88 Brightside Road, Stanmore Bay
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Home from Home Childcare provides for children up to six years of age in the Rodney district, Whangaparaoa, Orewa and Helensville. There are currently 52 children enrolled, including four who have Māori or Pacific heritage. The service was purchased by Love of Learning Limited in 2016. The owners are in the process of changing the name of the service to Childcare at Home. The management team includes two owners/directors and an operations manager, who is a registered teacher.
Currently 15 educators provide programmes in their homes for up to four children at a time. All of the educators have an early childhood qualification. The two coordinators were appointed in February 2017 and are registered teachers. They regularly visit educators and support them to plan educational programmes for children.
ERO’s 2014 report identified that children benefit from supportive and caring relationships and experience a range of learning opportunities in the home and community. Developing relationships with children, educators and families has been a priority for the new coordinators.
The curriculum for children is linked to Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, and aligned with the service's philosophy. Coordinators are committed to working collaboratively with educators to promote play-based approaches to learning. They work with educators to plan programmes that are responsive to children's interests and also plan playgroups that enable children to participate in large group experiences.
Educators are highly engaged in providing home-based education and care for children. They provide clear records in individual portfolios, of children's learning experiences in the home and the community. Educators provide valuable information about their work that is used well by coordinators to help them improve provision for children.
The coordinators demonstrate a commitment to learning about their new role as curriculum leaders. They have quickly built positive relationships with educators and parents/whānau. Coordinator records show how they provide skilful feedback to educators that helps to grow their capacity to support children's learning.
The new management team is in the early stages of adapting the service's governance and management practices. The team is committed to implementing the requirements to operate a home-based service. Clear communications and open discussions between managers and coordinators have supported the transition to new ownership.
The vision and philosophy of the service are currently being reviewed. There is a focus on continual improvement and building coordinator and educator skills and knowledge. New internal evaluation and performance management systems have recently been implemented. The management team and coordinators have a good understanding about, and a genuine commitment to, te Tiriti o Waitangi and the place of tangata whenua in Aotearoa.
Work is also underway to update the policy and procedural framework and to promote consistency across the owners' four home-based care and education networks. Systems for monitoring health and safety have been established. A new strategic plan identifies very appropriate goals for ongoing improvement.
Key next steps for coordinators include:
working with educators to document planning and assessment records that show individual children's progress and development over time
considering how they could increase parents' written contributions to their children's learning programmes.
Key next steps for the management team include:
implementing systems to ensure that personnel and health and safety requirements are consistently monitored
strengthening bicultural practices across all levels of the organisation
working with coordinators to consolidate newly established internal evaluation and performance management systems.
Before the review, the staff and management of Home from Home Childcare completed an ERO Home-based Education and Care 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.
In order to improve current practices, the management team should ensure that all policies and systems are updated to meet current legal requirements.
The next ERO review of Home from Home Childcare will be in three years.
Violet Tu'uga Stevenson
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)
26 June 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 |
Whangaparaoa, Auckland |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
45257 |
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Institution type |
Homebased Network |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
80 children, including up to 80 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
52 |
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Standard or Quality Funded |
Quality |
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Gender composition |
Boys 31 Girls 21 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
3 |
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Number of qualified coordinators in the network |
2 |
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Required ratios of staff educators to children |
Under 2 |
1:2 |
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Over 2 |
1:4 |
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Review team on site |
May 2017 |
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Date of this report |
26 June 2017 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
February 2014 |
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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 the draft methodology for ERO reviews in Home-based Education and Care Services: July 2014
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.
Home from Home Family Childcare Limited is a small home-based network that operates in the Rodney district. This organisation caters for children from infants to school age and provides education and care by educarers in their own homes.
The network is managed by the owner, who has had long-term involvement in home-based education and care prior to starting her own service. The owner and another staff member work as visiting teachers and provide regular support to educarers. This is the service’s first ERO review.
The service provides positive outcomes for children and their families. Children are happy and settled and have a strong sense of belonging in educarer homes. Respectful caring relationships are a feature of the service. Parents are kept informed about their children’s progress.
Educarers provide learning through planned activities, spontaneous events and excursions. Children have opportunities to socialise with and learn alongside other children. Educarers interact positively with children and frequently engage them in conversation. The service provides playgroups for group learning as well as additional resources for educarers to help meet the care and learning needs of children.
The service is currently establishing some effective management and administration systems to support its further development. The owner is aware of the need to improve self review, strategic planning and some aspects of financial management. Professional development would assist the centre to make improvements in these areas. Visiting teachers could increase support for educarers to strengthen existing programme planning practices and further improve the quality of its home-based care and education.
ERO is confident that the service is being managed in the interest of the children. Therefore ERO will review the service again within three years.
All ERO education reviews in early childhood focus on the quality of education. For ERO this includes the quality of:
Home from Home Family Childcare Limited has been operating in the wider Rodney area since November 2009. The service is coordinated by the owner and one other visiting teacher. Both have had long-term background experience in home-based care and are qualified early childhood educators. An administrator manages office systems and helps to maintain communication between the organisation and families. The organisation provides regular visits and professional support to 19 educarers, who provide education programmes and care for children in their own homes.
Children benefit from supportive and caring relationships in educarers' homes. Educarers know children well and are responsive to their physical, social and emotional needs. Children show a strong sense of belonging and a family-like connection to one another. Educarers appreciate the support they receive from educators. Parents comment favourably on the service and the care their children receive.
Educarers provide good quality care and view children’s wellbeing as a priority. Careful consideration is given to ensuring a good match between educarers and children. Programmes operate at the children’s pace and routines are flexible and personalised. Home environments are well resourced and provide good opportunities for a range of engaging play activities. Educarers maintain good hygiene practices and are supported by regular health and safety checks conducted by a visiting teacher.
A varied range of additional learning opportunities complements home-centred learning. Most educators involve children in larger groups and excursions outside the home. They participate in community and home-based playgroups and other events organised by the service. Visiting teachers are aware they could increase the focus of biculturalism within the programmes.
Visiting teachers provide individualised guidance and support for families, children and educarers. Visits to the homes are recorded and shared with families. Visiting teachers give educarers autonomy to develop programmes for children and model the writing of learning stories.
The owner has established some effective management practices. There is good communication between visiting teachers and educarers. Training is provided to enhance the programmes educarers provide for children.
ERO, the owner and service managers agree that next steps for improving the service should include:
Before the review, the management and staff of Home from Home Family Childcare completed an ERO Home-Based Education and Care Assurance Statement and Self-Audit Checklist. In these documents they attested that they had taken all reasonable steps to meet their legal obligations related to:
During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on outcomes for children:
ERO is confident that the service is being managed in the interest of the children. Therefore ERO will review the service again within three years.
Dale Bailey
National Manager Review Services Northern Region
3 February 2014
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Location |
Whangaparaoa, Auckland |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
45257 |
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Service type |
Homebased Network |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Service roll |
59 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 38 Girls 21 |
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Ethnic composition |
NZ European/Pākehā Māori Samoan |
43 14 2 |
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Review team on site |
November 2013 |
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Date of this report |
3 February 2014 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
No previous ERO reports |