52 Bush Road, Mosgiel
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
BestStart Mosgiel is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
BestStart Mosgiel provides all-day education and care for children, Monday to Friday. It is licensed for 55, including up to 15 under-two-year olds. Children learn and play in two rooms (Acorns for infants and toddlers; Mighty Oaks for older children). There has been extensive redevelopment of the indoor environment in the last two years.
The service is governed by BestStart Educare Ltd, a national organisation. A manager runs the day-to-day operations and head teachers have oversight of the two rooms. A BestStart professional services manager and a business manager support the centre and visit regularly. The manager, one head teacher and some of the teachers are new to this service.
The philosophy includes the learning priorities for children of:
tino rangatiratanga; developing the intrinsic motivation to be lifelong learners
manaakitanga and whanaungatanga; respecting and caring for themselves, others, their community and the environment
wananga and tūrangawaewae; essential life skills and knowing who they are and where they belong.
Leaders and teachers have made very good progress in addressing most of the key next steps in the 2016 ERO report. Extending and strengthening aspects of internal evaluation continues to be a priority.
Children benefit from the respectful, positive and caring interactions and relationships they have with their teachers. The focus on building their self-help and independence skills, identified in the philosophy, is clearly evident in practice. Children enjoy sustained interactions with each other and the engaging conversations and games they have with their teachers.
The centre's collaboratively developed philosophy and learning priorities contribute significantly to its localised curriculum. This is becoming increasingly evident in teachers' planning for learning and the way in which the environment is intentionally prepared. Children are encouraged to be inquisitive and to experiment, explore and question.
The centre is achieving positive outcomes for children. This is evident in:
the variety of broad and rich learning experiences that result in high levels of engagement, interest, physical activity and fun
the sense of belonging evident in the way children are comfortable in the centre, with teachers and their peers
the strong support provided for children's wellbeing
Children's (and teachers') learning experiences are deepened through the useful partnerships teaching teams are developing with parents. Leaders draw on parent expertise to enrich learning about aspects of te ao Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand. This should support Māori children to know that their language, culture and identity are valued.
Parents' aspirations for their children are intentionally sought, valued and included in planning for their learning. Parents and children benefit from the responsive way in which children's transitions through the centre and to school is being managed.
Infants and toddlers learn in an environment which is intentionally arranged to support their exploration and ongoing development. Routines are predictable yet flexible. Teachers' interactions with children are respectful and nurturing. Infants' and toddlers' growing independence is supported in carefully managed ways.
Leaders are focused on improvement and have made good progress in increasing the consistency of practice. Clarifying expectations and team building have contributed to this. Useful guidelines and frameworks positively support teachers to develop a shared understanding and contribute to the future direction of the centre. Aspects of leadership are being shared more widely with teachers.
A reflective team culture is evident. Leaders show drive and motivation to do the best for the children and the community. There is further scope for increasing the team's understanding and use of systematic, collaborative internal evaluation to better support decisions about change and improvement.
BestStart provides effective support for practice and operation. Effective systems are in place to monitor health and safety. A comprehensive appraisal system supports teachers to improve their practice. Professional development is provided to build the team's capability.
Managers, leaders and teachers at the centre have identified, and ERO's evaluation confirms that internal evaluation and planning at various levels of the centre's organisation require strengthening. Priorities for development are:
continuing to establish consistency in planning for children's learning including working towards achieving identified learning priorities
ensuring teachers consistently evaluate the impact of teaching strategies on planned outcomes for children
drawing widely from relevant information to evaluate how well the centre's curriculum is supporting children to achieve the identified learning priorities.
Managers and leaders should continue to build teachers' capability and use of internal evaluation processes as a means for making improvements.
