Richmond Preschool

Education institution number:
65413
Service type:
Education and Care Service
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
32
Telephone:
Address:

67 Oxford Street, Richmond

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Richmond Preschool

1 ERO’s Judgements

Akarangi | Quality Evaluation evaluates the extent to which this early childhood service has the learning and organisational conditions to support equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners. Te Ara Poutama- indicators of quality for early childhood education: what matters most (PDF 3.01MB) are the basis for making judgements about the effectiveness of the service in achieving equity and excellence for all learners. The Akarangi Quality Evaluation Judgement Rubric (PDF 91.30KB) derived from the indicators, is used to inform the ERO’s judgements about this service’s performance in promoting equity and excellence.

ERO’s judgements for Richmond Preschool are as follows:

Outcome Indicators

ERO’s judgement

What the service knows about outcomes for learners

Whāngai Establishing

Ngā Akatoro Domains

ERO’s judgement

He Whāriki Motuhake

The learner and their learning

Whakaū Embedding

Whakangungu Ngaio

Collaborative professional learning builds knowledge and capability

Whāngai Establishing

Ngā Aronga Whai Hua

Evaluation for improvement

Whāngai Establishing

Kaihautū

Leaders foster collaboration and improvement

Whāngai Establishing

Te Whakaruruhau

Stewardship through effective governance and management

Whāngai Establishing

2 Context of the Service

Richmond Preschool is a privately owned and operated early learning service providing education and care for children aged two-years-old to school age. The centre manager, who is the owner, and a head teacher provide leadership. Almost all teachers are qualified and certificated early childhood teachers. The service has a culturally diverse community.

3 Summary of findings

Children participate and make choices in a play-based curriculum. Teachers work alongside them supporting their play and learning. Children’s sense of wellbeing and belonging is nurtured through caring respectful relationships.

Teachers notice children’s interests and strengths and show how they plan to respond to these through documentation. The service is beginning to use the learning outcomes from Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, in planning and assessment information.

Leaders and teachers integrate some te reo me ngā tikanga Māori in the daily curriculum. Te ao Māori is visible within the learning environment. Increasing the frequency and complexity of the use of te reo in meaningful ways is required for children to experience a rich bicultural curriculum.

Parents and whānau have multiple opportunities to share their aspirations for their child’s learning with teachers. Whānau participation in the daily curriculum is welcomed and offers experiences for children to develop an understanding of their own and other cultures, languages, and identities within their community. Significant cultural celebrations are meaningfully offered in the curriculum.

Leaders are liaising with external agencies to better support children with additional learning needs. They continue to develop practices that are responsive to the diverse learning needs of their community.

Quality improvement is guided by various systems, processes, and practices including teacher inquiry, strategic planning, and review. A useful framework is in place to guide internal evaluation, but the process is not yet well understood. Further work is required to  build leaders and teachers capability and collective capacity to use evaluation to make improvements.  

4 Improvement actions

Richmond Preschool will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning. These are:

  • to work with parents and whānau to determine what matters most for the children in this service and reflect this through the curriculum

  • for all teachers to build their confidence and capability in using te reo Māori meaningfully in the daily curriculum

  • to develop evaluation capability and capacity to understand and effectively use internal evaluation for improvement.

5 Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Richmond Preschool 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.

Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini

21 March 2022 

6 About the Early Childhood Service

Early Childhood Service Name Richmond Preschool
Profile Number 65413
Location Richmond, Nelson

Service type

Education and care service

Number licensed for

40 children

Percentage of qualified teachers

80-99%

Service roll

42

Ethnic composition

Māori 12, NZ European/Pākehā 15, Other ethnic groups 15

Review team on site

December 2021

Date of this report

21 March 2022

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review, February 2018; Education Review, September 2014.

Richmond Preschool - 19/02/2018

1 Evaluation of Richmond Preschool

How well placed is Richmond Preschool to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Not well placed

Requires further development

Well placed

Very well placed

Richmond Preschool is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

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

Background

Richmond Preschool opened in April 2017. The service had previously operated as Richmond Montessori Preschool.

The service caters for children from two years old to school age. The leader and permanent staff member are qualified early childhood teachers. The service provides large, spacious indoor spaces and two separate outdoor play areas.

The new owner/leader has developed a philosophy for the centre that emphasises respectful and supportive relationships. The philosophy states that the curriculum will align to the principles, strands and goals of Te Whāriki 2017. It also states that te reo and tikanga Māori will be interwoven into the curriculum and children's home cultures and values.

The Review Findings

The philosophy provides good direction for the service to achieve its vision for high quality learning and care for all children.

Children's learning and wellbeing are promoted by the respectful and supportive relationships that staff build with children and their families. Children's interests are identified and parents' aspirations for their children sought. Effective use is made of this information to extend children's learning and build close links between home and centre.

Children are confident, settled and fully involved in their learning. Teachers purposefully engage children in conversations that extend their thinking and knowledge of the world. They skilfully help children to use the environment and resources to build on their interests, and to make learning meaningful and fun.

Staff make very good use of assessment and planning to identify, plan for and build individual children's learning. Assessment practices clearly show children's progress and the ways teachers have supported children's learning and development. Te Whāriki 2017 is beginning to be well used as an assessment and planning tool.

Children with additional needs and their families are well supported.

Transitions into the service are well managed and personalised to meet the needs of each child and family.

The leader and staff make effective use of professional development opportunities to improve learning and teaching and to build appropriate professional networks with other early childhood services.

Key Next Steps

In the short time the centre has been open, the leader and staff have made good progress in establishing appropriate operational systems and practices to achieve the centre's vision for learning and teaching. The leader now needs to:

  • fully develop and implement the service's strategic plan
  • establish planned internal evaluations
  • consolidate and embed teacher appraisal processes.

The leader needs to continue to strengthen assessment and planning by:

  • evaluating the effectiveness of curriculum planning and implementation in supporting children's progress
  • involving children and parents more in assessing and planning for learning.

The leader has identified and ERO agrees that the service needs to continue to strengthen bicultural perspectives.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Richmond Preschool 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. 

Next ERO Review

When is ERO likely to review the service again?

The next ERO review of Richmond Preschool will be in three years.

Dr Lesley Patterson
Deputy Chief Review Officer

Te Waipounamu - Southern Region

19 February 2018 

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 

Location

Richmond

Ministry of Education profile number

65413

Licence type

Education & Care Service

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

40 children, including up to 0 aged under 2

Service roll

17

Gender composition

Boys 13: Girls 4

Ethnic composition

Māori
Pākehā
Dutch

  3
12
  2

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

January 2018

Date of this report

19 February 2018

Most recent ERO report(s)

No previous ERO reports

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 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.