Browns Bay Preschool Trust

Education institution number:
20024
Service type:
Education and Care Service
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
41
Telephone:
Address:

55 Browns Bay Road, Browns Bay, Auckland

View on map

Browns Bay Preschool Trust

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

Browns Bay Preschool Trust is a privately owned centre that offers all day education and care. The owner is a qualified early childhood teacher and leads a team of six qualified staff. This is the first ERO review of the service since ownership changed in October 2020.

Summary of Review Findings

Teachers plan and implement a curriculum that is consistent with Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, and which responds to children’s learning interests, strengths, and capabilities.

Children’s learning is supported by positive interactions with teachers in a language-rich environment. The curriculum acknowledges the bicultural heritage of Aotearoa | New Zealand. Children are provided with a range of experiences to extend their learning.

Leaders and teachers regularly communicate with parents to share information about children’s learning and encourage their involvement in decision making. An ongoing process of review helps the service maintain the quality of care and improve learning outcomes for children.

Key Next Steps

Next steps include:

  • increasing opportunities for children to hear and speak te reo Māori in meaningful contexts

  • making children’s knowledge and perspectives more visible in assessment, planning and evaluation documents

  • identifying teacher strategies to extend the complexity of older children’s play.

Next ERO Review

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

Filivaifale Jason Swann
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki

8 August 2022 

Information About the Service

Early Childhood Service Name

Browns Bay Preschool Trust

Profile Number

20024

Location

Browns Bay, Auckland

Service type

Education and care service

Number licensed for

39 children, including up to 9 aged under 2

Percentage of qualified teachers

80-99%

Service roll

36

Ethnic composition

Māori 2, NZ European/Pākehā 19, other European 4,
other ethnic groups 11

Review team on site

June 2022

Date of this report

8 August 2022

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review, February 2018; Education Review, May 2014

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.

Browns Bay Preschool - 08/02/2018

1 Evaluation of Browns Bay Preschool

How well placed is Browns Bay Preschool 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

Browns Bay Preschool provides all-day education and care for up to 39 children, including nine up to two years of age. The centre is privately owned and operates from a remodelled house with a separate building for infants and toddlers on the same site. The outdoors is enhanced by gardens and trees.

The centre director/owner is a qualified early childhood teacher and maintains day-to-day teaching, leadership of operations and management responsibilities. She shares governance responsibilities with her husband.

Recent changes in staff have resulted in a new teaching team. This team of registered teachers is focused on building close and reciprocal relationships with families.

The centre philosophy is strongly influenced by Reggio Emilia approaches and underpinned by the strands and principle of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum.

The 2014 ERO report noted areas for improvement, which included developing parent and community partnerships and refining the appraisal system. Progress has been made in these areas.

The Review Findings

Children are settled, and enjoy a calm, unhurried environment. They are familiar with centre routines and practices. Children have trusting and respectful relationships with teachers. They are confident explorers and direct their own play. Children are supported to communicate and develop social skills. Literacy and life skills are promoted. Children's independence is fostered. They are supported to communicate and develop social skills.

Children engage readily in play. They have easy access to a wide variety of equipment and make good use of the indoor and outdoor environment. Teachers set up provocations to invite and engage children in play and skill building. Leaders and teachers could review planning practices to better focus on the emerging interests of individual children, and the ways in which their learning can be extended and challenged.

Teachers see children as capable and confident learners. They record children's participation in the programme in individual assessment portfolios. Leaders recognise the need to relate portfolio information more to the child's learning journey in relation to their development of individual learning dispositions, interests and skills.

Teachers have recently reviewed the transition to schools programme to ensure that older children are prepared for school and life ahead. As a result, a comprehensive programme with direct acts of teaching strategies and experiences is planned for older children. Teachers are supporting children to develop their oracy and creativity, and raising their independence in self management and self help skills.

Infants and toddlers freely explore their environment. Primary caregivers know the children in their care well. They provide responsive individual nurturing for children and are adept at recognising children's non-verbal cues. Teachers encourage children to explore and verbalise their thoughts and feelings. Toddlers respond well to the warmth of their teachers.

Teachers are beginning to support each other to integrate te reo and tikanga Māori into the daily programme, particularly during group times. Teachers should focus on building strategies to grow their knowledge, understanding and confidence in New Zealand's bicultural practices. These strategies could be a model for further development to reflect other languages, cultures and identities of families in the centre.

Centre leaders recognise the enthusiasm and capabilities of their teachers. A new team is being built with a shared leadership model. This is helping teachers to share their individual strengths and build the overall capacity of the centre.

Key Next Steps

The next steps to support centre improvement are for centre leaders to:

  • articulate the current centre philosophy, share its meaning and relate its vision with all staff
  • review planning and assessment in line with developing children's individual learning dispositions, interests and skills, to enhance complexity of play and individual challenge
  • strengthen documentation of the service's strategic priorities to guide ongoing monitoring and to support internal evaluation practices
  • build teachers' confidence in bicultural practices
  • align teachers' appraisal goals, inquiry and professional development to focus on building leadership capacity.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Browns Bay Preschool 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 Browns Bay Preschool will be in three years.

