BestStart Te Aroha

Education institution number:
34114
Service type:
Education and Care Service
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
57
Telephone:
Address:

72 Rewi Street, Te Aroha

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BestStart Te Aroha

ERO’s Akanuku | Assurance Review reports provide information about whether a service meets and maintains regulatory standards. Further information about Akanuku | Assurance Reviews is included at the end of this report.

ERO’s Judgement

Regulatory standards

ERO’s judgement

Curriculum

Meeting

Premises and facilities

Meeting

Health and safety

Meeting

Governance, management and administration

Meeting

At the time of the review, ERO found the service was taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.

Background

BestStart Te Aroha is a purpose built, education and care service governed and managed by Best Start Educare Ltd. Children play and learn in two age-based rooms. The service has strengthened systems and processes with support from the Ministry of Education since the June 2015 ERO review.

Summary of Review Findings

Positive and meaningful interactions between children and adults support the development of social competence. The curriculum is informed by assessment, planning and evaluation that demonstrates an understanding of children’s learning. It reflects the unique place of Māori as tangata whenua. Parents’ aspirations inform individualised learning plans. Teachers seek information and guidance from external agencies to support children with additional learning and development needs. The centre’s philosophy statement guides it’s operation.

Key Next Steps

Next steps include:

  • providing children with a range of resources and opportunities to enhance and extend their learning and development
  • continue to strengthen the service’s curriculum providing children with a range of opportunities to enhance and extend their learning and development.

The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.

Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui

9 March 2021 

Information About the Service

Early Childhood Service Name BestStart Te Aroha
Profile Number 34114
Location Te Aroha

Service type

Education and care service

Number licensed for

49 children, including up to 15 aged under 2.

Percentage of qualified teachers

80%+

Service roll

59

Ethnic composition

Māori 21, NZ European/Pākehā 30, Asian 7, Other ethnic groups 1.   

Review team on site

January 2021

Date of this report

9 March 2021

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review, June 2015

Education Review, July 2012

General Information about Assurance Reviews

All services are licensed under the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008. The legal requirements for early childhood services also include the Licensing Criteria for Education and Care Services 2008.

Services must meet the standards in the regulations and the requirements of the licensing criteria to gain and maintain a licence to operate.

ERO undertakes an Akanuku | Assurance Review process in any centre-based service:

  • having its first ERO review – including if it is part of a governing organisation
  • previously identified as ‘not well placed’ or ‘requiring further development’
  • that has moved from a provisional to a full licence
  • that have been re-licenced due to a change of ownership
  • where an Akanuku | Assurance Review process is determined to be appropriate.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

All early childhood services are required to promote children’s health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements. Before the review, the staff and management of a service 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.

As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO assesses whether the regulated standards are being met. In particular, ERO looks at a 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 certification; ratios)
  • evacuation procedures and practices for fire and earthquake.

As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO also gathers and records evidence through:

  • discussions with those involved in the service
  • consideration of relevant documentation, including the implementation of health and safety systems
  • observations of the environment/premises, curriculum implementation and teaching practice.

ABC Te Aroha - 05/06/2015

1. Evaluation of ABC Te Aroha

How well placed is ABC Te Aroha to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Not well placed

Requires further development

Well placed

Very well placed

ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.

Background

ABC Te Aroha is an education and care service that is owned and operated by Kidicorp Limited. It is located in the town of Te Aroha and is licensed for 49 children including 15 under the age of 2. At the time of this ERO review 71 children were enrolled, 17 of whom identified as Māori. The centre offers sessional and full-day care and is open from 7.30 am to 5.30 pm Monday to Friday.

The centre’s philosophy emphasises children’s natural leadership, a tuakana-teina system where older children assist younger peers to learn, and includes the vital role the whole community plays in the development of a child. The children from the centre come from a diverse range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

The centre operates two buildings on one site. The Pēpi building houses the infants and toddlers and the Rimu building caters for those children 2.5 to 5 years of age. The centre has recently completed a large number of refurbishments, which includes a large playroom in the Pēpi building and the infant and toddler outdoor play area. Plans have been approved to upgrade the Rimu outdoor area to further extend children’s physical play and exploration.

The teaching staff has remained consistent since the last ERO review in 2012. There have been several changes in the management team. The Kidicorp Professional Services Manager has changed and there have been several new centre managers. The majority of teachers are qualified early childhood teachers and one is in training. The centre has a positive reporting history with ERO.

The Review Findings

Teachers are very effective in using the community as a tool for learning. They recently received an internal Kidicorp award for the way they involve the community in the life of the centre. Children benefit from fortnightly trips to local schools, wetlands excursions, toddler time at the library, shopping and visits to the post office. Children’s understanding of their local community is enhanced by regular visits from people such as fire fighters, post office workers, and the plunket mascot and dog trainers. The Rimu building features a large mural which depicts important characteristics and landmarks of the local community. This was a joint initiative that involved parents, children, teachers, local kaumatua, and a local artist.

