60 Littlebourne Road, Dunedin Central, Dunedin
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.
Flippers Early Childhood Centre (Flippers ECC) is licenced for up to 27 children, including up to nine under two year olds. Currently there are 33 children on the centre's roll. Flippers ECC is privately owned and the licensee/owner is a qualified early childhood teacher. She currently teaches at the centre and is supported by two co-managers who also teach. All teachers are trained and the majority have early childhood qualifications.
Flippers ECC's philosophy is to provide an environment which promotes learning and development for children in: social skills, achieving independence, literacy and numeracy, and being creative and conscientious about health and sustainability.
Since the last ERO review in 2016, the centre has made significant progress in its governance and management systems and practices, planning, assessment and evaluation, strategic and annual planning, and internal evaluation. The centre has established systems and the owner is now better assured of robust and monitored health and safety practices.
The centre effectively promotes children’s learning and wellbeing. Children enjoy caring and sensitive relationships with each other and their teachers. Teachers know the children well, including knowing them as learners. Careful assessment and planning for individual children guides teachers’ interactions with children and how the programme is delivered. Children’s progress is well documented. The planning and programme are increasingly influenced by the centre’s learning priorities. Teachers need to evaluate the impact their teaching is having on children’s learning.
Leaders and teachers have a beginning awareness of te ao Māori. Children continue to hear and use te reo Māori, especially through waiata. Leaders have included building the bicultural curriculum in their strategic plan.
Infants and toddlers are well cared for in the mixed-age group setting. Teachers are flexible and responsive to the needs and rhythms of children under two. They have frequent caring one-to-one interactions. Adjustments are made to the environment to provide greater challenge to these children as appropriate. A dedicated space for the infants and toddlers is created when needed.
Flippers ECC values the importance of working with whānau for the best outcomes for children. Teachers respectfully include the different cultures represented in the centre’s programme. Parents’ aspirations for their children’s learning and development are highly evident in the planning. Teachers keep parents and whānau well informed about the benefits of the various play and learning activities their children take part in.
Leaders are using improved systems to support teachers to assess how well teachers and leaders are promoting positive outcomes for children. Leaders and teachers are reflective and motivated to keep improving their overall practices. Leaders are:
guided by useful long and short-term planning
building leadership among the teachers and making good use of people’s strengths
working within the clearly defined roles and responsibilities to maximise their management time and skills
implementing meaningful self-review/internal-evaluation processes to help them understand what is going well and what would benefit from further development.
The centre needs to strengthen planning for groups of children, and evaluation of teaching. There is evidence of good practice in individual planning that will be useful for this.
Leaders need to continue to strengthen the appraisal process to ensure the ongoing professional growth of teachers and leaders.
Leaders and teachers need to further their understandings of te ao Māori values to build stronger bicultural practice, as aspired to in their strategic priorities.
Before the review, the staff and management of Flippers Early Childhood Centre 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 Flippers Early Childhood Centre will be in three years.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern
Te Waipounamu - Southern Region
15 June 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 |
Dunedin |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
83043 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
27 children, including up to 9 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
33 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys: 18 Girls: 15 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori |
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 |
1:6 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
April 2018 |
||
|
Date of this report |
15 June 2018 |
||
|
Most recent ERO reports |
Education Review |
May 2016 |
|
|
Education Review |
February 2013 |
||
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 |
Systems to guide centre operations and practices need to be further developed and better monitored to ensure positive outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Flippers Early Childhood Centre is a small, family-owned centre on the premises of a Dunedin swimming pool. It provides full-day care and education for up to 27 children from birth to school age.
All teachers are qualified and the owner (who is also a qualified teacher) has made it a priority to have more teachers working with the children than are required. The owner has appointed two teachers to share the manager's role.
Since the February 2013 ERO report, both centre managers have taken extended periods of leave and the owner has been less involved in the day-to-day running of the centre. ERO found that many of the key next steps from the previous report remain areas for development.
