18 Princes Street, Otahuhu, Auckland
View on mapAkarangi | Quality Evaluation evaluates the extent to which this early childhood service has the learning and organisational conditions to support equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners. Te Ara Poutama Indicators of quality for early childhood education: what matters most are the basis for making judgements about the effectiveness of the service in achieving equity and excellence for all learners. Judgements are made in relation to the Outcomes Indicators, Learning and Organisational Conditions. The Evaluation Judgement Rubric derived from the indicators, is used to inform ERO’s judgements about this service’s performance in promoting equity and excellence.
ERO’s judgements for Blossoms Educare Otahuhu are as follows:
Outcome Indicators(What the service knows about outcomes for learners) |
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Ngā Akatoro Domains |
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Learning ConditionsOrganisational Conditions |
Whakaū Embedding |
Blossoms Educare Otahuhu is one of 12 services in the Blossoms organisation. A qualified centre manager and two team leaders support a team of four qualified and four unqualified kaiako. Most children attending are of Māori, Pacific or Indian heritage. Blossoms’ organisational leaders provide professional guidance and support to their services.
Children have developed close, nurturing relationships with kaiako who know children and their families well. Kaiako are responsive to each child’s preferences and interests and children experience positive, caring friendships with their peers. A calm environment allows time and space for children’s sustained engagement in meaningful play experiences. Children’s independence is promoted. Their mana and identity as capable learners is affirmed by kaiako.
Children experience a responsive curriculum. Planning is based on parents’ knowledge and aspirations for their child’s learning. Assessment documentation shows children’s progress over time and recognises their efforts, challenges and successes. Kaiako make explicit in assessment records the learning outcomes and dispositions for each child in relation to Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum.
Children’s languages and culture are strongly promoted valued. Kaiako recognise what each child brings with them to the service. Te reo Māori and tikanga Māori are woven authentically into daily routines and the practices of kaiako.
Leaders and kaiako implement policies and practices that aim to promote positive outcomes for children. There are systems in place for internal evaluation that contribute to improvements. Kaiako should continue to monitor and evaluate the impact of internal evaluation processes on outcomes for children.
Organisational governance and management systems operate with a high level of collaboration and relational trust. Kaiako are provided with a range of professional development opportunities and ongoing mentoring. Leaders proactively seek ways to enable children and whānau to access early childhood education. Blossoms leaders need to monitor that licensing requirements are being maintained at individual services.
Blossoms Educare Otahuhu will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:
To use information about children’s capabilities and learning priorities, identified by kaiako and parents/whānau, to design a locally relevant curriculum.
To monitor the implementation of improvement actions and evaluate the impact of changes made on outcomes for children, including through developing a centre-specific strategic plan.
Organisational improvement actions are:
To implement a process of internal evaluation at an organisation level that contributes to ongoing improvement.
To monitor and regularly evaluate progress towards long-term goals with a focus on how well improvements made have impacted on children’s learning.
Before the review, the staff and management of Blossoms Educare Otahuhu completed an ERO 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; safety checking; teacher registration; ratios)
relevant evacuation procedures and practices.
All early childhood services are required to promote children's health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.
Patricia Davey
Director of Early Childhood Education (ECE)
24 October 2023
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Early Childhood Service Name |
Blossoms Educare Otahuhu |
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Profile Number |
45929 |
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Location |
Otahuhu, Auckland |
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Service type |
Education and care service |
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Number licensed for |
70 children, including up to 20 aged under 2 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
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Service roll |
64 |
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Review team on site |
June 2023 |
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Date of this report |
24 October 2023 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, March 2017; Education Review, October 2013 |
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Blossoms Educare is a privately owned, community focused centre that operates close to the commercial hub of Otahuhu. The service provides full day education and care for up to 70 children including up to 20 under two years old. Age groups mingle in outdoor play but infants and younger toddlers have separate playing spaces indoors. Most of the children are from Indian, Māori and Pacific backgrounds. Staff also reflect the families' cultural diversity.
The centre is one of eight in the South Auckland area operated by the owner and a team of support staff. The service is focused on increasing participation in early childhood education. The owner follows a social justice model by providing an affordable service. Staff are well supported by the owner and the support team who visit frequently to foster improvements to teaching, learning and resourcing, and to monitor centre operations.
This is the second ERO review for Blossoms Educare Otahuhu. The first report included positive statements about the service and identified key next steps to guide improvements. Since the 2013 ERO review there have been changes in staffing, including the leadership team which comprises two room leaders and a centre manager who are all new in their positions.
The owner, the support team and eight staff are registered teachers. The team is building the capacity of staff to operate the centre more independently, developing centre specific procedures under the group's policies, philosophy and goals. Centre staff have an external appraiser and mentor who supports their practice.
This review was part of a cluster of four education and care reviews in the Blossoms Educare group of centres.
Children are settled and busy in the centre. They respond positively to teachers and play together in friendly groups. Children play freely and for sustained periods of time. They are able to choose from a wide range of appropriate resources. Tuakana teina relationships between children are evident. The older children are developing skills in managing social play and independence through decision-making about snack and meal times.
Teachers welcome children with warmth and affection. They maintain conversations with children and ask questions that prompt responses and enable children to share ideas with them. It would be useful now for teachers to consider further ways of fostering children's social competence by encouraging groups playing together to share their thinking.
Teachers make thoughtful provision for infants and toddlers. The toddlers play happily outdoors with their older peers, exploring and working alongside them. Teachers respond positively to the infants, nurturing and talking to them to encouraging their play. They respect children's home routines for feeding and sleeping, and provide appropriate play items in comfortable spaces for children to investigate.
