11 Colemans Road, Springlands, Blenheim
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
ABC Springlands operates under the BestStart Educare Ltd management structure. BestStart is a large national organisation that owns early childhood centres across New Zealand.
The centre provides education and care for children up to school age. It is licensed for 79 children, including up to 25 children aged up to two years old. The programme is organised across four separate rooms, with different age groups in each room. Children come from a diverse range of cultures. The centre provides lunch and snacks with a focus on promoting healthy food.
A centre manager oversees the day-to-day operation of the centre. Head teachers lead the programmes and practices in each room. A BestStart business manager (BM) and professional services manager (PSM) visit regularly to support the service. Most staff are trained early childhood teachers. A new centre manager and new head teachers began their leadership positions in the last 12 months. There have been changes in the BestStart support structure and PSM.
The centre is committed to the Treaty of Waitangi through its environment, resources and relationships. After a recent review of the philosophy, the centre is placing a greater focus on supporting the development of the whole child (social, emotional, physical and cognitive). This focus links to the centre's learning priorities of children being confident, independent, curious and with good self-esteem.
The centre has made very good progress in addressing the areas identified in the 2015 ERO report. This progress is part of the findings in this report.
Leaders and teachers implement useful internal evaluation processes for improving outcomes for children's wellbeing and learning. Evaluations are well informed by a range of information, including parent voice. Internal evaluations have led to:
Teachers and leaders have strengthened their relationships with children's parents and whānau. This has been achieved through deliberate actions to:
The emotional and physical wellbeing of infants and toddlers is effectively supported by teachers who encourage children to explore and be challenged. Teachers skilfully support infants and toddlers in their development of gross-motor skills and independence, and provide well-considered opportunities for sensory play. These appropriate priorities for children's learning are clearly articulated and reflected in programmes, planning and assessments.
Leaders are using effective systems to build collective capacity and sustainability within the centre. Teachers and leaders receive useful feedback from the BestStart leadership. Relevant key priorities for centre development are identified and well aligned to strategic planning and internal evaluation for improvement. The PSM and centre manager implement a well-considered team approach to new developments across the centre.
Centre leaders have identified, and ERO agrees, they need to implement a robust appraisal process that follows the BestStart guidelines.
ERO supports the centre's long-term plan to embed the recently developed assessment, planning and evaluation procedures. Leaders need to ensure:
Before the review, the staff and management of ABC Springlands 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 Springlands will be in three years.
Alan Wynyard
Director Review & Improvement Services Southern
Te Waipounamu - Southern Region
21 September 2018
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 |
Blenheim |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
65223 |
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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 |
79 children, including up to 25 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
118 |
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Gender composition |
Girls: 69 Boys: 49 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
21 |
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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 |
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Over 2 |
1:8 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
July 2018 |
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Date of this report |
21 September 2018 |
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Most recent ERO reports |
Education Reviews |
August 2015 |
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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:
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.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
ABC Springlands operates under the BestStart Educare Ltd management structure. BestStart (previously known as Kidicorp Ltd) is a large national organisation that owns early childhood centres across New Zealand.
The centre provides education and care for children up to school age and is licensed for 79 children, including up to 25 children aged up to two years old. The centre is organised in rooms that cater for different age groups of children. There are also separate outdoor play areas for each room. The centre provides lunch and snacks with a focus on promoting healthy food.
A centre manager oversees the day to day operation of the centre. BestStart provides advice and support through regular visits and contact from an area manager. Most of the staff are trained early childhood teachers.
A significant factor in the development of this centre has been a history of ongoing changes in centre ownership and management practices.
The centre is a purpose-built learning environment. The outdoor areas have been recently upgraded to provide more flexible and accessible learning opportunities. Learning environments are attractive and well resourced. Teachers make purposeful selections of equipment and resources that will suit children's interests, strengths and needs.
There are positive and caring interactions between teachers and children in all rooms of the centre. Teachers are involved with the children during their play. The appraisal system provides a useful process for teachers to receive feedback about the quality of their teaching. Managers have a good understanding of individual teacher’s strengths and next steps to help teachers continue to improve their practice.
The interactions with the youngest children are a particular strength of the centre. Infants and toddlers benefit from caring and responsive interactions with their teachers. They give children choices and take into consideration their preferences. They know the children in their care well and use this knowledge effectively to provide nurturing and respectful care routines.
Teachers regularly notice individual children's needs and strengths and make useful plans on how they will extend these within the programme. The records they keep about children's learning highlight the wide range of experiences and activities children are part of during their time at the centre. These experiences include good opportunities to make links with the local community by having excursions away from the centre.
Teachers have strengthened the way they support children and their families as they move from one age group to the next within centre. The work teachers have undertaken has resulted in greater centre wide collaboration among staff.
Teachers are responsive to parent feedback. They have increased the ways they seek parents’ aspirations about their children's learning.
Since 2013 ERO review, staffing is more settled with less staff turnover. There is now an established middle management structure that provides good support to teachers and families. The managers have established better cohesion among the teaching teams. Centre wide self review has also improved consistency in practices across the rooms.
BestStart has many systems to help centres improve learning outcomes for children. These include:
The area manager, centre manager and teachers now need to develop clearer understandings of, and make better use of, BestStart’s systems for monitoring the quality of education at the centre. This includes developing strategic planning that is useful for prioritising and guiding centre improvement, and reviewing how well some practices meet the BestStart Be School Ready indicators.
In addition ERO and managers agree that other key next steps include the centre manager and teachers:
Before the review, the staff and management of ABC Springlands 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:
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 Springlands will be in three years. ERO has requested an action plan from the centre detailing how it will respond to the areas for improvement identified in this report.
Chris Rowe
Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern (Acting)
5 August 2015
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 |
Blenheim |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
65223 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
79 children, including up to 25 aged under two |
||
|
Service roll |
87 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls 48; Boys 39 |
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|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Pacific Asian Indian Other European Latin American |
11 58 4 5 3 4 2 |
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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 |
|
Over 2 |
1:8 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
June 2015 |
||
|
Date of this report |
5 August 2015 |
||
|
Most recent ERO reports |
Education Review |
August 2013 |
|
|
Education Review |
May 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:
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.