6 Melksham Drive, Churton Park, Wellington
View on mapERO’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.
Churton Park Little School and Nursery is one of four privately owned services under the same ownership. A centre manager supports the team leaders and teams across all services. Children from Indian and Chinese heritages account for half of the enrolled children in this ethnically diverse service. A small number of Māori or Pacific children also attend.
Children are provided with a range of experiences and opportunities to enhance and extend their learning and development, individually and in groups. The premises support the provision of different kinds of indoor and outdoor play. Positive interactions between adults and children enhance children’s learning and nurture relationships.
The service curriculum is consistent with Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. Children experience a language-rich environment that supports their learning. When necessary, information and guidance are sought from external agencies and services to enable the adults to work effectively with children and their parents.
Next steps include continuing to:
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Patricia Davey
Director of Early Childhood Education (ECE)
20 December 2023
| Early Childhood Service Name | Churton Park Little School and Nursery |
| Profile Number | 50082 |
| Location | Wellington |
| Service type | Education and care service |
| Number licensed for | 40 children over the age of 2 |
| Percentage of qualified teachers | 80-99% |
| Service roll | 54 |
| Review team on site | November 2023 |
| Date of this report | 20 December 2023 |
| Most recent ERO report(s) | Akarangi | Quality Evaluation, July 2022; Education Review, July 2018 |
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.
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:
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO assesses whether the regulatory 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:
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO also gathers and records evidence through:
Akarangi | 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 Churton Park Little School and Nursery are as follows:
Outcome Indicators(What the service knows about outcomes for learners) | Whakatō Emerging |
Ngā Akatoro Domains | |
Learning ConditionsOrganisational Conditions | Whakatō Emerging Whakatō Emerging |
Churton Park Little School and Nursery is one of four early childhood services under common private ownership. There has been a recent restructure of the governing organisation. A pedagogical leader oversees operation and practice. Staff represent a range of cultures. Most enrolled families are of Asian descent.
Children’s play is often sustained as they engage in activities and explore the environment. They have positive and respectful relationships with their teachers. Teaching requires an increased emphasis on supporting children’s emerging interests, working theories and discoveries.
Teachers and leaders have yet to build shared understandings about how the learning outcomes in Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, are used in assessment. Teachers record detailed plans about activities to support knowledge and development. However, their decisions about planning, the curriculum and teaching practices are not sufficiently informed by data about children’s learning and progress. While the teaching team maintains respectful and responsive relationships with parents and whānau, learning partnerships are at an early stage of development.
The team is well supported by the pedagogical leader who has a strong focus on staff wellbeing and positive child outcomes. While a staff appraisal process is in place, management has not yet implemented the Teaching Council’s professional growth cycle. Staff are at an early stage of building their capability to do and use evaluation.
Progress in relation to the key next steps identified in ERO’s 2018 report is limited. It is imperative that measures are put in place to support sustained development focused on outcomes for children through the strategic plan. While te ao Māori is respected in the organisation, the importance of the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, expressed in the philosophy, is not sufficiently reflected in operation, guidelines or practice.
Churton Park Little School and Nursery will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning. These are to:
Before the review, the staff and management of Churton Park Little School and Nursery 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.
ERO identified the following areas of non-compliance:
ERO recommends the Ministry follows up with the service provider to ensure non-compliances identified in this report are addressed.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini
18 July 2022
| Early Childhood Service Name | Churton Park Little School and Nursery |
| Profile Number | 50082 |
| Location | Wellington |
| Service type | Education and care service |
| Number licensed for | 40 including up to 12 aged under 2 |
| Percentage of qualified teachers | 80-99% |
| Service roll | 55 |
| Ethnic composition | NZ European/Pākehā 12, Chinese 15, Indian 14, Sri Lankan 7, Filipino 5, Other ethnic groups 2 |
| Review team on site | May 2022 |
| Date of this report | 18 July 2022 |
| Most recent ERO report(s) | Education Review, June 2018; Education Review, May 2015 |
Not well placed | Requires further development | Well placed | Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Churton Park Little School & Nursery is a privately owned early learning service located in Churton Park, Wellington. It is one of four services under the Little Schools' umbrella. It provides education and care for up to 40 children including 12 under the age of two. At the time of this review, there were no children under two on the roll.