Teachers have developed strong and supportive relationships with parents that encourage open and useful conversations about children's interests and strengths. Parents are consulted in a variety of ways and are gaining a sense of belonging in the centre. Children's portfolios provide information about their participation in the programme and the progress they are making. Parents spoken to expressed their satisfaction with the care and learning their children receive.
Teachers make good use of the bicultural professional development they have attended this year. Teachers use te reo Māori and Māori values with children and in their writing and displays. They have built on what they have learnt, and express their intention to further develop their knowledge and skills. Teachers also celebrate cultural events important for the families attending the centre. They work well together with strong collaboration between teachers in the two centre rooms.
Teachers continue to improve their assessment, planning and evaluation practices. They discuss their observations of children and identify their interests. They plan activities, resources and experiences to foster further learning. Teachers could now focus on developing play that provides more complex learning experiences. This would provide meaningful contexts for children to develop language skills and concepts.
The owner provides sound leadership for staff. She provides an inclusive environment, regularly consulting teachers and involving them in decisions about strategic goals and the centre's philosophy and vision. The owner strongly encourages professional development. It would be useful for teachers to develop a shared understanding about the characteristics of effective practice and support each other to achieve these skills.
The Blossoms management team is committed to the ongoing development of all centres in the organisation. These leaders have begun developing an action plan to address the key next steps identified in the current cluster of centre reviews. They are taking responsibility for mentoring and guiding staff while strengthening their expectation that centre managers and teachers will continue to review programme planning, learning extension, internal evaluation and bicultural practices. The management team has plans to further develop its strategic plans and provide an appropriate appraisal process for the centres' owner.
The owner, support team and teachers agree that their next key steps are to continue to:
further develop professional practices to provide more guidance to teachers for extending children's learning
improve areas of play to support children's learning
document the characteristics of an effective teacher and ways to support professional learning
develop a philosophy for the centre that reflects the aspirations of the community and teachers.
Before the review, the staff and management of Blossoms Educare Otahuhu 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 Blossoms Educare Otahuhu will be in three years.
Graham Randell
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern
2 March 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 |
Otahuhu, Auckland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
45929 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
70 children, including up to 20 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
70 |
||
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Gender composition |
Boys 36 Girls 34 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Indian Samoan Cook Islands Māori Niue Tongan other |
10 8 18 13 5 5 5 6 |
|
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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 |
|
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Review team on site |
November 2016 |
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Date of this report |
2 March 2017 |
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Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
October 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 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.
Blossoms Educare Otahuhu provides full day education and care for up to 70 children from three months to school age. The centre opened in May 2012 and this is the first review of the service. The roll has grown quickly and the centre is operating at nearly full capacity.
Blossoms Educare Otahuhu is a privately owned centre. It is one of three centres that operate as part of the Blossoms organisation. The same administrative and management systems serve the three centres. The owner delegates the day-to-day management and leadership of the centre to a centre manager. The centre operates as two separate rooms catering for the needs of different age groups and there is a head teacher for each room.
The centre manager is building a new professional teaching team. The teaching team is developing a shared understanding of the centre philosophy to guide their teaching practices. Over 80% of the staff are qualified early childhood teachers. Many are new graduates, working towards full teacher registration.
The centre aims to provide high quality education and care in an environment of open communication and cross-cultural understanding with parents, families and whānau. This philosophy underpins teacher practices that support the identity, language and cultural background of each child. Managers expect that staff will help every child and their family to feel valued and welcome at all times.
The centre philosophy is highly evident and actively promoted in every day practice. Teachers learn about the languages, cultures and identities of all children and seek ways to maintain connections to children’s first language. Good communication with parents supports children in their learning and parents in their parenting role. Respectful partnerships with families are enhanced through well managed support for children and families as they come into the centre, move between the rooms within the centre, and go to school.
Children receive high quality care. There is a settled tone in the centre and children enjoy positive relationships with adults and with each other. Teachers provide individual nurturing care for infants and toddlers and build trusting relationships with them. Older children are supported to build their social and interpersonal skills so that they become independent and confident learners.
Children enjoy a programme that is responsive to their interests and strengths. The centre programme includes initiatives that promote and foster success for Māori children. Te reo and tikanga Māori are integrated into the programme, environment and centre practices. Centre managers and staff also show an awareness of, and support for, children with special needs. They work with families to enable all children to participate equitably in the programme. There is a need to continue to refine planning and assessment approaches to support children’s deeper learning.
Many children are speakers of languages other than English. Developing centre programmes to support children’s English language acquisition should continue to be a priority for the centre. To support this direction, teachers will need to consistently model good language patterns and have expectations that children will initiate conversations and respond verbally to others.
The learning environment is well resourced. Children are supported to make decisions in their play by having independent access to equipment and being able to move easily between the indoor and outdoor environments. Teachers could now review how children’s early literacy and numeracy skills could be further developed in the different areas of play.
The centre manager and head teachers together provide valuable professional leadership for the teaching team. They are supporting teachers to increase their confidence in working with current approaches to teaching and learning. The owner has established an appropriate framework of administrative, personnel and health and safety systems to underpin centre operations. Self-review systems are in place but are at an early stage of implementation. Effective governance and leadership is contributing to the centre being well placed to achieve positive outcomes for children.
The managers and ERO agree that the areas for further improvement include:
Before the review, the staff and management of Blossoms Educare Otahuhu 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 Blossoms Educare Otahuhu will be in three years.
Dale Bailey
National Manager Review Services Northern Region
18 October 2013
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 |
Otahuhu, Auckland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
45929 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
70 children, including up to 20 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
77 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys 42 Girls 35 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori NZ European/Pākehā Indian Tongan Samoan Cook Island Māori Other |
18 2 19 16 11 4 7 |
|
|
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 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
August 2013 |
||
|
Date of this report |
18 October 2013 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
No previous ERO reports |
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.