Unit 1 64 Stoddard Road, Mount Roskill, Auckland
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Edukids Stoddard is licensed to provide all-day education and care for up to 98 children including 24 aged under two years. There are separate indoor and outdoor play spaces for infants. The toddlers have their own indoor space and share the outdoor area with the older children. Children attending the service come from a very diverse range of cultural backgrounds.
The centre manager works with an assistant manager and head teacher to ensure the smooth running of the centre. The teaching team includes a further eight qualified teachers, and reflects the cultures of the children who attend the service.
The teaching philosophy is presented in three different languages to ensure it is accessible by families. It is based on play-based programmes that promote children's 'fascinations' and independence. Developing genuine relationships with children, whānau and community is important to the team.
Centre leaders continue to strengthen the key development areas identified in the 2014 ERO report. These include teachers' appraisals, internal evaluation and bicultural practice.
The centre is part of the BestStart Education and Care organisation, which provides an overarching governance and management framework, as well as personnel to support individual centres.
This review was part of a cluster of seven education and care service reviews in the BestStart organisation.
Children engage positively in the activities that teachers provide for them. They have good access to resources to support their play, and confidently choose where they will spend their time. Older children are building friendships as they play together in well considered spaces. Teachers interact respectfully with children and their whānau.
The play space for infants caters well for these children. Teachers present resources in interesting ways and are responsive to children's needs. Their ability to use home languages is comforting for children. Centre leaders and teachers work in sensitive, inclusive ways to settle children into the centre and to transition between the spaces allocated to the different age groups. They work well with external agencies to provide specialised support for those children who need additional care.
Teachers could now consider ways to increase the extent to which their teaching practices and the physical environment respond to and reflect children's cultural backgrounds. Play spaces could also be reviewed to evaluate how well they support children to engage with the natural world and in sustained, complex projects.
Teachers value and make the most of the opportunities to engage in meaningful discussions with parents at pick-up and drop-off times. These discussions support the development of meaningful relationships. Teachers are now developing ways to weave this shared information into children's individual portfolios of learning.
Teachers are working to redevelop their programme planning with a focus on supporting children's dispositions for learning. Photographs of children as they engage in learning are used well to inform parents who have English as an additional language, about their children's participation in the programme. Teachers are establishing ways of growing parents' understanding about the effectiveness of a play-based curriculum in promoting children's learning.
Leaders and teachers have established a consultative process for internal evaluation. Learning from this process is valued and included in the centre's strategic plan. Teachers' professional learning is helping to strengthen their practice and build the team in a purposeful way.
BestStart has recently developed a strategic plan to guide the organisation's future direction. Managers are working to increase coherence and alignment between organisational and individual centres' annual and strategic planning. The teacher appraisal process has been redeveloped with a focus on lifting teacher practice through individual inquiry. Managers will continue to provide targeted support to ensure these documents become familiar to teachers, and contribute to improved consistency in the quality of programmes across centres.
To support the provision of a broader curriculum in the outdoors, it would be worthwhile for BestStart managers and teachers to review and improve the design and layout of these learning environments.
Key next steps for centre development include:
Before the review, the staff and management of Edukids Stoddard 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 Edukids Stoddard will be in three years.
Julie Foley
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)
Te Tai Raki - Northern Region
6 April 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.
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Location |
Mount Roskill, Auckland |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
45373 |
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Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
98 children, including up to 24 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
105 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 53% |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
10% |
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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 |
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Over 2 |
1:8 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
February 2018 |
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Date of this report |
6 April 2018 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
November 2014 |
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Education Review |
October 2011 |
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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.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Edukids Stoddard Road is a large early childhood education centre in a light industrial area of Mt Roskill Auckland. The centre is licensed for 98 children, including 24 children up the age of two years. The centre was established by Kidicorp in 2009 and had a positive ERO review in 2011.
The centre is organised into four separate areas, including a specialised babies and toddlers area. Children over two years share equipment in the large combined outdoor space. Children nearing five years have a separate indoor area that promotes their school ready capabilities and independence.