Leaders and teachers have a well-developed philosophy that clearly states what they want children to learn at the centre. They have worked together to improve the quality of planning, assessment and evaluation. Group and individual plans show teachers:
know what learning they intend to support
seek and respond to parents' wishes for their children's learning
identify and use relevant strategies and experiences to support learning.
To ensure these improvements are sustained, managers and teachers need to develop guidelines and expectations for planning, assessment and evaluation. They then need to use these as they monitor their effectiveness.
Children benefit from programmes that are interesting and varied. This includes learning:
about sustainability and gardening
about healthy eating and physical activity
through many outings into the community
early mathematics and literacy skills
skills to be independent and to relate well to others.
Teachers develop close relationships with children and their families. They often seek older children's ideas about their learning. A weekly excursion to the nearby bush provides challenges and leadership opportunities for the group of children who are about to start school. Leaders need to act with urgency to strengthen the planning for this excursion so they can be assured of the safety of children when they are out of the centre environment.
Children are settled in the learning environment. Teachers work sensitively with children who need additional help with their learning. They effectively support the learning and wellbeing of infants and toddlers through caring, responsive relationships, and the range of learning experiences provided.
Te reo and tikanga Māori are integrated into the programme. Children learn about Māori legends and waiata, and learn about caring for the environment.
The leaders work well together. They and the teachers are thoughtful about their work with children. They undertake professional learning to improve their practice.
ERO found that systems and practices within the governance and management of the centre were not well developed or robust enough to guide the leaders and teachers in their work, or ensure the sustainability of good practices.
The strategic plan needs to more clearly identify key priorities for the centre. The owner and leaders need to develop planning to ensure these priorities are achieved. The strategic plan should be regularly monitored, evaluated and reported on.
There is a schedule to guide self review, but this has not been kept up in a timely way. Leaders and teachers need to further develop their understanding and use of self review.
Self review would be strengthened by:
framing each review with an evaluative question
ensuring that indicators relate to the focus of the review, are clearly understood and used to evaluate the impact of any resulting improvements or changes
being aligned to strategic priorities and the centre philosophy.
The managers have attended professional development to strengthen the appraisal process. The appraisal policy and accompanying guidelines should be reviewed and further developed to ensure that teachers know the expectations. The owner must ensure that both she and the managers are appraised appropriately.
The owner needs to provide more ongoing support for the managers. She agrees it is worth reinstating the previous good practices of regular meetings and ongoing mentoring of the managers. The managers' job descriptions should be updated and reflect the leadership roles required of them.
ERO found that systems for ensuring health and safety within and outside the centre could be more robust and better monitored. The owner and managers need to ensure they remain current with changes required as a result of changes to legislation. This includes what they will do to respond to the requirements of the Vulnerable Children's Act.
To provide better support for the managers, the owner needs to monitor how well the centre is promoting positive outcomes for children. The owners and managers need to improve:
strategic planning
self-review practices
systems and guidelines for teaching practice
monitoring of health and safety requirements.
Before the review, the staff and management of Flippers Early Childhood Centre 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
ERO identified areas of non-compliance relating to health and safety, governance and management.
To meet requirements, the service needs to improve its performance in the following areas:
risk analysis and management planning when on excursions
administration of medicine
documentation of fire and earthquake drills
recording of ongoing analysis of hazards and accidents
accuracy of enrolment agreements.
[Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, HS17, HS28, HS8, HS 12, GMA10]
ERO recommends that the service, in consultation with the Ministry of Education, develops a plan to address the key next steps and actions outlined in this report.
The next ERO review of Flippers Early Childhood Centre will be within two years.
Chris Rowe
Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern (Acting)
12 May 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 |
Dunedin |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
83043 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
27 children, including up to 9 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
36 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls: 26 Boys: 10 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Other |
5 26 5 |
|
|
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 |
1:7 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
March 2016 |
||
|
Date of this report |
12 May 2016 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
February 2013 |
|
|
Education Review |
October 2009 |
||
|
Education Review |
August 2006 |
||
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:
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.