66 Springfield Road, Springfield, Rotorua
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Central Kids Kindergartens - Jackson Park is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Central Kids Kindergarten - Jackson Park is located in the Rotorua suburb of Springfield. It is licensed for 45 children over the age of two years. Currently there are 61 children enrolled which includes 16 who identify as Māori and a quarter of the roll includes other nationalities.
The kindergarten has a positive ERO reporting history. The kindergarten has addressed all key next steps identified in the 2015 ERO review. Teachers have reviewed the philosophy and undertaken professional development during this process.
The kindergarten’s philosophy is underpinned with the values that meaningful and respectful interactions are the foundation to forming positive and trusting relationships which are essential to supporting children's wellbeing and learning.
The kindergarten operates under the governance and management of the Central North Island Kindergarten Trust, a community not-for-profit organisation. The overarching philosophy of the organisation is to provide kindergartens where children learn through play, and are supported to reach their potential.
This review was part of a cluster of 10 kindergarten reviews in the Central North Island Kindergarten Trust.
Children and their families enjoy caring and trusting relationships with teachers. They have fun learning through play and interacting with others. Teachers have established a homely, warm, welcoming atmosphere and kindergarten culture. Kaitiaki relationships/primary care for each child and their whānau successfully support respectful, responsive relationships that foster children's emotional wellbeing and sense of belonging.
Children engage in meaningful, sustained, self-initiated learning. Teachers are skilled at noticing children's interests, recognising learning and responding with intentional teaching strategies. Interactions with children are calm and unhurried. Teachers take time to actively listen and further extend children's thinking through their conversations. They encourage children to try new things, learn through trial and error and to solve their own problems. Children are confident and developing a range of learning dispositions, knowledge and skills.
Individual child portfolios, planning and evaluation practices celebrate children's learning and progress over time. These include families' contributions which promotes partnerships for learning. Māori children's assessments also include learning stories that reflect their language, culture and identity. Children whose learning requires additional support also have individual learning outcomes planned for. Children are supported to view themselves as successful, capable learners.
The curriculum is inclusive and successfully promotes positive outcomes for children. Strengths include:
literacy, mathematics and other curriculum areas which are supported through well-defined learning areas providing children with choice
opportunities for children to revisit prior experiences through their play, strengths and interests
opportunities for children to challenge themselves, inquire, research and problem solve.
Children are empowered to investigate, make discoveries and take responsibility for their own learning.
Effective kindergarten leadership promotes positive outcomes for children's learning and wellbeing. Teachers work collaboratively and have a shared understanding of the kindergarten philosophy, vision and goals. Well-established internal evaluation practices support a professional learning culture and contributes to ongoing improvement to the quality of education and care.
Governance and management have comprehensive, well-established systems and practices to enable the organisation to monitor, evaluate and plan for improvement for its early learning centres. Clear guidelines and expectations for centre practice, and curriculum are strongly fostered by the leadership team and trust. The vision and values support positive outcomes for children’s learning, wellbeing and that of their whānau.
Through the current internal evaluation inquiry continue to develop and embed assessment, planning and evaluation practices that are responsive to children and their families' language, culture and identity for all children.
Before the review, the staff and management of Central Kids Kindergartens - Jackson Park 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.
In order to improve practice Central Kids Kindergarten management needs to ensure observations of teacher practice are undertaken as part of the appraisal process.
The next ERO review of Central Kids Kindergartens - Jackson Park will be in three years.
Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services
Te Tai Miringa - Waikato / Bay of Plenty Region
15 February 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 |
Rotorua |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
5181 |
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Licence type |
Free Kindergarten |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
45 children, aged over 2 |
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Service roll |
61 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 36 Girls 25 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
16 |
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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 |
Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
November 2018 |
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Date of this report |
15 February 2019 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
October 2015 |
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|
Education Review |
August 2012 |
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Education Review |
June 2009 |
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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.
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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.
Central Kids Kindergartens - Jackson Park is located in Springfield, Rotorua, adjacent to Otonga Road School. It provides education and care for 48 children from two years to school age. The roll reflects the increasing cultural diversity of the local community, and includes 12 children of Māori descent. The kindergarten offers school day sessions from Monday to Friday.
Central North Island Kindergarten Trust continues to provide effective strategic direction for the kindergarten in accordance with its vision, expected educational outcomes, and values. The trust also specifies strategies for respecting Te Tiriti o Waitangi and delivering the principles and strands of the early childhood curriculum, Te Whāriki. The trust’s professional leaders monitor individual kindergarten compliance with policies, procedures, trust expectations and regulatory requirements. Teachers have generous professional development opportunities to grow their teaching and leadership skills.
