Panmure Bridge Childcare Centre - 06/03/2015

• On this page:

• 1. Evaluation of Panmure Bridge Childcare Centre
• 2. Information about the Early Childhood Service
• Education Review
• June 2009
• 3. General Information about Early Childhood Reviews

1. Evaluation of Panmure Bridge Childcare Centre

How well placed is Panmure Bridge Childcare Centre to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

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

Background

Panmure Bridge Childcare Centre offers sessional and full day education and care for up to 40 children, including up to 10 children under two years of age. Most of the children enrolled are three and four year olds attending the 9am to 3pm daily session. Families take advantage of the 20 hours government funding and the 'plus ten hours' centre funded promotion. The centre is purpose built. It offers spacious areas for children’s play and facilities to support adults working in the centre.

The centre is governed by the Ark Foundation Charitable Trust. A centre manager oversees the daily management of the centre. A supervisor has responsibility for children’s care routines and the programme provided. The supervisor is supported by a high ratio of qualified teachers who are a well established teaching team. Children, families and staff have diverse cultural backgrounds and are reflective of their multicultural community.

The centre philosophy places importance on Christian values and children learning through play. The centre promotes mixed-age play. This allows children to share ideas and play freely with and alongside all age groups. Partnerships with family are valued.

Centre leaders have responded positively to suggestions for ongoing improvement made in the 2012 ERO report. These areas focused on strengthening the programme provided for children and some management processes.

The Review Findings

Panmure Bridge Childcare Centre provides high quality education and care for children. Children are supported to be confident and capable learners. Children enjoy rich learning opportunities, where they use their imagination, solve problems and develop complex play.

High quality interactions between teachers and children are evident. Teachers extend children’s play through skilful questioning and discussion. They are careful observers, allowing children to direct and make decisions about their play. Time is given for one-to-one communication between adults and children. This helps promote children’s language development.

Children relate well to each other. They negotiate with their peers, have respectful social skills and play collaboratively. They confidently initiate conversations and ask questions. Children’s first language is valued and often used to support their learning. They frequently play in mixed gender and age groups. Older children support younger children, reflecting the centre’s strong culture of care.

The centre environment and routines effectively support children’s learning in different areas of the curriculum. Play areas generate interest and encourage children to explore further. Learning areas are well defined and are arranged so that there can be a flow of play between the indoor and outdoor environments. Children can easily access learning resources and this enables them to make independent choices in their play. Children enjoy long periods of uninterrupted play and the programme has an easy flow.

Programme planning and assessment focuses on children’s individual and group interests. Consideration is given to planning for children’s diverse ways of learning. Teachers are now developing ways to better document the planning process so it is more visible for families and more accessible for teachers and children.

Very effective opportunities for learning about literacy and numeracy through play are offered throughout the day for all children. Teachers provide a short afternoon session to support skills that will help the children who are making the transition to school. The supervisor is considering how these skills can be developed within meaningful and responsive play contexts during this session.

Diversity is valued and celebrated in the centre. The different cultural heritages and languages of staff and children are reflected in the environment and in the learning programmes. Te reo and tikanga Māori are integrated into the programme, the environment and centre practices. Teachers demonstrate a commitment to continue to build their understanding of New Zealand’s bicultural heritage. They are participating in significant professional learning and development in this area. Teachers’ inclusive practices enable children with additional learning needs to participate in and contribute to the programme.

Effective leadership is contributing to the high quality care and education in the centre. Leadership is demonstrated at all levels and the positive contributing factors include:

• trustees who provide well informed strategic oversight and place value on resourcing personnel to support good professional practice
• an effective centre manager who has developed good communication systems and a useful and responsive framework of policies and procedures to underpin centre operations
• a knowledgeable and competent supervisor who articulates the centre vision and ensures that teachers have a common understanding about expectations for their professional practice
• teachers using their skills and strengths to add richness to centre programmes
• children who are highly engaged and leading their own learning.

The centre manager, supervisor and staff have a good understanding of self review and use it to promote ongoing improvements in the centre. Staff, parents and children’s perspectives are reflected in reviews and a shared of ownership of outcomes is evident.

Key Next Steps

The key next steps to build on the good practice in the centre are to:

• continue to strengthen provision about the bicultural heritage of New Zealand
• develop a transition to school programme aligned with Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Panmure Bridge Childcare 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:

• 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.

The centre shares an entrance and car park area with the adjoining school. Since the 2012 ERO review speed bumps have been installed in the car park to alert parents to the dangers of school children walking through the car park. The centre continues to periodically monitor the car park at the beginning and end of the school day. Close liaison and cooperation is required between the centre and school to ensure the safety of children.

Next ERO Review

When is ERO likely to review the service again?

The next ERO review of Panmure Bridge Childcare Centre will be in four years.

Dale Bailey

Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern

6 March 2015

2. Information about the Early Childhood 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 toERO’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.