The philosophy places importance on developing foundations for lifelong learning and enabling a smooth transition to primary school.
Little Schools' management team comprises three qualified and experienced early childhood and primary school teachers. The owner is responsible for setting overall strategic and policy direction. Mentor teachers monitor the quality of teaching and learning and support teachers' ongoing professional learning, growth and development. At this centre, an acting head teacher has been recently appointed and there have been several changes in staff.
The May 2015 ERO report identified teacher appraisal and self review as areas for development. Some progress has been made.
This review is one of three reviews of centres in the Little Schools' organisation.
Teachers and leaders are highly committed to the Little School's philosophy and vision. Strong values underpin the preschool and its culture. Leaders acknowledge that it is timely to review the philosophy in consultation with the school community. ERO affirms this decision.
Children confidently engage in a range of teacher-designed activities. Literacy, oral language, mathematics and science are strongly promoted. Teachers make connections to children's cultures, languages and identities through the environment, activities and celebrations.
The bicultural curriculum is developing. Children have opportunities to become familiar with te ao Māori resources. Tikanga Māori is evident. Teachers are increasing their use of te reo Māori within the programme. Leaders and ERO agree that this should continue to be an area for development.
Teachers have positive, responsive relationships with children. Developing learners' thinking, independence and social competence is a focus. A range of strategies to extend children's learning through their self-chosen play are evident.
Children with additional learning needs are well supported to participate fully in the programme. External agencies are accessed to assist when required. The multicultural teaching team connects with many children through their first language to enhance their sense of belonging.
Learning partnerships with families are in place. Many parents are actively involved in aspects of the programme. Good communication keeps them informed of children's participation and development. Their aspirations are sought and used as a basis for children's goals.
Group planning aligns well with the Little Schools' philosophy and is linked to children's goals and interests. Evaluation of the programme is beginning to be more clearly focused on outcomes for children. Assessment for individual children identifies what learning is taking place, emerging friendships and aspects of communication. Teachers should continue to strengthen learning records to:
Regular self review results in change and improvements. A key next step is for leaders and teachers to develop shared understanding and use of internal evaluation.
Good support is available for leaders and teachers to develop their practice. Professional learning is valued and suited to their needs and ongoing development. Opportunities for leadership and collegial discussion are made available. The acting head teacher seeks ways to build teachers' knowledge and practice. However, appraisal requires strengthening. The process should be revised so that all aspects of the Education Council's expectations for teacher appraisal are implemented.
A strong policy framework guides centre operation. Managers are currently working to document and align systems and processes to promote consistency across the Little Schools' organisation. Better monitoring of the quality of their implementation should also support this aim. While the strategic plan identifies business priorities, further consideration should be given to creating strategic goals that are linked to positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO, managers and leaders agree that priorities at centre level are to continue to strengthen:
At governance level, priorities are to develop:
Before the review, teachers and management of Churton Park Little School & Nursery 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 Churton Park Little School & Nursery will be in three years.
Alan Wynyard
Deputy Chief Review Officer Central (Acting)
Te Tai Pokapū - Central Region
10 July 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.
| Location | Wellington | ||
| Ministry of Education profile number | 50082 | ||
| Licence type | Education & Care Service | ||
| Licensed under | Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 | ||
| Number licensed for | 40 children, including up to 12 aged under 2 | ||
| Service roll | 54 | ||
| Gender composition | Boys 28, Girls 26 | ||
| Ethnic composition | Pākehā Chinese Sri Lankan Indian Other ethnic groups | 20 11 5 5 13 | |
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 | June 2018 | ||
| Date of this report | 10 July 2018 | ||
Most recent ERO report(s)
| Education Review | May 2015 | |
| Education Review | January 2012 | ||
| Education Review | December 2008 | ||
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.