PAUA Early Childhood - Wanganui - 13/03/2013

• On this page:

• 1 The Education Review Office (ERO) Evaluation
• 2 The Focus of the Review
• 3 Management Assurance on Compliance Areas
• 4 Future Action
• About the Service

1 The Education Review Office (ERO) Evaluation

PAUA (preschoolers at home uniquely achieving) provides home-based education and care for young children within communities 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.

PAUA educators receive positive support from visiting teachers who guide their practice and build reciprocal relationships with children and their families. The team leader inducts and supports visiting teachers. The founding director is the overall manager, providing vision and inspiration to the team of visiting teachers, educators and administration staff. Parents are assisted to choose the educator’s home that best suits them and their child. Care and education is flexible to meet the different requirements of families and whānau.

Children experience warm and 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. Visiting teachers provide high quality resources for educators to use in responding to children’s interests. The early childhood curriculum Te Whāriki underpins teacher and educator practice.

Management takes all reasonable steps to provide safe physical and emotional home environments.

Future Action

ERO is likely to carry out the next review in 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

Since the July 2005 ERO review the service has focused on continual improvement of teacher and educator practice. Managers and teachers have worked to establish a culture of reflection and professional dialogue. Leaders, teachers and educators are supported to improve practice through ongoing professional learning and development.

Review Findings

Governance and management personnel have a good knowledge of and capacity to carry out their roles and responsibility. Ongoing reflective practice for themselves, visiting teachers and educators is valued and supported. Planned strategies to build leadership capability enhance positive outcomes for children. Visiting teachers have a clear understanding of review for improvement and pass this on to educators through conversations and written feedback. Rigorous processes guide and monitor practice in educators' homes to promote the health and safety of all.

Leaders understand the importance of relationships, which are based on mutual respect and trust. Teachers and educators seek and value parent and whānau aspirations and expectations, working collaboratively and responsively to achieve them.

Visiting teachers identify possible learning pathways for children and educators. They effectively model assessment and documentation of children’s learning. Information and communication technologies continue to be used successfully to capture and communicate children’s progress. Leaders have identified and ERO agrees that visiting teachers and educators should:

• continue to investigate ways to include a stronger parent/whānau contribution to children’s learning and assessment
• further strengthen communication between visiting teachers and families.

Children engage in a wide range of child-initiated, play-based experiences. Many educators access community playgroups and events to provide children and adults with additional activities and regular social interaction in a larger group. Educators, who spoke with ERO, acknowledge these opportunities as a useful way of networking with other adults and sharing ideas.

Educators, whose homes were part of the sample visited by ERO, demonstrate respectful and affirming relationships with children. They promote and model positive values and behaviours. Children’s interactions with each other are amicable and enjoyable. Educators nurture and respond sensitively to children’s physical and emotional needs. Children with diverse needs are accepted and supported to fully participate in and contribute to a programme based on their interests.

Leaders display a strong commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and developing a bicultural perspective in the curriculum through partnerships, policies and practices. They recognise and ERO agrees that:

• visiting teachers should continue to strengthen their knowledge of te reo me ngā tikanga Māori and share and model this with educators.

PAUA leaders successfully establish a culture in which children are first and foremost valued, celebrated and affirmed for who they are and what they bring to their learning.

3 Management Assurance on Compliance Areas

Overview

Before the review, the management and staff of PAUA Early Childhood - Wanganui completed an ERO Home-Based Education and Care Assurance Statement and Self-Audit Checklist. In these documents they attested that they had 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.

4 Future Action

ERO is likely to carry out the next review in three years.

Joyce Gebbie

National Manager Review Services

Central Region (Acting)

13 March 2013

About the Service