Julie Foley
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)

Te Tai Raki - Northern Region

8 February 2018 

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

Browns Bay, Auckland

Ministry of Education profile number

20024

Licence type

Education & Care Service

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

39 children, including up to 9 aged under 2

Service roll

57

Gender composition

Boys      32
Girls       25

Ethnic composition

Māori
Pākehā
Asian
other

   2
 44
   6
   5

Percentage of qualified teachers

80% +

Reported ratios of staff to children

Under 2

1:4

Better than minimum requirements

Over 2

1:7

Better than minimum requirements

Review team on site

December 2017

Date of this report

8 February 2018

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review

May 2014

Education Review

April 2011

Education Review

December 2007

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.

Browns Bay Preschool - 14/05/2014

1 Evaluation of Browns Bay Preschool

How well placed is Browns Bay Preschool 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

Browns Bay Preschool is a privately owned education and care service in a residential suburb on Auckland’s North Shore. The preschool is licensed for up to 39 children, including nine up to the age of two. It operates in a remodelled house with a separate building for infants and toddlers on the same site. The extensive outdoor area is enhanced with gardens, trees and thoughtfully designed areas to promote challenge, exploration and creative play.

The 2011 ERO report noted that children are provided with time and space to pursue their ideas and revisit their interests. It also commented on centre decisions being informed by effective self review. These good practices have been sustained and contribute to a positive learning environment.

A significant aspect of the centre is the ongoing review and implementation of the centre’s philosophy which is influenced by Reggio Emilia approaches and underpinned by Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum.

The manager and teachers have responded well to ERO’s 2011 recommendation and have developed a teaching team that has a shared understanding and ownership of centre philosophy, programmes and practices.

The Review Findings

Children are happy, confident and highly engaged in their learning. They have a strong sense of belonging and wellbeing. Children can access a wide variety of resources that support their learning. They benefit from strong teacher relationships and engage in meaningful conversations with teachers and their peers. Children are supported to take learning risks and to make decisions about their play.

Infants and toddlers benefit from a learning environment and teaching practices that strongly support their communication development. They are confident to explore their surroundings and experiment with the wide range of resources available to them.

Teachers know children well and are responsive to their interests and strengths. Teachers are skilled in facilitating children’s learning and providing appropriate responsibilities for them to become self managing. Literacy and numeracy are well integrated into the curriculum. Children have the opportunity to contribute to their own visual diaries which display their learning development over time. Teachers provide children with many opportunities to value and take care of the outdoor environment.

Teachers are valued and well supported. They contribute to a shared professional working environment. Professional development is planned in response to identified whole-centre and teachers’ individual goals. Teachers have opportunities to bring new inspiration and understanding to the teaching team. This promotes a strong, reflective teaching culture.

The manager and teachers are aware of the importance of bicultural practices and are developing ways to express these in the centre. An in-depth self review planned for 2014 will further strengthen the centre’s understanding of Māori language, culture and identity.

Self review is detailed and informs planning. For example, an extensive review in 2013 contributed to the teachers’ understanding of relationships within the context of ‘the garden’. The name Mahinga Miharo was decided on for this outdoor space. This promotes a shared understanding between teachers and children of the value of different types of relationships and connections.

The centre is developing effective governance and management practices. Systems are in place for sustaining good practice. Established networks provide ongoing support for the centre manager. She and the teachers have identified the need to continue to develop their understandings about strategic and annual planning.

Key Next Steps

ERO and the manager and teachers agree that key next steps are to continue:

  • developing partnerships with parents and the community to inform decision making
  • increasing opportunities for children to contribute to decisions about the programme
  • developing the use of technology in the curriculum
  • refining the appraisal process to include the registered teacher criteria and Tātaiako, the cultural competencies for teachers of Māori Learners.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Browns Bay Preschool 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.

Actions Required for Compliance

ERO identified an area of non-compliance. The centre manager must ensure that all non-registered staff are regularly police vetted.

Education Act 1989, s315

Next ERO Review

When is ERO likely to review the service again?

The next ERO review of Browns Bay Preschool will be in three years.

Dale Bailey National Manager Review Services Northern Region

14 May 2014

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

Browns Bay, Auckland

Ministry of Education profile number

20024

Licence type

Education & Care Service

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

39 children, including up to 9 aged under 2

Service roll

53

Gender composition

Boys 29 Girls 24

Ethnic composition

Māori

NZ European/Pākehā

Asian

Samoan

3

42

7

1

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 2014

Date of this report

14 May 2014

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review

April 2011

 

Education Review

December 2007

 

Education Review

October 2004

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.