4 Campbell Street, Sumner, Christchurch
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Pebbles Montessori is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
Pebbles Montessori is a privately-owned education and care service in Sumner, Christchurch. It is licensed for 31 children. Children are grouped according to their age for some parts of the day. Teachers use a Montessori approach to deliver the curriculum.
The centre's vision is for tamariki to see themselves as competent and confident learners in an environment of peace, respect and collaboration. Leaders and teachers have recently established centre priorities for learning. These priorities are: developing the whole child, confidence, respect, inclusive communication and collaboration.
This centre is one of three services. The owner and general manager provide governance, and overall organisational and professional leadership across the services. A centre manager carries out the day-to-day management of this service. Most teachers are qualified in early childhood education. One of the teachers has a Montessori education qualification.
Leaders have made good progress in response to ERO's recommendations in the November 2016 report. Since that review:
a new centre manager has been appointed
the general manager position has been created
children's learning is a stronger focus of assessment and planning
teachers are providing stronger bicultural perspectives in their practices
leaders have further developed their evaluation for improvement practices.
This review was part of a cluster of three services within Pebbles Preschool Ltd.
Children are well supported to lead their learning, consistent with the centre's vision of them being confident and competent learners. Teachers effectively use the Montessori curriculum and teaching approach to help achieve the centre's vision and learning priorities. Children work and play in a calm, settled environment. The different areas are set up well to allow children easy access to activities they wish to work with. The range of activities provide appropriate challenge, motivation and extension to children's learning and development. Leaders and teachers have established a strong sense of community within the centre. Children have a strong sense of belonging to their centre, where learning is the focus of play and activities.
Leaders and teachers are in the early stages of developing bicultural practices within the centre. The concepts of whanaungatanga and manaakitanga are highly evident in the interactions and relationships in the centre's community. Teachers use te reo and tikanga Māori throughout the day. Each child has developed their own mihi. Children are establishing an awareness of New Zealand's bicultural heritage.
Children benefit from teachers' careful planning and deliberate curriculum approach. Planning includes clear learning goals and the specific teaching strategies to support the children, including children with additional learning needs. The clarity of planning leads to intentional teaching and interactions. Children's individual records show appropriate progress in learning over time. Teachers use the progress information to effectively evaluate the impact their teaching has had on children's learning and development. Planning documentation shows that few parents take up the opportunities offered to them to contribute in meaningful ways to their children's learning pathways' planning.
Leadership for the three centres is purposeful in its support of teachers' professional practice and wellbeing. Leaders have promoted shared understanding of the services' vision, philosophy, strategic goals and priorities for children's learning. Clear roles and responsibilities ensure all teachers are aware of the expectations placed on them in the delivery of the curriculum. Senior leaders support initiatives that contribute to better organisation and positive outcomes for children. These are key factors for the provision of responsive and effective teaching and learning programmes.
Internal evaluation is used effectively to improve teaching and learning, and centre-wide practices. There is useful alignment from the vision and strategic goals to centre development, and to teachers' appraisals and inquiries. Teachers and leaders participate in relevant evaluation, knowledge building and professional learning that contribute to changes in thinking and practices. Leaders are yet to show the impact of practices, improvements and systems on outcomes for children.
Leaders and teachers need to explore different approaches to gain a greater input from parents in children's planning.
To gain a fuller picture of the impact of centre developments, leaders need to evaluate the difference improved actions and practices are having on outcomes for children, as a result of internal evaluation.
Before the review, the staff and management of Pebbles Montessori 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:
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.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region - Te Tai Tini
19 February 2020
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 |
Sumner, Christchurch |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
46378 |
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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 |
31 children |
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Service roll |
39 |
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Gender composition |
Male 14 Female 25 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
2 |
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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 |
N/A |
N/A |
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Over 2 |
1:8 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
December 2019 |
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Date of this report |
19 February 2020 |
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Most recent ERO reports |
Education Review |
December 2016 |
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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 will depend on how well the service promotes positive learning outcomes for children. The categories are:
Very well placed
Well placed
Requires further development
Not well placed
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.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Pebbles Montessori is well placed to promote positive outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Pebbles Montessori is a small, privately-owned centre located in a converted house in Sumner. The centre provides education and care for children from two years to school age with a focus on Montessori approaches. There is a mix of early childhood and Montessori qualified teachers. This is the centre's first ERO review.
This centre is one of three owned and operated by Pebbles Preschool Ltd. A new centre manager was appointed in 2016. The owner and manager work collaboratively together to provide professional leadership to staff across the centres.
This review was part of a cluster of three early childhood centre reviews of Pebbles Preschool Ltd.
Children are settled and confident in the well-paced learning programme. They experience respectful relationships with each other and their teachers. Children work well together. Older children positively support younger children and share their learning.
Children have many opportunities to make choices about their learning within a thoughtfully prepared Montessori environment. They enjoy a wide range of activities that promote creative thinking, literacy, numeracy and independence skills.
Teachers skilfully guide and extend children's learning. They encourage children’s participation in group experiences. Teachers respond to children's interests and curiosity by helping them to research and discuss their ideas. Children's physical skills and confidence are supported in the well-presented and challenging outdoor area.
Teachers provide a welcoming and inclusive environment for children and families. They know each child well. Teachers caringly support children with additional needs and seek external expertise, as needed.
Transition into the centre is flexible to meet the needs of children and families. Transition to school is well managed. Centre leaders have established positive relationships with local schools to foster successful transition to school.
Parents are kept well informed about their children's learning. Leaders and teachers use effective ways to communicate with parents and to involve them in the centre. They regularly seek parents' views and welcome their contributions.
Leaders work well together. They have introduced a number of new initiatives and developments at governance, leadership and centre levels including, child assessment and programme planning, self-review, strategic planning and appraisal processes. There are clear systems that are guided by up-to-date policies and procedures.
The centre's self-review process is systematic and focused on ongoing improvement. However, self-review findings are likely to provide increasingly useful information if the process is made more evaluative. The appraisal process includes teacher reflections and sharing of effective teaching strategies. To further enhance the quality of teaching, formal observations and written feedback must form part of the appraisal process. The centre's strategic plan and its associated annual plan need further clarification in order to clearly set the future direction for the centre.
Centre managers and ERO agree, that the key next steps for sustaining and improving the quality of learning and teaching include:
making children's learning the focus of assessment, planning and evaluation for individuals and groups
building teachers' capability and further strengthening the visibility of bicultural aspects in key centre documents and teacher practices
strengthening and embedding strategic planning, evaluation and appraisal.
Before the review, the staff and management of Pebbles Montessori 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:
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 next ERO review of Pebbles Montessori will be in three years.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Deputy Chief Review Officer Te Waipounamu/Southern
6 December 2016
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.
|
Location |
Christchurch |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
46378 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
31 children over two years |
||
|
Service roll |
30 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls 21; Boys 9 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Romanian Indian |
3 24 2 1 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
80% + |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Over 2 |
1:8 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Review team on site |
September 2016 |
||
|
Date of this report |
6 December 2016 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report |
No previous ERO reports |
|
|
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.