Children from different ethnic backgrounds benefit from effective strategies that promote their sense of belonging. Some examples of this are culture days, greetings in various languages, and celebrating Tongan Independence Day. A feature of the centre is the way staff, parents and children celebrate the diversity within the centre and use food as a tool for learning about the different cultures. Planting, growing and harvesting vegetables and caring for animals is a significant part of the programme. There are many opportunities for children to increase their numeracy and literacy knowledge. The 'Be School Ready' programme is designed to promote and encourage children’s independence and self-managing skills in preparation for school.

Teachers have strong and responsive systems for programme planning, which include goals for both teachers and children and a rich variety of activities. Assessment systems are effective. Teachers have an extensive knowledge base that they refer to when identifying and documenting children’s learning. Kidicorp’s online portal Story Park, is well used by teachers. Learning stories posted to the portal by teachers are accompanied by learning tags that build parent understanding of how to support learning at home. Parents comment on stories which enable them to be more involved in their child’s learning. Story Park can also be shared with extended family, who upload family stories, which teachers use to extend individual programmes. The centre also utilises Story Park to share children’s ongoing progress with outside specialists who work alongside children with special needs. Teachers compose six monthly learning summaries and conduct face-to-face interviews with parents to inform them of their child’s progress with learning and to develop future learning goals. ERO and centre managers agree that it is timely to investigate systems for tracking and monitoring child progress that promote intentional teaching in everyday interactions and a greater focus on planning for individual learning.

ERO observed positive, warm, respectful relationships between children and teachers and an environment conducive to learning. Teachers demonstrated a range of effective teaching strategies including:

  • the promotion of rich oral language in the under two area
  • high quality care and nurturing for the babies and toddlers
  • open-ended questioning to extend the child’s learning
  • offering children choices that promote their sense of empowerment and independence
  • consistent expectations and positive guidance systems throughout the centre that promote children’s social skills and contribute to a calm and settled environment
  • displays that effectively inform parents about learning and development and teacher goals that link to learning
  • the integration of te reo Māori in authentic and meaningful contexts throughout the day.

These strategies promote positive learning outcomes for all children.

Teachers have created a unified team. They support each other with constructive feedback about teaching strategies that improve outcomes for children. They share professional learning and research that promotes best practice, critical reflection, and their own personal development goals. Appraisal is used effectively by teachers as a tool for improving practice.

The environment is well resourced. It invites individual exploration and offers opportunities for learning through creativity and play. Outdoor areas provide challenges for children, encouraging them to take risks in a closely monitored environment.

A structured and flexible transition programme from home into the centre and within the age-group areas is responsive to the child’s needs and development. The centre has established meaningful relationships with local schools. These relationships support transitions for children and information sharing with teachers.

Centre leaders and ERO agree that it is necessary for the centre to strengthen their bicultural practices by:

  • further developing the use of te reo Māori
  • deepening their understanding of Māori preferred ways of teaching and learning and enact this in their everyday practice
  • building meaningful relationships with local iwi and marae.

Leadership at the centre is well supported by the Kidicorp management structure. While there have been a number of changes in leadership roles, the regional managers have implemented strategies to provide consistency for staff and children. Centre managers have maintained a collaborative leadership style. They are actively working towards developing a vision of leadership, where all staff share decision making across all aspects of centre operations. Leaders utilise the strengths within the teaching staff to grow capability in others. Teachers and managers appreciate the professional development opportunities for building leadership capabilities provided by Kidicorp and have incorporated many aspects of their new learning into everyday practice.

Kidicorp systems and processes have allowed the centre to develop its own identity and the confidence to respond to its own unique community. Centre leaders have set a clear strategic direction for the centre. There is good alignment between strategic planning, annual planning and teacher appraisal. A robust system for self review is used effectively to improve practice. The centre philosophy has recently been reviewed. ERO and centre leaders agree that it would be beneficial to deepen a shared understanding of the philosophy among teachers, children and whānau, and to integrate its intention, including both English and Māori values into the programme.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of ABC Te Aroha 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.

Next ERO Review

When is ERO likely to review the service again?

The next ERO review of ABC Te Aroha will be in four years.

Dale Bailey

Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern

5 June 2015

The Purpose of ERO Reports

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.

2. Information about the Early Childhood Service

Location

Te Aroha

Ministry of Education profile number

34114

Licence type

Education & Care Service

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

49 children, including up to 15 aged under 2

Service roll

71

Gender composition

Boys 34 Girls 37

Ethnic composition

Māori

NZ European/Pākehā

Other European

Other

17

40

6

8

Percentage of qualified teachers

0-49% 50-79% 80%

Based on funding rates

50-79%

Reported ratios of staff to children

Under 2

1:5

Meets minimum requirements

 

Over 2

1:10

Meets minimum requirements

Review team on site

April 2015

Date of this report

5 June 2015

Most recent ERO report(s)

These are available at www.ero.govt.nz

Education Review

July 2012

 

Supplementary Review

July 2009

 

Education Review

June 2008

3. General Information about Early Childhood Reviews

ERO’s Evaluation Framework

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.

ERO’s Overall Judgement and Next Review

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:

  • Very well placed – The next ERO review in four years
  • Well placed – The next ERO review in three years
  • Requires further development – The next ERO review within two years
  • Not well placed - The next ERO review in consultation with the Ministry of Education

ERO has developed criteria for each category. These are available on ERO’s website.

Review Coverage

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.