25 Onslow Road, Papakura
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.
First Steps Onslow is an established service that provides full day education and care for up to 76 children, including up to 25 under two years of age. The centre is comprised of three separate buildings, one each for infants (the Nursery), toddlers (Junior Kindy) and young children (Senior Kindy). These groups also have designated outdoor areas.
Many enrolled children have Māori or Pacific heritage. There are also several Pākehā children with smaller numbers of Indian, Asian and other ethnicities. The centre aspires to a philosophy of empowering children within a nurturing, caring and culturally inclusive environment.
The centre is part of the BestStart organisation, which provides a strong management framework. It also provides a range of support services and personnel, including a professional services manager (PSM) and a business manager (BM) who both visit the centre regularly. Daily operation of the centre is delegated to the Centre Manager and team leaders assigned to each age group. While many teachers have long tenure in the centre there have been several centre managers in recent years. The current manager, appointed in late 2016, shows a commitment to provide ongoing leadership for the centre.
Eight staff members are registered teachers. They are supported by regular professional development opportunities that reflect their individual goals, the needs of the centre and BestStart priorities. Teachers reflect the multicultural community and they value the cultural and language diversity of children and their families.
In 2014 ERO endorsed several positive aspects of the service including the quality of interactions and support for early literacy learning. Centre leaders and teachers have made some progress in areas identified for improvement including self review and strengthening bicultural practices, but these continue to be areas for further development.
This review was part of a cluster of seven reviews in the BestStart organisation.
Children in the Kindy areas are settled and generally confident in the centre. They have good relationships with teachers and most play well together. Young children and toddlers engage with the resources and activities that teachers provide and respond to adult support for their play. They enjoy easy access to their outdoor environments and opportunities for physical activity. The Senior group in particular, would benefit from more challenging learning experiences and support to develop complexity in their play.
Younger infants in the Nursery are well supported by primary caregivers who encourage them to explore and develop a sense of belonging in the centre. Babies are happy in this nurturing setting. The mobile toddlers (Big Tots) in the adjacent area of the Nursery are not always so emotionally secure. While they are encouraged to play independently, not all teachers are responding well to children's individual needs and interests. Teachers should consider ways they can sustain the supportive approach established for babies, as these Big Tots develop their mobility, independence and language skills.
Some staff use effective teaching practices that support children to engage in meaningful play. They share interesting conversations, ask genuine questions and expect children to explore new ideas. These teachers are good models to guide others who need to become more deliberate in challenging children to engage in, and persist with tasks. Teachers need to be more thoughtful in setting up environments to ensure that resources will provoke children's interest, and provide opportunities for them to build on their skills and knowledge.
Teachers continue to develop strategies for planning, assessment and evaluation. They endeavour to respond to children's interests, and teachers in the infant area and Junior Kindy have developed detailed individual plans for children. Leaders recognise that further improvements are needed in planning and programme documentation to help teachers strengthen their teaching practices and use of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum.
Teachers record stories and photos each month to document children's interests and their involvement in the programme. If teachers become more critically reflective in their evaluations of programmes and analyses of learning they will know more about the quality of outcomes for children.
Effective systems encourage parents and whānau to be partners in children's learning and to contribute to centre events, surveys and cultural celebrations. Communication systems enable families to share their aspirations and receive information about children's learning. A digital portal allows extended family members to receive and comment on their children's learning stories and photos.
The centre manager is actively seeking to enhance collaboration among teachers. She encourages staff to meet as a whole group as well as in their separate teams. Leadership roles are distributed and teachers are supported to share good practices with each other. The centre manager strongly promotes bicultural practices and the incidental use of te reo Māori. She has fostered a culture of internal evaluation with a particular focus on improving transitions within the centre and for children going to school. Further whole-centre professional development should help teachers to become a more cohesive teaching team.
BestStart continues to provide good support for centres through professional development opportunities, management documentation and a range of quality assurance processes. PSMs and BMs maintain positive relationships with centre personnel and have high expectations for centre performance. The challenge for PSMs is to use their current focus on teaching as inquiry and newly developed mentoring processes to help centre managers and teachers achieve the high quality practices that BestStart values. Recent work to establish goal-focused strategic plans in each centre should also help to facilitate meaningful improvements in teaching and learning.
Centre leaders agree that key next steps for centre improvement include:
In addition teachers should:
Before the review, the staff and management of First Steps Onslow 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.
The next ERO review of First Steps Onslow will be in three years.
Graham Randell
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern
Te Tai Raki - Northern Region
4 October 2017
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 |
Papakura, Auckland |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
25097 |
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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 |
76 children, including up to 25 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
89 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 49 Girls 40 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
45 |
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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 |
1:8 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
July 2017 |
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Date of this report |
4 October 2017 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
June 2014 |
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Education Review |
April 2011 |
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Education Review |
March 2008 |
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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.
First Steps Onslow in Papakura offers education and care for children from birth to five years of age. The centre has separate facilities for infants, from birth to two and a half years old, juniors, whose ages range between two and a half to three and a half years old, and seniors, whose ages are between three years and five years old.
The centre is owned and operated by the Kidicorp organisation whose policies and procedures guide centre operations. Kidicorp personnel provide good support and guidance for centre leaders and teachers.
The recent appointment of the centre manager has contributed to staffing and leadership stability. The centre manager has worked collaboratively with her team to develop a well run centre for parents and children.
Internal professional learning through Kidicorp supports teachers to review relevant strategies to embed good practice. Teachers have benefited from targeted professional development, which builds their skills and supports them to reflect on their practice.
Children enjoy environments that promote a sense of belonging. They are confident and friendly and enjoy friendships with each other and with adults at the centre. Teachers have clear expectations that are understood by children. Teachers enjoy working alongside children and some maintain ongoing conversations with children about their play. Children are supported to learn and negotiate appropriate self-help and social skills.
Teachers work together well to engage children during mat times and promote a love of reading. They provide many opportunities for children to engage in literacy and numeracy learning. Leaders agree that teachers could now provide more developmentally appropriate areas of play that extend children’s thinking and play opportunities.
The curriculum is guided by principles of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. There is a focus on embedding bicultural practices through curriculum planning and delivery. Reflective questions guide planning processes. Parents are encouraged to have input into the curriculum. Feedback from parents is based on children’s interests and strengths.
Teachers regularly review the programme and evaluate their progress. Children’s interests are reported to parents and recorded in children’s portfolios. Teachers are developing their use of strategies to meet each child’s interests and extend their learning. Children have access to their portfolios and older children re-visit these regularly.
Leaders work alongside Kidicorp managers to develop a cohesive and collaborative approach to building leadership capacity in the centre. The professional development programme is responsive to teachers’ needs and supports them to build their capability.
A comprehensive strategic and annual plan informs daily operations of the centre. The centre welcomes whānau and parent feedback. Teachers use this information to ensure that an environment of wellbeing and belonging supports quality outcomes for children.
ERO and centre leaders agree that key next steps include continuing to:
Before the review, the staff and management of First Steps Onslow 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 First Steps Onslow will be in three years.
Dale Bailey
National Manager Review Services
Northern Region
11 June 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 |
Papakura, Auckland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
25097 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
76 children, including up to 25 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
89 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys 53 Girls 36 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori NZ European/Pākehā Cook Island Māori Samoan Tongan Tokelauan Fijian Indian Chinese Middle Eastern other |
38 34 2 3 2 1 1 3 2 1 2 |
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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 |
April 2014 |
||
|
Date of this report |
11 June 2014 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
April 2011 |
|
|
Education Review |
March 2008 |
||
|
Education Review |
March 2005 |
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.