Clutha Valley Playcentre

Education institution number:
81006
Service type:
Playcentre
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
11
Telephone:
Address:

Clutha Valley Road, Balclutha

View on map

Clutha Valley Playcentre - 16/05/2018

1 Evaluation of Clutha Valley Playcentre

How well placed is Clutha Valley Playcentre 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

Clutha Playcentre is one of 47 playcentres within the New Zealand Playcentre Federation's newly-formed South Island Southern Region (SISR). The centre operates three days a week and is licensed for up to 25 children. Children from birth to school age attend the centre with their parents. The centre is located beside the Clutha Valley School. Leaders and staff have established and maintained close links with the school and the local community.

The centre has employed an educator who is a qualified early childhood teacher. The educator provides support for parents to become trained through the playcentre qualification framework. The centre has experienced significant roll growth since their previous review, including children from diverse ethnicities. There is a renewed and re-energised group of parents responsible for the day-to-day planning and operation of the centre.

In 2017, the playcentre was supported by a centre advisor with occasional visits and frequent communications from the Otago Playcentre Association (OPA). In 2018, as a result of the Playcentre Federation restructuring of the Association, the playcentre now has regular fortnightly visits and receives ongoing support from a centre support worker (CSW) and a paid administrator.

The centre is a member of the Big River Kāhui Ako I Community of Learning.

This review was part of a cluster of nine playcentre reviews in the SISR.

The Review Findings

Parents at Clutha Valley Playcentre have expressed their intended valued learning outcomes for children as:

  • valuing each child and their whānau by creating a sense of belonging
  • working together as a team to support children to become confident and eager learners
  • honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi by embracing biculturalism.

Children experience reciprocal and respectful relationships with their peers and adults. Children and adults have strong collaborative friendships. These friendships are supported within an inclusive learning environment.  Parents engage with their own and other children. Children are active participants in their play. There are opportunities for children to enact their home experiences through play. This helps to develop meaningful interactions with other children and adults based on their interests and ideas.

The centre is very well resourced and provides a broad-based curriculum for children. The paid educator is experienced and provides effective role modelling for parents. Parents are supported with aspects of assessment, planning and evaluation. The educator assists parents to ensure that the learning environment is appropriately and well presented for children.

Infants and toddlers are the direct responsibility of their parent or caregiver in the programme, and have a separate safe area suitably resourced for their requirements. There is a range of appropriate activities that allow these younger children to be fully involved in the programme.

The educator and parents regularly plan for individuals and groups of children. They share planning in wall displays and in the learning profiles. Children are encouraged to access their learning profiles to share with each other or with their whānau. There are effective guidelines available to support parents with the development of learning stories. This is strengthened with prompts to understand the links to Te Whāriki, the Early Childhood curriculum.

The learning programme reflects the centre's strong connections to its community. The 'Explorers Programme' enables children to have authentic, real life experiences within their own local community. The close links that the playcentre has established with the school enables children to experience smooth transitions to school.

Parents have established an effective system of shared responsibility and distributed leadership based on their individual and collective strengths. This has also enabled some parents to participate in the playcentre course training and for others to further extend their training.

At the time of this review the Otago Playcentre Association (OPA) was implementing the New Zealand Playcentre Federation's new operating model, and was amalgamating with Southland and South Canterbury Playcentre associations to become the South Island Southern Region. While the changes resulted in some disruption to the services provided to individual playcentres in 2017, the OPA are effectively managing the restructure with the resources available to them. Each playcentre now receives regular support from a paid administrator and a centre support worker. There are robust systems in the association for monitoring the progress and performance of individual playcentres and targeted support given when needed.

Key Next Steps

The centre has identified, and ERO agrees that the key next steps with the support of the CSW are to:

  • re-establish and strengthen a meaningful and useful internal evaluation process
  • widen the involvement of parents within the planning for children's learning
  • make the intended valued learning outcomes for children more prominent within documentation
  • continue to develop bicultural knowledge and practice.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Clutha Valley Playcentre 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 Clutha Valley Playcentre will be in three years.

Dr Lesley Patterson
Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern

Te Waipounamu - Southern Region

16 May 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

Balclutha

Ministry of Education profile number

81006

Licence type

Playcentre

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

25 children, including up to 10 aged under 2

Service roll

26

Gender composition

Girls:    7    

Boys:  19

Ethnic composition

Māori:
Pākehā:
Other:

  2
19
  5

Percentage of qualified teachers

0-49%       50-79%       80%+

Based on funding rates

50-79%

Reported ratios of staff to children

Under 2

1:1

Better than minimum requirements

Over 2

1:4

Better than minimum requirements

Review team on site

March 2018

Date of this report

16 May 2018

Most recent ERO reports

Education Review

February 2013

Education Review

November 2009

Education Review

October 2005

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.

Clutha Valley Playcentre - 08/02/2013

1 Evaluation of the Service

How well placed is the service to promote positive outcomes for children?

The Clutha Valley Playcentre is well placed to promote positive outcomes for children.

Context

Clutha Valley Playcentre is one of 37 playcentres administered by the Otago Playcentre Association (OPA). The centre is housed in a modern new building located on the school grounds in Clydevale. It is the only early childhood centre in the district. The centre provides three morning sessions a week for up to 25 children aged from birth to five years.

