163 Dominion Road, Papakura East, Auckland
View on mapAkarangi | Quality Evaluation evaluates the extent to which this early childhood service has the learning and organisational conditions to support equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners. Te Ara Poutama- indicators of quality for early childhood education: what matters most (PDF 3.01MB) are the basis for making judgements about the effectiveness of the service in achieving equity and excellence for all learners. The Akarangi Quality Evaluation Judgement Rubric (PDF 91.30KB) derived from the indicators, is used to inform the ERO’s judgements about this service’s performance in promoting equity and excellence.
ERO’s judgements for Little Sunbeams Christian Early Childhood Centre are as follows:
Outcome Indicators |
ERO’s judgement |
|
What the service knows about outcomes for learners |
Whāngai Establishing |
Ngā Akatoro Domains |
ERO’s judgement |
|
He Whāriki Motuhake |
Whāngai Establishing |
|
Whakangungu Ngaio |
Whāngai Establishing |
|
Ngā Aronga Whai Hua |
Whāngai Establishing |
|
Kaihautū |
Whāngai Establishing |
|
Te Whakaruruhau |
Whāngai Establishing |
Little Sunbeams Christian Early Childhood Centre is owned and administered by the Papakura Community Trust. The centre caters for 30 children up to school age. The centre manager is supported by four qualified teachers with two teachers being newly appointed to the centre. Children and staff come from the local multi-cultural community.
Children are confident to make decisions about their play, and their friendships are nurtured. They are encouraged to develop self-help skills through daily routines and meal-times. Free flow between indoor and outdoor play spaces supports children’s independence. Children are capable of leading their own learning and support the learning of their peers. Tuakana/teina relationships are affirmed, and siblings support each other in their home language and English.
Service leaders and teachers show commitment to enacting Te Tiriti o Waitangi. They continue to strengthen their bicultural practices. Te reo Māori is integrated in the daily programme. Māori children are acknowledged and affirmed in their cultural identity. Children participate in karakia, waiata, poi, kapa haka and understand simple phrases and kupu in te reo Māori. This integration of te ao Māori helps Māori children to have a sense of identity in the centre.
The newly established teaching team is beginning to build partnerships with parents and whānau. They seek the views of children, parents and whānau to inform programme planning. Teachers have thoughtfully created learning environments that support equitable opportunities for children to learn. Discussions between parents and the teaching team have contributed to thinking about how the learning environment can more strongly cater for the higher numbers of younger children now enrolled.
Teachers and leaders take collective responsibility to engage in professional learning opportunities. They are beginning to work collaboratively to build their professional knowledge and cultural competence. This development will promote teachers’ and leaders’ shared understandings about practice and support them to design and implement a responsive programme for all children.
The newly appointed service leaders work well together. Leaders collaboratively enact the service’s philosophy, vision and goals. Trust among staff supports collaboration and improvement. Leaders have identified the use of evaluation as an improvement priority. Together with teachers they should follow effective evaluation practice to guide their reflection and improvement.
Little Sunbeams Christian Early Childhood Centre will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:
Before the review, the staff and management of Little Sunbeams Christian 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:
All early childhood services are required to promote children's health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.
Steve Tanner
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki
17 June 2021
|
Early Childhood Service Name |
Little Sunbeams Christian Early Childhood Centre |
|
Profile Number |
20089 |
|
Location |
Papakura, Auckland |
|
Service type |
Education and care service |
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Number licensed for |
30 children over 2 years of age |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80%+ |
|
Service roll |
38 |
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori 5 |
|
Review team on site |
May 2021 |
|
Date of this report |
17 June 2021 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, August 2017 |
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Little Sunbeams Christian Early Childhood Centre provides all day education and care for up to 30 children over two years of age. Most children are Pākehā. Other smaller groups include Māori, Samoan and Chinese children.
The service’s philosophy is underpinned by Christian principles and Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. It prioritises a safe, secure and nurturing environment and a place where the community can meet and interact together. The philosophy is evident in practice.
The service is governed by the Papakura Community Trust. It is part of, and shares the Wesleyan Church site. A committee of Trust members, teachers and parents manages centre operations. The manager has oversight of the day-to-day running of the centre. The centre manager and most staff are qualified teachers with long experience in the centre.
The 2013 ERO report identified some areas for improvement including programme management strategies, assessment processes and learning partnerships with parents. These continue to be areas for ongoing development.
Children and their families are warmly welcomed to the centre. Children are friendly and confident, and interact well with their peers and teachers. Their contributions to discussions are encouraged, accepted and respected. Teachers take time to genuinely listen to children and foster their language development.
Children participate in a semi-structured programme and are able to explore the environment freely. They make choices about their own play. The learning environment is well organised and children have easy access to appropriate learning resources. Good teaching practices support children’s play.
Literacy, numeracy and environmental education are promoted well in the context of play. A community volunteer supports the provision of te reo me ōna tikanga Māori for teachers and children. Children's home languages are valued and supported.
Teachers organise specific learning activities for age-related group times. Staff agree that a next step is to evaluate this programme against Te Whāriki, and to consider its impact on each child's learning journey.
Parents feel welcome at the service. They feel comfortable to participate and contribute to the curriculum. Teachers offer good opportunities for parents to be informed. Online learning records allow families ready access to information about their children’s learning. Teachers gather parents' aspirations about their child. They could use this information better to show how they respond to and extend children’s learning interests over time.
Leaders ensure that teachers are provided with professional development. Teachers have good opportunities to attend conferences and share their learning with each other. A next step is to strengthen teacher appraisal processes and distribute curriculum leadership opportunities. This would help to make use of and extend teachers' skills.
A shared understanding of the purpose of internal evaluation is developing and review processes are becoming more apparent. Managers acknowledge the usefulness of strengthening the service's strategic plan and policy review processes to support ongoing improvement.
Centre managers and teachers agree that key next steps for ongoing improvement include:
reviewing the service's long-term plans and identifying specific goals and actions to support ongoing improvement
implementing robust improvement focused systems for appraisal and internal evaluation
establishing curriculum leadership roles and responsibilities for teachers and continuing to develop their curriculum knowledge
reviewing and strengthening planning, assessment and evaluation practices to further promote children's individual learning.
Before the review, the staff and management of Little Sunbeams Christian 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 Little Sunbeams Christian Early Childhood Centre will be in three years.
Violet Tu’uga Stevenson
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)
4 August 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 East, Auckland |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
20089 |
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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 |
30 children, over 2 years of age |
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|
Service roll |
44 |
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Gender composition |
Girls 25 Boys 19 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
5 |
|
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Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
80% + |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
Review team on site |
June 2017 |
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Date of this report |
4 August 2017 |
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Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
November 2013 |
|
|
Education Review |
October 2010 |
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|
Education Review |
September 2007 |
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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.