Before the review, the staff and management of BestStart Mosgiel 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
9 September 2019
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 |
Mosgiel |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
80020 |
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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 |
55 children, including up to 15 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
66 |
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Gender composition |
37 Boys, 29 Girls |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
14 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% + |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:4 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:8 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
August 2019 |
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Date of this report |
9 September 2019 |
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Most recent ERO reports |
Education Review |
May 2016 |
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|
Education Review |
March 2014 |
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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 Mosgiel is owned and operated by the Best Start group. It provides education and care for 50 children. This includes 15 under the age of 2 who are cared for in a separate inside and outdoor area. A centre manager, an assistant manager and a head teacher form the centre's leadership team. The centre has made good progress with the recommendations from the 2014 ERO report and with plans to upgrade the facility.
Parents and children are warmly welcomed by teachers when they arrive at the centre. A strong sense of whanaungatanga and manaakitanga is evident. Teachers have improved the learning programme through the use of reviews of daily practices and routines. The focus on strengthening the centre routines has helped promote children’s sense of security and belonging.
Children are confident, settled and play meaningfully alone or with others. They cooperate at play and interact positively with one another.
The teachers know the children and their families well. They spend long periods of time talking with children and listening to their ideas. They use these conversations to support and extend the children’s interests and learning. Teachers meet with parents regularly to hear about the children’s changing needs and interests and to discuss the aspirations parents have for their children's learning. There are useful systems in place for the teachers to share this knowledge about children and plan experiences to extend and promote their strengths and abilities within the daily programme.
Children enjoy practising their physical skills in well-equipped outdoor areas. Outdoor spaces provide a range of opportunities for exploration. Centre resources allow for choice and opportunities for learning. Children also go out on excursions into the community. These experiences have a clear purpose and link to children’s interests and learning.
Teachers in the infant room provide good-quality care and education for young children. They work well as a team to interpret and respond to the subtle cues of the children. Teachers encourage children to be independent and are respectful of their choices and preferences.
The teachers value Māori culture. Aspects of te reo and tikanga Māori are evident in the daily programme. Children have the opportunity to hear some te reo and waiata in the course of the day and are becoming familiar with frequently used words and phrases. There are prompts and resources within the environment to support the use of Māori language.
Other features of the service that promote positive outcomes for children include the:
centre's culture of reflective practice and effective systems to guide and monitor ongoing improvement
use of reviews to strengthen teaching and build children’s social competence
variety of ways teachers and leaders support children with diverse needs
process of implementing a readiness-for-school programme that is progressive and includes a range of opportunities for numeracy and literacy learning.
Best Start has been effective and diligent in supporting the centre to address the actions required in the 2014 ERO report. The centre leaders have participated in leadership training which helped build their knowledge and confidence to put into practice new ideas. Leaders now have a vision for the centre and are bringing the teachers on board. High expectations for teaching practice have improved programmes for children and motivated the teachers. The leaders are aware of the next steps for the centre's future development.
Aspects needing further improvement include:
indoor curriculum provision in both rooms
bicultural practice and Māori perspectives in programmes
the quality of group and individual planning and evaluation and how this is documented
making parents' contributions more visible in planning documentation
including an observational component in the appraisal process.
It may be useful for leaders to more clearly identify the centre's key priorities for children’s learning. Greater alignment of the centre's philosophy, strategic plan, programme planning, and some teachers' appraisal goals could ease the workload and strengthen the focus on children's learning. The focus on improvement will be further supported through development of self review/ internal evaluation.
Leaders and teachers need to:
evaluate any changes made during review in terms of the impact on children
use indicators to guide their judgements
review the centre's philosophy, policies and procedures to evaluate how well they are working in practice.
Before the review, the staff and management of ABC Mosgiel 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:
curriculum
premises and facilities
health and safety practices
governance, management and administration.
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 Mosgiel will be in three years.
Chris Rowe
Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern (Acting)
4 May 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 |
Mosgiel |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
80020 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
50 children, including up to 15 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
69 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls: 37 Boys: 32 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Samoan Cook Island Chinese Other |
11 51 2 2 1 2 |
|
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Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
80% + |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:4 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:8 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
March 2016 |
||
|
Date of this report |
4 May 2016 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
March 2014 |
|
|
Education Review |
February 2011 |
||
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.