A focus for the government is that all children, especially priority learners, have an opportunity to benefit from quality early childhood education. ERO will report on how well each service promotes positive outcomes for all children, with a focus on children who are Māori, Pacific, have diverse needs, and are up to the age of two.
For more information about the framework and Ngā Pou Here refer to ERO’s Approach to Review in Early Childhood Services.
The overall judgement that ERO makes will depend on how well the service promotes positive learning outcomes for children. The categories are:
Very well placed
Well placed
Requires further development
Not well placed
ERO has developed criteria for each category. These are available on ERO’s website.
ERO reviews are tailored to each service’s context and performance, within the overarching review framework. The aim is to provide information on aspects that are central to positive outcomes for children and useful to the service.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
ABC Allenton is owned and operated by the BestStart Group. The service provides full-day education and care for up to 60 children aged from birth to school age. The service's roll has become increasingly diverse with children from a range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Children are grouped in four rooms according to age and readiness. The Ruru and Takahē rooms are for infants and toddlers while older children are in the Kererū and Pūkeko rooms.
A centre manager and two head teachers form the leadership team. A BestStart Business manager and BestStart Professional Services manager visit regularly to support the service.
Since the 2013 ERO review, there have been a number of staff changes. This includes a new centre manager and BestStart managers in early 2015.
The BestStart managers have ensured there are systems to address the recommendations of the 2013 ERO report. Progress has been made in all areas.
In particular:
the resources and outdoor area are now more challenging for older children
routines are increasingly responsive to children's needs and preferences
a strengthened appraisal system is contributing to shared understandings of high quality teaching practices.
This review was part of a cluster of six reviews in the BestStart Group in Canterbury.
The service philosophy clearly states the service's commitment to establishing strong, respectful relationships with children, whānau and the wider community. This is strongly evident in practice. Children and their whānau benefit from the caring, supportive relationships they have with their teachers and each other.
The service managers have high expectations for children's learning and teacher practice. They are supporting teachers to provide programmes where children:
are increasingly enabled to be independent and make choices from a wide range of resources and experiences
learn the skills of relating positively to one another
feel a sense of belonging and respect
are well equipped with the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes to be 'school ready'.
Infants and toddlers benefit from the small group sizes that enable close and nurturing relationships between them and their caregivers. A good range of open ended and natural resources stimulate their curiosity and exploration.
The service leaders and BestStart managers have strategically identified the need to provide an environment that enables the participation of Māori children and their whānau. They also see the need to provide a programme that values the children's languages and cultures. There is detailed planning in place to achieve these priorities. The leaders and managers agree there is still work to do in these areas. For example, they have identified key Māori values desired to underpin their practice. They could make these values explicit in the centre philosophy and evaluate how embedded these are in practice.
The service leaders and BestStart managers have been improving systems for planning, assessment and evaluation for groups and individual children. In the best examples, teachers were clear about the learning they were supporting and the strategies they intended to use to help children progress in their learning. The next step is to ensure greater consistency of practice across the service. The managers and leaders agreed that developing guidelines of effective assessment practice would help them to monitor and improve all teachers' practice. In particular, they should ensure that children's written assessments:
value children's social and cultural backgrounds
recognise and respond to parents' wishes for their children's learning.
They should also find ways to make the group planning visible for teachers and whānau in the classrooms.
The centre manager is fostering and developing collaborative teamwork. There is a strong culture of improvement and critical reflection. Leaders and teachers have improved aspects of the programmes and practices. Internal evaluation practices would be strengthened by having an evaluative focus (asking 'how well?') and by using indicators (examples of best practice) at all stages of the evaluation.
The philosophy and strategic plan give useful guidance for decision making and outline the direction for the service. When the philosophy is next reviewed it should also include the service's desired learning outcomes for children.
There are well-developed systems and processes in place to help services achieve the BestStart’s expectations for high quality education and care. This includes regular monitoring and support for the quality of practice (identifying what is going well and what the centre needs to do next to improve).
A strengthened appraisal system leading to greater reflection is in place and would be further enhanced by making links to Tātaiako (cultural competencies). Professional learning is promoted at all levels of the organisation.
ERO and the centre leaders agree the key next steps to improve outcomes for children are to:
clarify the service's desired outcomes for children and ensure these are embedded in key documents such as the philosophy
continue to strengthen the consistency of planning and assessment practices
refine aspects of internal evaluation
continue to build culturally responsive programmes and practices.
Before the review, the staff and management of ABC Allenton completed an ERO Centre Assurance Statement and Self-Audit Checklist. In these documents they attested that they have taken all reasonable steps to meet their legal obligations related to:
During the review, ERO looked at the service’s systems for managing the following areas that have a potentially high impact on children's wellbeing:
emotional safety (including positive guidance and child protection)
physical safety (including supervision; sleep procedures; accidents; medication; hygiene; excursion policies and procedures)
suitable staffing (including qualification levels; police vetting; teacher registration; ratios)
evacuation procedures and practices for fire and earthquake.
All early childhood services are required to promote children's health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.
The next ERO review of ABC Allenton will be in three years.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Deputy Chief Review Officer
Te Waipounamu Southern
20 December 2016
The Education Review Office (ERO) is the government department that, as part of its work, reviews early childhood services throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. ERO’s reports provide information for parents and communities about each service’s strengths and next steps for development. ERO’s bicultural evaluation framework Ngā Pou Here is described in SECTION 3 of this report. Early childhood services are partners in the review process and are expected to make use of the review findings to enhance children's wellbeing and learning.
|
Location |
Ashburton |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
70113 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
60 children, including up to 24 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
89 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys: 46 Girls: 43 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Pasifika Filipino Other ethnicities |
6 61 3 8 11 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
80% + |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:4 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Over 2 |
1:8 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
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Review team on site |
October 2016 |
||
|
Date of this report |
20 December 2016 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
July 2013 |
|
|
Education Review |
June 2010 |
||
ERO’s overarching question for an early childhood education review is ‘How well placed is this service to promote positive learning outcomes for children?’ ERO focuses on the following factors as described in the bicultural framework Ngā Pou Here:
Pou Whakahaere – how the service determines its vision, philosophy and direction to ensure positive outcomes for children
Pou Ārahi – how leadership is enacted to enhance positive outcomes for children
Mātauranga – whose knowledge is valued and how the curriculum is designed to achieve positive outcomes for children
Tikanga whakaako – how approaches to teaching and learning respond to diversity and support positive outcomes for children.
Within these areas ERO considers the effectiveness of arotake – self review and of whanaungatanga – partnerships with parents and whānau.
ERO evaluates how well placed a service is to sustain good practice and make ongoing improvements for the benefit of all children at the service.
A focus for the government is that all children, especially priority learners, have an opportunity to benefit from quality early childhood education. ERO will report on how well each service promotes positive outcomes for all children, with a focus on children who are Māori, Pacific, have diverse needs, and are up to the age of two.
For more information about the framework and Ngā Pou Here refer to ERO’s Approach to Review in Early Childhood Services.
The overall judgement that ERO makes and the timing of the next review will depend on how well placed a service is to promote positive learning outcomes for children. The categories are:
ERO has developed criteria for each category. These are available on ERO’s website.
ERO reviews are tailored to each service’s context and performance, within the overarching review framework. The aim is to provide information on aspects that are central to positive outcomes for children and useful to the service.