- ERO evaluates and reports on the education and care of children and young people in early childhood services and schools.
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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.
Kingsway Pre-School - Silverdale caters for children and families from the Hibiscus Coast, Silverdale and Millwater areas. The centre is one of two operated by the directors of Kingsway Educational Services Limited.
The centre has two rooms catering for up to 60 children from two to five years of age. The roll includes a group of Chinese children, a small number of Māori and other diverse ethnicities. Team leaders in both rooms lead curriculum development and mentor teachers.
The philosophy is based on a special Christian character and nurturing relationships that foster respect, value diversity and promote acceptance. It emphasises the provision of a safe, interactive and fun learning environment.
The 2014 ERO report identified positive aspects of the centre including good leadership and positive relationships between teachers, children and families. These features have been maintained. Teachers have worked to continue strengthening programme planning, bicultural practices and teaching.
Children are highly engaged in the programme and sustain their involvement for considerable periods of time. Teachers skilfully encourage children to explore and revisit previous interests through a broad range of experiences. As a result, children lead their own play independently and have a strong focus on their learning. Tuakana/teina roles foster children's growing social and communication skills.
Teachers engage children in meaningful conversations that support them to extend their thinking. Teachers use open questions well to encourage children to respond and to extend their oral language. Wall displays help to make learning visible and promote further interest and conversation.
Teachers know children very well. They are gentle and caring in their interactions and work skilfully alongside children. Teachers use effective strategies to help children to manage their relationships with others. They prompt children to solve problems and encourage them to manage their own needs.
Teachers use outdoor areas to provide additional activities that encourage children’s active exploration. The programme provides very good literacy, science, arts and mathematics learning opportunities. Whānau aspirations and interests inform planning and individual goals for older children. Portfolios include dispositions, children's learning and parents' feedback.
Teachers continue to strengthen their bicultural practices. They use te reo Māori in waiata, karakia, literacy and numeracy. Bicultural perspectives are included in programme investigations such as those relating to national New Zealand events.
Partnerships with families are very well developed. Teachers welcome children and their families warmly and engage them in friendly and professional conversations. Families’ sense of belonging in the centre is highly evident and children have trusting relationships with teachers.
Kingsway Pre-School - Silverdale provides high quality early childhood education that promotes the wellbeing and learning of all the children attending. The centre's special Christian character is enacted throughout the programme. Intentional Biblical teaching underpins aspects of the curriculum.
Leadership is highly effective. The centre manager has worked with teachers to build a professional team culture. She recognises and grows leadership among staff. Teachers are committed to professional learning to enhance their practice. They have a shared responsibility to achieve the outcomes identified in the centre’s strategic and annual plans.
Directors provide good guidance for the centre manager. A clear strategic vision and sound policy and management framework, including robust appraisal processes and effective internal evaluation systems, supports continuous improvement.
Next steps to enhance existing high quality practices include:
making children's learning and progress over time more evident in their assessment records
recording learning outcomes and teaching strategies to increase teachers' focus on the impact of their practice on children's learning.
Before the review, the staff and management of Kingsway Pre-School - Silverdale 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 Kingsway Pre-School - Silverdale will be in four years.
Steffan Brough
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)
7 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 |
Silverdale, Auckland |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
20245 |
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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 |
60 children, over 2 years of age |
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Service roll |
109 |
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Gender composition |
Girls 56% Boys 44% |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Chinese Korean other |
4% 57% 17% 5% 17% |
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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 |
Over 2 |
1:6 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
April 2017 |
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Date of this report |
7 June 2017 |
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Most recent ERO report(s)
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Education Review |
October 2014 |
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Education Review |
June 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.