Most of the families are dairy farmers. As a result, many of the children attend the centre as and when farming commitments allow.

The parents and educators have made good progress in addressing some of the recommendations from the last review. In particular they have greatly improved the way they extend and build children’s thinking and learning in the programme.

This review was part of a cluster approach to reviews in fifteen early childhood education services within the OPA umbrella organisation.

The Review Findings

Children benefit from very strong relationships with the adults at the centre. The parents are very accepting and welcoming of the children and each other. Many of the parents stay for the morning sessions. They and the educator work together alongside the children. They have good conversations with the children to extend and support their learning and build on their ideas. The educator is very encouraging in her support and facilitates the flow of the morning ensuring that it runs smoothly.

The children confidently make choices about what they want to do from a wide range of interesting activities and resources. The educators carry out plans for groups of children based on expectations such as developing literacy and building on children’s interests. The free play programme is balanced by short group times where children sing, waiata, share news and hear stories. They are regularly taken to visit each other’s farms as part of the Playcentre programme. This helps children to make connections with each other.

The centre has good links with health and wellbeing professionals. These professionals help the centre to find the appropriate advice and support for children with diverse needs.

There is now a core group of committed parents to ensure the smooth running of the centre. All the office bearer roles are filled and a number of parents are working towards completing Playcentre training. The families offer very good support to each other. They actively fundraise for the centre and have opportunities to get together, for example, the recent whānau evening where families enjoyed a hangi. The educator and centre advisor identified and ERO agrees that self review is in the early stages. The centre parents need to develop a shared understanding of the purpose and use of self review. They need to implement a system of self review that is manageable, useful and used to make ongoing improvements to the programme and practices within the centre. They must also regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.

The centre philosophy has been briefly reviewed. Time now needs to be taken to further develop this in collaboration with the educators, parents, whānau and children. It should reflect their shared values and beliefs and a commitment to the bicultural heritage of Aotearoa, New Zealand. The parents need to take time to discuss how this will be seen in the centre.

There are some good systems and records which show children’s learning. This good start needs to be built on. The education team, along with the parents, need to meet regularly and:

  • use the planning process to plan for each child and groups of children over time
  • share their aspirations for their children
  • decide what they can say and do to help build and extend children’s learning
  • record children’s progress over time and show how they have helped them to learn.

Governance and Management

The Otago Playcentre Association (OPA) provides a comprehensive range of support to this and other playcentres. This includes:

  • developing an action plan for all centres to be relicensed against the 2008 Regulations
  • managing an association-wide system for all aspects of health, safety and compliance
  • ongoing support for employment processes
  • targeted support for playcentres requiring additional assistance
  • ongoing provision of playcentre training.

The OPA executive and personnel hold regular meetings with a specific focus on each centre. They discuss best ways to support individual centres. Records from these meetings could be more specific about what support is provided and the difference it has made.

A strength of the OPA is the ongoing support provided by the centre advisors. The centre advisor effectively supports the parents and educators in developing their understanding of planning, assessment and self review practices.

Centre advisors should continue to build their knowledge and understanding of self review. They should use each centre's self review as evidence to assure the governors of the OPA how well the playcentre is promoting positive outcomes for children.

OPA personnel need to further develop their understanding of self review and use the findings of self review to assure themselves of the effectiveness of their strategic goals and all aspects of the OPA management and operations.

2 Legal Requirements

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Clutha Valley Playcentre 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 centre advisor has identified that the centre does not always follow the OPA's guidelines to ensure they are compliant with their legal requirements. She is providing support for the centre to understand their roles and responsibilities and has provided guidelines for them to follow. The office bearers must make sure they follow these at all times.

3 Next Review

When is ERO likely to review the early childhood service again?

ERO is likely to carry out the next review in three years.

Graham Randell

National Manager Review Services Southern Region

8 February 2013

Information about the Early Childhood Service

Location

Balclutha

Ministry of Education profile number

81006

Licence type

Playcentre - Sessional

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

25 children, including up to 10 aged under 2

Service roll

32

Gender composition

Girls: 17

Boys: 15

Ethnic composition

NZ European/Pākehā

Māori

Samoan

Pacific

Asian

23

4

1

2

2

Percentage of qualified teachers

Parent -Led Centre with Playcentre qualifications

Reported ratios of staff to children

Under 2

1:1

Exceeds minimum requirements

 

Over 2

1:4

Exceeds minimum requirements

Review team on site

November 2012

Date of this report

8 February 2013

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review

Education Review

Discretionary Review

November 2009

October 2005

June 2001

General Information about Early Childhood Reviews

About ERO Reviews

The Education Review Office (ERO) is the New Zealand government department that reviews schools and early childhood services throughout New Zealand.

Review focus

ERO's education reviews in early childhood services focus on the factors that contribute to positive learning outcomes for children. ERO evaluates how well placed the service is to make and sustain improvements for the benefit of all children at the service. To reach these findings ERO considers:

  • 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 self review and partnerships with parents and whānau.

Review Coverage

ERO reviews do not cover every aspect of service performance and each ERO report may cover different issues. The aim is to provide information on aspects that are central to positive outcomes for children and useful to the service.