PAUA Early Childhood - Kapiti Coast - 13/03/2013

1 The Education Review Office (ERO) Evaluation

PAUA Early Childhood provides home-based education and care for young children throughout New Zealand. PAUA’s Christian philosophy is strongly reflected in the way the service advocates for all children, acknowledging their rights to high quality and inclusive early childhood education.

In this Kapiti Coast network children experience warm, responsive interactions with adults and each other. Professional leaders and educators work cooperatively to create appropriate environments and activities that cater for children’s development and exploration.

Registered educators receive positive support from visiting teachers who guide their practice and build strong relationships with children and their families and whānau. Care and education is flexible to meet the differing requirements of families. Their wishes are carefully considered when placing children in homes. Translating facilities are available when needed to support placement decisions.

Visiting teachers provide high quality resources for educators in response to children’s emerging interests and stages of development. The early childhood curriculum, Te Whāriki, underpins teacher and educator practice.

Managers monitor that educators take all reasonable steps to make their homes physically and emotionally safe environments for children.

Managers and teachers have a focus on continuous improvement for the service through self review. They are forward thinking and responsive to feedback from staff and families. A warm collaborative and cooperative culture is evident.

This is the first ERO review of this network.

Future Action

ERO is likely to review the service again within three years.

2 The Focus of the Review

All ERO education reviews in early childhood focus on the quality of education. For ERO this includes the quality of:

the programme provided for children
the learning environment
the interactions between children and adults.

The Quality of Education

Background

This is the first ERO review of this network. The service focuses on continual improvement of teacher and educator practice for children in their care. Managers and teachers have established a culture of reflection and professional dialogue. High priority is given to meeting the needs of children, families and educators.

3 Review Findings

Children engage in a wide range of child-initiated, play based experiences. Educators and visiting teachers access and share an extensive range of well considered resources.

Governance and management personnel demonstrate a good understanding of, and capacity to, carry out their responsibilities. Visiting teachers show a clear understanding of the importance of self review for improvement. They continue to grow educators practice through conversations and written feedback.

Rigorous processes guide and monitor health and safety practices in educators' homes.

Managers demonstrate and value positive relationships among themselves, visiting teachers, educators and the families of children enrolled in the service. These warm and friendly interactions are a strength of the service. They are based on mutual trust and respect. A strong commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and developing a bicultural perspective through partnerships, policies and practices is evident.

Managers recognise the need, for them and teachers, to continue to build and strengthen te reo me ngā tikanga Māori.

Reviews of the induction process, support for provisionally registered teachers and appraisal systems have resulted in sound and useful changes. Managers collate and analyse teachers’ reports and reflections to inform future planning and professional development.

Teachers with particular strengths are encouraged to undertake leadership roles. In the Kapiti Coast network success for Māori as Māori is highly evident. Whānau who wish for their children to be immersed in te reo me ngā tikanga Māori for their early childhood education have the opportunity for their aspirations to be realised through appropriate educators within the service.

Teachers facilitate well-considered discussions with educators about children’s education, care and safety. They effectively identify possible learning pathways for children. They model good quality planning and assessment of children’s learning for educators. Written reports are fully discussed and provide direction for future action. There is appropriate support for the continuing professional development of educators.

ERO and managers agree it is timely to strengthen and further extend the focus of teachers and educators on children’s learning. Plans prepared and ready to be implemented should support this area of development.

Educators visited as part of ERO's sample, demonstrated, sensitive, caring and affirming relationships with children. Many access a wide range of external opportunities for extending children's learning including additional activities and regular social gatherings with others. Educators regularly seek information from family and whānau about their aspirations and expectations for their child. They are responsive and work collaboratively to achieve them. Educators acknowledge the high level of support they receive from visiting teachers and managers.

4 Management Assurance on Compliance Areas

Overview

Before the review, the management and staff of PAUA Early Childhood - Kapiti Coast completed an ERO Home-Based Education and Care 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 standard
premises and facilities standard
health and safety practices standard
governance management and administration standard.

During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on outcomes for children:

emotional safety (including behaviour management, prevention of bullying and abuse)
physical safety (including behaviour management, sleeping and supervision practices; accidents and medication; hygiene and routines; travel and excursion policies and procedures)
staff qualifications and organisation
evacuation procedures and practices for fire and earthquake.

5 Future Action