23 Matau Street, Alexandra
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
BestStart Alexandra is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
BestStart Alexandra provides all day education and care for 47 children, including 15 up to the age of two. Children are grouped according to age. The Koru group provides for infants and the two older groups (Matau, toddlers and Pikorua, young children) share the same space.
Teachers aim to develop children's life-long love of learning by interweaving a sense of empowerment, respect, belonging and using the environment to support teaching and learning.
Day-to-day operations are led by the centre manager. A BestStart area manager provides business management and professional practice support to leaders and the teaching team. The area manager, centre manager and some staff are new since the June 2016 review. Most staff are qualified early childhood teachers.
The service has made good progress developing a system for children to be regularly planned for as identified in the June 2016 report. Strengthening teacher knowledge in relation to children's identity, culture and language, and integrating Māori perspectives in planning and practices remain next steps.
Children are settled and engaged in their learning. Teachers know the children well and help them to learn the skills to be a friend and relate well to one another. They purposefully set up the environments for older children to have choice in their learning, explore, stimulate their curiosity, develop their physical skills and engage in creative and imaginative play.
Teachers build children's oral language capabilities through skilful conversations based on their knowledge of children's strengths and interests. They are increasingly incorporating te reo me ngā tikanga Māori into teaching and learning practices. Children attend a weekly kapa haka community group. A next step is to ensure documentation reflects Māori children's language, culture and identity.
Infants benefit from caring and nurturing relationships with their teachers. Teachers provide a calm, unhurried environment where children are seen as confident and competent learners. They regularly share information and discuss care routines with parents and whānau. The indoor and outdoor environments allow infants free movement and invite them to explore, investigate and be curious.
Children with additional learning needs are well supported. Teachers work collaboratively with external agencies to develop useful plans and strategies to enable children to fully participate in learning.
Children of Pacific heritage have some opportunities to hear and share their language and culture. Teachers have identified that a next step is to strengthen how they consistently recognise and respond to children's language, culture and identity within the curriculum.
The quality of assessment and planning for learning is variable. Leaders and teachers are in the early stages of developing shared understandings of effective assessment, planning and evaluation for group and individual learning. Leaders and teachers, in partnership with parents and whānau, should use Te Whāriki to determine curriculum priorities for children's learning and identify learning outcomes and more consistently respond to parent's aspirations.
Leaders and teachers are improvement focused and regularly reflect on practice. A next step is to build internal evaluation capability to evaluate the effectiveness of key aspects of the service's operation that are likely to have the most impact on outcomes for children.
ERO's evaluation findings, endorsed by service leaders, indicate that next steps to support improvement include:
leaders developing and implementing plans to build all teachers understanding and use of effective assessment, planning and evaluation for individual and groups of children
consulting with parents to unpack the strands, goals and learning outcomes of Te Whāriki and identify priorities for children's learning
continuing to build high quality internal evaluation capability
strengthening aspects of the curriculum that reflect New Zealand's dual heritage.
Before the review, the staff and management of BestStart Alexandra 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.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement
Southern Region - Te Tai Tini
29 April 2020
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 |
Alexandra |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
45256 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
47 children, including up to 15 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
71 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Male 36, Female 35 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori |
9 |
|
|
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 |
February 2020 |
||
|
Date of this report |
29 April 2020 |
||
|
Most recent ERO reports |
Education Review |
June 2016 |
|
|
Education Review |
May 2012 |
||
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.
The overall judgement that ERO makes will depend on how well the service promotes positive learning outcomes for children. The categories are:
Very well placed
Well placed
Requires further development
Not well placed
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.
Since the previous ERO review in 2012, this early childhood centre was acquired by the Best Start group. At that time (2014) Best Start operated two services in Alexandra. In 2015 the group merged its two centres into one with the name First Steps Matau. The service now provides education and care for 47 children, including up to 15 children under the age of two. Children under the age of two have a separate inside and outdoor area as well as access to the wider environment. The centre is led by a manager, her second-in-charge and a head teacher who has responsibility for the infant area.
Significant work by the centre leaders helped ensure a smooth merger of the two services. The leaders successfully united the team of teachers by leading the development of a comprehensive centre philosophy based on key values. Teachers have a shared understanding of the centre's priorities for learning which are based on RIE and Pikler concepts. Teachers consistently work to promote these which include turangawaewae (a sense of belonging), respect, independence, and empowering children to be confident and capable life-long learners.
There is a strong sense of whanaungatanga and manaakitanga evident at the centre. Families and children are warmly welcomed and well cared for. Teachers know the children well and place high importance on developing positive, trusting relationships between themselves and families.
Teachers deliberately foster a calm, peaceful and uncluttered environment for learning that is home-like. Children are confident, settled and engaged, and play meaningfully alone or with others. Teachers are passionate about their work and constantly reflect on ways to deepen their understanding of each child and how best to nurture and support their needs and wants. Teachers are very sensitive to the diverse needs of the children and work deliberately to provide extra support for their learning as required.
Other features of the centre that promote positive outcomes for children include the:
integration of aspects of tikanga Māori, waiata and language in the daily programme
wide range of experiences that build and extend children’s interests both indoors and outdoors
regular communications teachers have with parents in a variety of ways
ways teachers share knowledge between themselves to purposefully promote and extend children’s interests and learning.
Children in the infant area enjoy lots of music and have access to a wide choice of activities and experiences. The teachers interpret and sensitively respond to their subtle cues. The calm, unhurried and settled environment enhances children’s wellbeing. Teachers enjoy having parents participate in the programme and value their comments and ideas.
The Best Start organisation has a range of systems to support developments and improvements at the centre. It provides ongoing professional development for staff and has established regional and online networks for leaders and teachers. There are effective systems to inform Best Start that key aspects of the service are evaluated regularly and that health and safety and other requirements are being met.
The leaders and teachers know that the priority for the centre now is to consolidate the significant progress made during the past year. They need to ensure the good practices embedded at the centre are maintained and built on and they have a range of useful systems and processes to support this. The next steps include:
ensuring that the bicultural practices that teachers follow are reviewed on a regular basis
improving documentation to clearly identify the specific knowledge that teachers have about children's learning, culture and interests
improving the systems used to ensure that all children are planned for regularly over time
ensuring the indicators used when developing practice are clear and specific to the focus and help guide the process at all stages.
Before the review, the staff and management of First Steps Matau 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 First Steps Matau will be in four years.
Lesley Patterson
Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern
30 June 2016
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 |
Alexandra |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
45256 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
47 children, including up to 15 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
59 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys: 34 Girls: 25 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Samoan Tongan South African Other |
4 46 3 1 2 3 |
|
|
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 |
April 2016 |
||
|
Date of this report |
30 June 2016 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
May 2012 |
|
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.
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.
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.