Rangiora First Learners

1 Evaluation of Rangiora First Learners

How well placed is Rangiora First Learners to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Rangiora First Learners is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

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

Background

Rangiora First Learners is one of three privately owned early learning services operated by First Learners Ltd. It is located in Rangiora, North Canterbury. The policies and administration framework are provided by the First Learners organisation. The centre supervisor is supported by the centre's team leaders and an education services manager.

The centre is a full-day service licensed to provide education and care for up to 54 children, with a maximum of 16 children under two years of age. There are three separate areas for teaching and learning, children can transition between these areas as they progress in age and education. The attending families and their children are from a diverse range of cultures.

The vision statement of First Learners Ltd is 'We provide a child initiated educational programme in a homely, welcoming environment. A place to learn and grow'. The philosophy has been recently reviewed and includes:

• having a friendly, welcoming environment focused on relationships

• consistency between home and the centre

• having sustainable practices, with a wide use of natural resources

• community connections.

Significant progress has been made in addressing the findings of the 2015 ERO review. This includes the implementation of a teacher appraisal system and the further development of understanding in the use of internal evaluation as a tool for improvement. The owner of First Learners Ltd has also employed a full-time education service manager to oversee all three centres.

This review was part of a cluster of three early learning centre reviews in the First Learners Ltd organisation.

The Review Findings

Children experience a wide range of learning opportunities. They are involved in decision making within the programme and have access to a good range of resources. There is a focus on providing natural materials and sustainable practices.

The curriculum is responsive to the needs, strengths and interests of children. Teachers observe children and base plans on emerging interests and individual development. Teaching allows for creative play and intentional teaching.

Children up to the age of two years are well supported. They benefit from caring teachers who promote a calm and peaceful environment. The environment is welcoming and inclusive, fostering each child to develop a sense of belonging.

Transitions into and within the centre are well managed to meet the individual needs of each child and their family. This is helping to support children's learning and wellbeing. The centre has strong community connections, with regular excursions to the local primary school's bilingual unit and a local retirement village.

Teachers have a strong focus on relationships. They know the children well and are responsive to their individual needs. There are many and varied opportunities for the families and whānau to engage with the centre and discuss the aspirations they have for their children.

Teachers have a good understanding of te ao Māori concepts and use te reo Māori as a living language. Inclusion of te ao Māori is evident in the centre environment and in teaching practice. Teachers take responsibility to learn about the language, culture and identity of whānau.

Effective leadership of the centre supports positive outcomes for children and is focused on continued improvement. Teachers are supported to grow in capability and capacity through the use of reflective practice and professional development that is responsive to their needs and centre goals and priorities.

The recently introduced appraisal system promotes high quality teaching and learning. Leaders and managers set clear expectations for all staff. They now need to ensure that formal observations of teaching practice are included in annual appraisal processes.

There is a good system in place to support ongoing use and understanding of internal evaluation processes to improve outcomes for children.

Key Next Steps

The centre has identified, and ERO agrees, that the key next steps to improve outcomes for children are to continue to:

• embed the internal evaluation process, ensuring that evaluative questions and indicators guide the internal evaluation process
• develop assessment and planning processes, ensuring that children's language, culture and identity is reflected, that links to Te Whāriki are evident and that teachers discuss and use explicit teaching strategies
• embed the teacher appraisal system, ensuring that all teachers benefit from focused formal observations of teaching practice.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Rangiora First Learners 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.

During the on-site stage of review ERO identified that the service provider needed to ensure that processes for human resources management included appropriate appointment procedures. The service provider responded promptly and amended the appointment procedure to ensure that the appropriate requirements were included.

ERO identified an area of non-compliance.

The service provider must ensure that medicine (prescription and non-prescription) has evidence of parental acknowledgement of administration. Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008 Criterion HS28.

Dr Lesley Patterson

Director Review and Improvement Services Te Tai Tini

Southern Region

13 September 2019

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

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

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.

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.