Organic Kids Limited

Education institution number:
46641
Service type:
Homebased Network
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
74
Address:

85 Kainga Road, Christchurch

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Organic Kids Limited

1 ERO’s Judgements

Akarangi | 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 are the basis for making judgements about the effectiveness of the service in achieving equity and excellence for all learners. Judgements are made in relation to the Outcomes Indicators, Learning and Organisational Conditions. The Evaluation Judgement Rubric derived from the indicators, is used to inform ERO’s judgements about this service’s performance in promoting equity and excellence.

ERO’s judgements for Organic Kids are as follows:

Outcome Indicators

(What the service knows about outcomes for learners)

Whāngai Establishing

Ngā Akatoro Domains

 

Learning Conditions

 

Organisational Conditions

Whakaū Embedding

Whakaū Embedding

2 Context of the Service

Organic Kids Limited is a home- based education and care service. Educators are located in the Waimakariri, Selwyn and Christchurch districts. Ownership and management are shared between two qualified teachers who oversee the service’s operation.  With a visiting teacher, they provide support and guidance to educators. The roll includes small numbers of Māori and Pacific learners. The bicultural curriculum and appraisal processes have developed since ERO’s 2018 review.

3 Summary of findings

Visiting teachers coach and mentor educators to provide a rich home-based curriculum based on Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum and with an emphasis on sustainability and nature. Children, including those aged under three, benefit from a wide range of learning experiences within educators’ homes and the wider community. Visiting teachers value te reo Māori and tikanga Māori and meaningfully integrate these through the curriculum, including learning about and caring for the natural environment in ways that integrate opportunities to learn about te ao Māori perspectives. Growing educators’ confidence to increase their daily use of te reo and further explore local legends is an ongoing area of development.

Improved assessment, planning and evaluation processes guide curriculum planning and implementation. Assessment information shows learning occurring for all children in relation to the priorities expressed in the service’s philosophy and valuing of all children’s languages, cultures and identities. Visiting teachers are yet to:

  • align the service’s learning priorities to the learning outcomes of Te Whāriki

  • consistently show children’s progress over time in relation to the learning outcomes

  • explore the Te Whāriki learning outcomes with educators.

Visiting teachers regularly engage in professional learning and development deliberately building educator practice and shared understandings. They make good use of internal evaluation practices to scrutinise their own practice to know what further changes are needed. Internal evaluation processes now need to focus on knowing what is working well or not for groups of learners and why. There are sound systems in place for day-to-day management of the service.

4 Improvement actions

Organic Kids will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:

  • explore the learning outcomes in Te Whāriki with educators to more consistently show children’s learning progress in relation to the learning outcomes in individual assessment documentation

  • align the service’s learning priorities with Te Whāriki learning outcomes 

  • extend internal evaluation processes to focus what is working well or not for which groups of learners and what changes need to be made.

5 Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Organic Kids 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.

Kathy Lye
Acting Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini

9 March 2023 

6 About the Early Childhood Service

Early Childhood Service Name

Organic Kids Limited

Profile Number

46641

Location 

Christchurch 

Service type

Home-based service

Number licensed for

80 children, including up to 80 aged under 2

Percentage of qualified teachers

0-49%

Service roll

72

Review team on site

August 2022

Date of this report

9 March 2023

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review, July 2018

Organic Kids Limited - 27/06/2018

1 Evaluation of Organic Kids Limited

How well placed is Organic Kids Limited to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Not well placed

Requires further development

Well placed

Very well placed

ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.

Background

Organic Kids Limited is a home-based education and care service. It is located in Parklands, Christchurch city, with educators in the Waimakariri, Selwyn and Christchurch Districts. It has a roll of 72 and provides education and care for infants, toddlers and children in small mixed-age-group settings.

The ownership and management is shared between two qualified registered teachers. They oversee service operation and provide support and guidance to the 18 home educators. All educators have qualifications, ranging from the Level 3 Certificate in Early Childhood Care and Education, through to the Bachelor of Teaching and Learning (ECE).

The service's philosophy is to provide high quality education and care through respectful, loving and consistent relationships. The service leaders believe that nature has a key role in children's learning, health and wellbeing and in promoting long-term responsibility for the environment. They make use of a Forest Education approach to learning in the environment.

The service was established in 2015. This is the first review of the service.

