- 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.
Children at Little Wonders Timaru play and learn in four separate rooms in a purpose-built centre. The centre is privately owned and one of a number of centres under the Little Wonders group. It is licensed for 75 children with up to 25 infants and toddlers. Children attending this centre come from diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds.
This is the second ERO review. Since the 2013 review there has been a new centre manager, head teacher and some new staff appointed. The centre has made good progress against the recommendations identified in the 2013 report. Some areas continue to be work in progress.
The centre has recently joined the newly formed South Timaru Community of Learning.
Children benefit from respectful interactions with each other and their teachers. They are settled and confident in the centre's environment and with their teachers. They are encouraged to make choices and to be independent and self managing. Children enjoy friendships with each other and play well for sustained periods of time.
Infants and toddlers are well supported in their learning and development. Their learning environment is spacious and thoughtfully arranged to ensure low stress and safety for those not yet mobile. They benefit from caring relationships and unhurried time with their teachers. Teachers' responses to children show a good understanding of how children develop and learn. Routines such as kai time are used well to support children's oral language and self-help skills.
Teachers and leaders, in consultation with parents, have redeveloped their centre philosophy to better describe their shared values and beliefs. They have identified what is most important for children to learn, and use this as a basis for daily programmes. Teachers purposefully design and resource the environment to provide children with interesting and challenging experiences.
Leaders and teachers have developed a useful centre-wide system of planning for individual and groups of children. Teachers are supported to take greater responsibility for this. Assessment, planning and evaluation could be strengthened by:
Children hear te reo Māori, sing waiata and have recently participated in a mihi whakatau. The leaders and teachers acknowledge that integrating Māori perspectives is in the early stages of development and needs to be further developed and strengthened.
Other positive aspects of the programme that support children's learning include:
The new leaders have worked on building a culture of collaboration, consultation and inclusion. They have identified key priorities for development over the next three years. These include:
Leaders and teachers are beginning to implement a new appraisal process. This could be more robust by ensuring regular purposeful observations, gathering evidence to show how teachers meet the Education Council requirements and showing how teachers are developing cultural competencies.
The centre's internal evaluation framework helps guide the leaders and teachers to investigate aspects of their programmes and practices. Leaders and teachers need to grow in their understanding of robust evaluation processes. This includes refining and using relevant indicators (criteria showing what good practice looks like) at all stages of the evaluation.
The Little Wonders director is focused on improving systems and processes to support the leadership and operation of the centre. He has developed a useful strategic plan to guide the future direction of the organisation and centre. This contains a strong focus on:
The next steps are to:
The key next steps for leaders and teachers are to:
Before the review, the staff and management of Little Wonders Childcare (Timaru) 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 Little Wonders Childcare (Timaru) will be in three years.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern (Te Waipounamu)
23 February 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 |
Timaru |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
45694 |
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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 |
75 children, including up to 25 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
97 |
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Gender composition |
Girls: 54 Boys: 43 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
23 |
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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 |
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Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
December 2016 |
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Date of this report |
23 February 2017 |
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Most recent ERO report
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Education Review |
October 2013 |
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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:
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.