Since January 2014, the teaching team has experienced many changes of personnel. Significant leadership changes in 2015 included the appointment of a new head teacher in January, and a change of professional leader a month later. The current teaching team of four fully qualified early childhood teachers is assisted by an administrator and a lunch-time support person.
The head teacher continues to benefit from high quality induction and mentoring programmes, and ongoing professional development and support organised by trust management. The teaching team has also received tailored professional development to support the development of a shared vision and philosophy.
The teaching team has made significant progress in addressing the areas for development identified in the August 2012 ERO report. These areas included self review, annual planning, philosophy development, and strengthening the inclusion of Māori perspectives. The team is currently participating in ongoing professional development to strengthen self review, assessment and bi-cultural practices.
This review was part of a cluster of seven kindergarten reviews in the Central North Island Kindergarten Trust.
Children learn at their own pace in a calm and settled environment. They confidently initiate learning through play and maintain high levels of interest and engagement. Children play well with and alongside others, willingly share their knowledge, and support the learning of others. Older children often explore their theories about the world through complex cooperative play. Children demonstrate a love of books and the creative arts, including retelling and re-enacting stories.
Adult interactions with children are warm, respectful and affirming. Teachers skilfully foster development of self-management and social skills, emerging friendships, and a strong sense of belonging and inclusion. Effective strategies for developing and extending children’s oral language include modelling, listening to children, and responding to what they to say. Teachers also provide frequent opportunities for children to express their needs, ask questions, and talk about plans and ideas. They make good use of learning conversations to challenge children’s thinking.
The curriculum and learning environment are well-designed to support child-initiated learning and meaningful integration of literacy, mathematical and science concepts.
Children have independent access to a wide variety of high quality resources and equipment, and a spacious outdoor area that provides diverse challenges for children of different abilities. Aesthetic presentation of the learning environment reflects the increasing emphasis in the curriculum on te reo, tikanga and te ao Māori. Teachers set up equipment to inspire children to explore identified emerging interests in new and interesting ways. They also make effective use of large photographic displays to encourage children to revisit their learning.
Recent review and professional development has resulted in:
the introduction of a less structured programme with more opportunities for children to engage in sustained, child-initiated play
children using a wider variety of open-ended and natural materials and resources to develop more complex and creative play
teachers extending their knowledge of waiata and pakiwaitara (traditional stories) to develop their own and children’s understanding of te ao Māori
further enhancement of strategies for sharing parent and teacher knowledge about individual children, and using this information in learning stories to extend children’s learning.
Teachers place a strong emphasis on establishing positive, responsive and respectful relationships with parents and whānau. Parents and whānau highly value the support that key teachers provide for newly enrolled children and their families. They find teachers to be friendly, welcoming and very willing to discuss individual children’s learning, interests and progress. Teachers also keep families well informed about their children’s learning through written and on-line portfolios. A feature is the high level of parent/whānau participation in the daily programme, kindergarten events, and excursions.
Effective professional leadership has been integral to improved outcomes for children and families. Features of the collaborative leadership provided by trust management, the professional leader and head teacher include:
a planned and measured approach to team building and change management
evolution of a shared vision and direction through whole team professional development, and involvement in decision making
fostering leadership skills and understanding of self review
development and introduction of a robust, personalised and meaningful appraisal system.
The professional leader and teaching team have identified, and ERO agrees, that the key next steps for the team are to:
document and embed a shared teaching and learning philosophy based on best teaching practice
strengthen assessment practices to better support the languages, cultures and identities of Māori and other children
build relationships with local iwi to enhance children’s learning
better reflect the diversity of children’s languages and cultures in the programme and learning environment.
Before the review, the staff and management of Central Kids Kindergartens - Jackson Park 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 Central Kids Kindergartens - Jackson Park will be in three years.
Graham Randell
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern
30 October 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 |
Rotorua |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
5181 |
||
|
Licence type |
Free Kindergarten |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
40 children, aged over 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
48 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys 25 Girls 23 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Other European Chinese Indian Other Asian |
12 22 6 5 2 1 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80% Based on funding rates |
80% |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
Review team on site |
September 2015 |
||
|
Date of this report |
30 October 2015 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
August 2012 |
|
|
Education Review |
June 2009 |
||
|
Education Review |
August 2006 |
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