The Review Findings

Organic Kids is improvement focused and committed to providing high quality education and care.

The service's philosophy, goals and systems promote positive learning outcomes for children. The strategic plan identifies five specific and worthwhile goals to support children and educators. There are effective practices in place to regularly monitor and verify the health and safety of children in educators' homes. The service leaders are committed to recruiting, managing and developing competent well-qualified home educators.

The Visiting Teachers provide high-quality support and guidance to the educators. They model best practice through regular visits, playgroups and monthly outings. They provide useful feedback to educators on their practice, and identify areas for further improvement.

Educators recognise and respond to children's interests, strengths and abilities. They offer interesting open-ended learning opportunities within the home environment and community. Educators have access to a wide range of useful professional development opportunities. They are encouraged to reflect on their own practice, and work with and support each other.

Parents are valued partners in their child’s learning. Children's engagement and participation in the programme is well documented through learning stories and the use of private social media sites. Parents are well informed. They have many opportunities to be involved in and make comments on their child's learning.

Visiting teachers and educators provide well for priority learner groups. This includes children under the age of two years, children who require additional learning support and children from different cultures.

Educators are supported to build their knowledge and understanding of te ao Māori. A number of staff are involved in professional learning opportunities to improve their knowledge of te reo me tikanga Māori. A greater use of pūrakau (Māori stories and legends) in teaching and learning has been identified as a next step.

Key Next Steps

Key systems to guide centre operation and practices have been established with a regular cycle of review. However some management expectations and processes related to service operations need to be more clearly documented. These include:

  • expectations of what a Visiting Teacher's visit will cover
  • documentation of the process for appraisal of Visiting Teachers
  • stating the specific annual actions to be undertaken to meet the strategic goals.

ERO identified, and leaders agree that strengthening evaluation should enable them to better know what is working, or not working, for whom and why. This includes the need to:

  • be more specific about indicators of success in order to measure their evaluative questions
  • undertake ongoing monitoring of actions
  • evaluate group planning to show effective teaching strategies and next steps
  • strengthen the evaluation of programmes to enable educators and visiting teachers to identify what is contributing to effective teaching and learning outcomes for children.

There is a need to continue supporting and developing educators' understanding and implementation of Te Whāriki 2017.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Organic Kids Limited 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 non-compliance in relation to Visiting Teachers’ performance appraisal.

The service does not have an appraisal policy that details the setting of performance expectations, observations of teaching, discussion of performance with an appraiser, and the development of a performance report for Visiting Teachers. The policy needs to state the requirement for teachers to be appraised against the professional standards for teachers. Managers became aware during the onsite stage of the review that the previous appraisal process did not meet legal requirements. They have taken initial steps to remedy this for the 2018 process.

In order to address this, management must:

  • ensure that appraisals of staff in teaching positions are based on the current professional standards for teachers established by the Education Council for the issuing and renewal of practising teaching certificates.

[Part 31 Education Act 1989]

Next ERO Review

When is ERO likely to review the service again?

The next ERO review of Organic Kids Limited will be in three years.

Dr Lesley Patterson

Deputy Chief Review Officer

Te Waipounamu - Southern Region

27 June 2018

The Purpose of ERO Reports

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.

2 Information about the Early Childhood Service

Location

Christchurch

Ministry of Education profile number

46641

Institution type

Homebased Network

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

80 children, including up to [number] aged under 2

Service roll

72

Standard or Quality Funded

Quality

Gender composition

Boys: 45 : Girls 27

Ethnic composition

Māori

Pākehā

Other ethnicities

3

60

9

Number of qualified coordinators in the network

2

Required ratios of educators to children

Under 2

1:2

Better than minimum requirements

Over 2

1:4

Better than minimum requirements

Review team on site

May 2018

Date of this report

27 June 2018

Most recent ERO report(s)

New service

 

3 General Information about Early Childhood Reviews

ERO’s Evaluation Framework

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.

ERO’s Overall Judgement and Next Review

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:

  • Very well placed – The next ERO review in four years
  • Well placed – The next ERO review in three years
  • Requires further development – The next ERO review within two years
  • Not well placed - The next ERO review in consultation with the Ministry of Education

ERO has developed criteria for each category. These are available on ERO’s website.

Review Coverage

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.