A new centre manager has been recently appointed following a period of interim centre leadership. Kidicorp’s professional support manager (PSM) and business manager are working closely with the new manager to review centre operations. The majority of staff are qualified early childhood teachers. Strengthening leadership and building a strong team culture are identified priorities.
Staff respond positively to the wide ethnic and social diversity of children and their families. The centre provides full-day and sessional services to meet family requirements, and operates morning and afternoon transport services to assist some children in the local community to attend early childhood education.
The centre manager is consulting staff as they review the centre philosophy. Centre policies and procedures are regularly audited. In addition Kidicorp personnel evaluate the quality of the programme and provide feedback to the centre managers about areas for improvement.
Children are provided with education and care that promotes their learning, wellbeing and sense of belonging. Teachers observe children’s play and plan programmes that respond to their individual interests and dispositions. Best practices observed extended children’s engagement in play and encouraged social interaction and verbal communication.
A high number of children use English as an additional language. Play-based learning activities support children’s conversation and inquiry skills. Staff invite parents to share their cultures and languages and plan centre events to encourage family participation. Teachers could further develop their focus on language development to promote children’s’ confidence and communication.
A significant number of Māori and Pacific children attend the centre. A number of teachers use te reo and tikanga Māori as part of their everyday practice. Learning environments reflect Māori culture in attractive and purposeful ways. Centre leaders are keen to extend the bicultural understanding of staff and children through centre-wide professional learning and development.
Babies and toddlers are nurtured and well cared for. They have individual routines that respond to their home lives and parent wishes. Children with special learning needs are welcome in the centre and staff willingly adopt new ways of working to meet children’s different abilities. Children’s diverse nutritional needs are appropriately catered for by a healthy menu of baking, fruit and cooked meals.
The Kidicorp ready-for-school approach is well integrated into centre programmes. Teachers are using the environment to promote literacy and mathematics. The deliberate arrangement of displays, resources, furniture and centres of interest invite children to explore and investigate mathematical ideas and literacy concepts.
Children have respectful relationships with each other and with teachers. Many have brothers and sisters at the centre and are able to join in activities with children of mixed ages. Centre programmes allow children to sustain play with minimal interruption, and the flexible morning tea and meal time routines encourage children to become independent and self managing.
Some teachers plan deliberate activities to help children see possibilities for using resources in different and imaginative ways. These enhance the ways children engage with one another and create opportunities for collaborative play. These events encourage creativity and enable teachers to view children as capable and confident learners.
Professional practice has improved with a recent centre-wide focus on teacher planning and assessment. The introduction of an on-line approach to recording and sharing children’s learning is increasing parent involvement. Further potential in sharing these e-learning approaches with children could be explored.
Self review is becoming more inclusive and comprehensive under the leadership of the new centre manager. Sharing expectations of best practice is more central to staff meetings and discussion. Managers recognise and promote staff leadership potential. Kidicorp is currently introducing a new model of appraisal to encourage professional thinking and reflective teacher practice.
Centre managers agree that the next stages of centre development should focus on:
Before the review, the staff and management of Edukids Stoddard 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.
Centre managers are aware of the need for safe access to and from the centre at arrival and collection times, and in the event of a centre evacuation. ERO is concerned that access to the centre is currently blocked by delivery trucks early in the morning. This situation poses a risk to children. Centre managers should work with staff and parents to develop a risk management plan. They should continue to negotiate with the property owner to resolve this concern.
The next ERO review of Edukids Stoddard will be in three years.
Dale Bailey
National Manager Review Services Northern Region
14 November 2014
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 |
Mt Roskill, Auckland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
45373 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
98 children, including up to 25 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
144 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls 80 Boys 64 |
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|
Ethnic composition |
Māori NZ European/Pākehā Pacific Indian Chinese Middle Eastern other European other Asian other |
7% 12% 22% 16% 8% 6% 13% 12% 4% |
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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 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
October 2014 |
||
|
Date of this report |
14 November 2014 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
October 2011 |
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.