Cnr Williams St & Courtenay Dr, Kaiapoi
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
BestStart Kaiapoi is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
BestStart Kaiapoi is an early childhood education and care centre located in the township of Kaiapoi, North Canterbury. It offers all-day sessions for a maximum of 85 children, including up to 25 children under two years of age.
The centre, previously known as ABC Kaiapoi, now operates under the BestStart management structure. BestStart is a large organisation that owns early childhood education and care services across Aotearoa, New Zealand.
The centre's vision is, 'Respecting the early years to build foundations for the future.' This vision is underpinned by a philosophy that gives value to providing secure, well-resourced learning environments.
The centre is divided into five learning areas to cater for the specific needs of infants, toddlers, children aged two to three years, and children aged three to five years. Families at the centre represent an increasingly diverse local community.
Centre leaders have made steady progress related to the areas identified for further improvement in the February 2017 ERO report. This progress includes: clarifying valued outcomes for children's learning, improving assessment and planning practices, and deepening teachers' understanding of internal evaluation.
Children benefit from warm, positive relationships with each other and with adults. Peer interactions and collaboration are actively promoted, and children are expected to take increasing responsibility for themselves, others and their environment. Teachers take time to listen to children, to foster language and to promote authentic conversations. They work alongside children to construct learning experiences and support them to experiment and solve problems. Children with additional needs are well supported to participate actively in learning experiences.
Children under two years of age experience responsive and respectful care from teachers who promote their engagement and learning. The specialised environment provides for the holistic wellbeing of very young children.
Leaders and teachers are welcoming to all children, their parents and whānau. They consult with parents and whānau and encourage them to take an active role in planning a responsive, localised curriculum for their children. Teachers, parents and whānau engage in activities within their local community, developing a sense of belonging for children. Leaders and teachers are improvement focused. They work collaboratively to develop and implement effective systems for teaching and learning that contribute to positive outcomes for children.
The learning environment is well resourced and purposefully set up to support the social, emotional, cognitive and physical development of children. Learning spaces and resources encourage exploration, creativity and collaboration and support children to choose from a wide range of activities, including revisiting prior learning. Transitions between rooms are very well managed and flexible to allow for individual children’s readiness to move on. Māori culture is evident in the learning environment. Children hear te reo Māori throughout the programme and participate in learning experiences that build their knowledge and understanding of tikanga and te ao Māori.
The effective induction and ongoing training of leaders and teachers is well supported by BestStart managers and systems. BestStart policies and procedures provide clear guidance to the centre manager and teachers to support the effective operation of the centre. This includes the monitoring of the physical and emotional health and safety of all involved in the service.
Centre leaders have identified, and the ERO review process has confirmed, that the key next steps for improvement are to:
further develop partnerships to increase opportunities for parents and whānau to contribute their aspirations and expectations for their child's learning, and to work collaboratively to achieve them
strengthen bicultural and cultural commitments by making the language, culture and identity of individual children more visible and explicit in assessment, planning and evaluation throughout the centre
align planned internal evaluation more closely with the centre’s vision, goals and philosophy to effectively monitor the impact of strategic improvement plans on outcomes for children.
Before the review, the staff and management of BestStart Kaiapoi 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 |
Kaiapoi |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
70065 |
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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 |
85 children, including up to 25 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
115 |
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Gender composition |
Males 48%, Females 52% |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
18% |
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Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
50-79% |
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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 |
January 2020 |
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Date of this report |
30 March 2020 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
February 2017 |
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|
Education Review |
November 2013 |
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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 Kaiapoi provides individualised education and care for 85 children from birth to school age, 25 of whom are under two years old. Children learn in well-resourced, purpose-built environments. These consist of five classrooms and three connecting outdoor areas: one shared by infants and toddlers, one shared by two and three-year-olds and one for four-year-old children.
The service has a stable leadership team consisting of four head teachers, one for each area, and a centre manager. Recently, children in two of the areas have experienced staff changes. Nearly all teachers are qualified early childhood teachers.
Since the October 2013 ERO review report, the managers and staff have strengthened planning and assessment and the use of internal evaluation to improve the quality of learning and teaching. Individual teachers are developing their use and understanding of te reo and tikanga Māori. This is an area identified by ERO as needing further development across the service.
ABC Kaiapoi is a warm and welcoming place for children and their families/whānau. Teachers know the children well. They build strong and trusting relationships with children and their families and whānau. They model care and respect, and support children to develop friendships and social skills. They are deepening their partnerships with parents and seeking ways to give families and whānau a greater say in key aspects of the service. Centre leaders intend to develop this further, especially seeking and responding to all parents' wishes for their children's learning.
Children in all areas of the service experience environments for learning that:
are calm and settled
have ample space and resources and free-flow between indoor and outdoor play
are flexible and responsive to children's needs, especially for those who stay for long days.
Infants and toddlers benefit from playing and learning in small groups and individualised care routines. Their teachers have close nurturing relationships with them and are responsive to their verbal and non-verbal cues.
A strength of the service is the careful thought given to transitions into the centre and on to school. These are well managed and support the wellbeing of parents and children.
Children take part in a programme of care and learning that has a wide range of interesting experiences relevant for children of all ages. Children's individual goals are clearly visible in each classroom. Teachers use these to decide what to provide in addition to the core programme. Leaders have identified that the next step is for each room to determine key priorities for all children's learning and use these to inform programme provision and assessment practices.
Leaders have identified that developing guidelines for effective assessment may help with greater consistency of practice. They have been strengthening assessment practices, and providing mentoring and peer support for new teachers.
There is a strategic goal to develop meaningful understanding and development of the centre's bicultural curriculum. Some teachers are undertaking professional learning. This is an area for further development.
The centre manager is fostering and developing collaborative teamwork. She is building shared leadership amongst her team. They are motivated to keep improving teaching practice and, with the support of the professional service manager, are deepening their understanding of internal evaluation. They should continue to build teachers' confidence with this.
The philosophy states the shared beliefs of the service. When this is reviewed, it should also include the agreed desired learning outcomes for their children. This should include key Māori values that are important in the centre. The strategic plan outlines key priorities for the service. The centre manager acknowledges that making better use of this will help her prioritise her workload and maintain a focus on development.
There are well-developed systems and processes in place to help achieve 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. Professional learning is promoted at all levels of the organisation. A strengthened appraisal system leading to greater in-depth reflection is in place and would be further enhanced by making links to Tātaiako (cultural competencies). The centre manager needs to ensure that this process is embedded.
Centre leaders and ERO agree that the key steps for improving outcomes for children are to:
continue to develop systems that support consistently high quality planning and assessment practices
continue to deepen teacher understanding of internal evaluation
clarify the service's desired outcomes for children and ensure these are embedded in key documents, such as the philosophy
continue to develop bicultural practice.
Before the review, the staff and management of ABC Kaiapoi 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 Kaiapoi will be in three years.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern (Te Waipounamu)
8 February 2017
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 |
Kaiapoi |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
70065 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
85 children, including up to 25 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
118 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys: 55% Girls: 45% |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Pacific Other ethnicities |
11% 69% 10% 10% |
|
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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 |
|
|
Review team on site |
November 2016 |
||
|
Date of this report |
8 February 2017 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
October 2013 |
|
|
Supplementary Review |
June 2010 |
||
|
Education Review |
June 2009 |
||
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.