80 Fairburn Road, Otahuhu, Auckland
View on mapERO’s Akanuku | Assurance Review reports provide information about whether a service meets and maintains regulatory standards. Further information about Akanuku | Assurance Reviews is included at the end of this report.
Regulatory standards |
ERO’s judgement |
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Curriculum |
Meeting |
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Premises and facilities |
Meeting |
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Health and safety |
Meeting |
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Governance, management and administration |
Meeting |
Since the onsite visit the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed non-compliances and is now taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.
This is the first ERO review of Kaitiaki Kids Childcare owned by Play N Learn Childcare Limited. The service has been operating under a full licence since June 2021. The operations manager supports a team of three qualified teachers. Children are cared for in two age-related groups.
Children experience a language-rich environment that supports their learning. Adults providing education and care engage in meaningful, positive interactions to enhance children’s learning and nurture reciprocal relationships.
The service curriculum offers a range of experiences and opportunities to enrich and extend children’s learning and development. These experiences take place both indoors and outdoors, as well as individually and in groups.
Since the onsite visit the service provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Filivaifale Jason Swann
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki
28 February 2022
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Early Childhood Service Name |
Kaitiaki Kids Childcare |
| Profile Number | 46512 |
| Location | Otahuhu, Auckland |
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Service type |
Education and care service |
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Number licensed for |
33 children, including up to 10 aged under 2 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
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Service roll |
23 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori 3, Tongan 19, other ethnic groups 1 |
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Review team on site |
February 2022 |
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Date of this report |
28 February 2022 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
First ERO review of the service |
All services are licensed under the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008. The legal requirements for early childhood services also include the Licensing Criteria for Education and Care Services 2008.
Services must meet the standards in the regulations and the requirements of the licensing criteria to gain and maintain a licence to operate.
All early childhood services are required to promote children’s health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements. Before the review, the staff and management of a service 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:
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO assesses whether the regulated standards are being met. In particular, ERO looks at a service’s systems for managing the following areas that have a potentially high impact on children's wellbeing:
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO also gathers and records evidence through:
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Shining Star Educare is a newly established service. Leaders are still developing systems to operate the centre effectively, particularly in relation to management, documentation and the quality of learning experiences for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Shining Star Educare is a privately owned, Pacific service in a renovated villa in Otahuhu. The centre opened in 2014 and is still in the early stages of development. The owner has employed an external adviser to help establish administration and management systems
The centre provides full-day education and care for up to 33 children, including up to 10 under two years old. Age groups are often mixed but the younger children also have a designated indoor space for withdrawal when appropriate. Most children on the roll and all staff have Tongan heritage. The owner has expressed a vision to offer an inclusive service that brings together and values Māori and Pacific cultures and traditions.
Four of the staff are qualified teachers although three, including the owner, still have provisional teaching certificates. They have participated in some professional development workshops. There are plans to provide support for staff to further develop programme planning, assessment and evaluation.
The centre's philosophy states that the owner and staff aspire to providing a safe, nurturing and stimulating environment that enables children to become competent and capable learners.
The owner and staff have very positive relationships with families, some of whom travel distances to use the centre. Families appreciate the sense of belonging they have in a centre that supports their Christian values as well as their cultural heritage and languages.
Children have a sense of belonging in the centre. They connect with friends, have positive relationships with teachers and respond well when adults support their play. Children enjoy the outdoor environment where they often engage in group play and enthusiastically participate in music and movement as well as other physical activities. They would benefit from more opportunities for complex play that encourages them to think and explore their own ideas.
Teachers consistently work alongside children and encourage their involvement in activities. Adults' interactions with children are positive, often integrating te reo Māori or Tongan language in their conversations. They include the small number of infants and toddlers in group activities while also enabling them to play with infant resources. Teachers could now evaluate the quality and impact of the formal literacy and numeracy tasks that they lead at mat times. Children would gain much better understanding of these concepts in meaningful play contexts.
Teachers have developed a planning format that helps them to identify resources and activities that could support children's current interests. There is limited focus on children's individual strengths and interests. As a result, learning stories capture children's involvement in programme activities rather than assessing their individual progress and dispositions to become capable, independent learners. As part of their planned professional development teachers could also include a focus on strategies to support children's oral language development.
The environment is not yet fully developed. The owner is in the process of extending the licence to include an additional building and a greatly extended outdoor playground. In the interim the outdoor space is confined, has no sandpit and a limited range of play options for children.
The owner has successfully opened up the interior of the centre to provide more spacious rooms. However, these spaces are not well organised to enable children to independently access a sufficient variety of good quality equipment and resources. Teachers should consider how their expectations for children's learning will be supported by the environment and their teaching strategies.
A challenge for the teaching team is to develop a shared understanding about how to achieve the goals identified in their philosophy, and how they will know when they are successful. The owner and external adviser have begun documenting strategic planning, staff appraisals and policy development. Processes for self review are largely informal.
The owner acknowledges that documentation must be improved to enhance the management, administration and leadership of the centre. Steps the owner and staff team could take to improve centre operations include:
developing a process for implementing the new strategic plan, including an alignment with teachers' appraisal goals and professional development
recording all staff meeting minutes
reviewing the centre's philosophy to ensure it reflects a shared vision for the centre and guides practice.
In addition, the team could consider ways to further share leadership responsibilities. This would help the owner in her roles as the centre leader, manager, and a rostered trainee teacher.
Centre leaders and their adviser agree that key next steps include:
enhancing the quality of teaching strategies and learning experiences for children to extend their thinking, foster their oral language and develop complexity in their play
reviewing the provision and organisation of the environment to ensure children always have good access to adequate resources, and to all traditional early childhood play areas
providing teachers with professional development that will support them to improve planning assessment and evaluation
establishing rigorous, documented processes for regular, spontaneous and strategic self review
ensuring that practices, procedures, resourcing and documentation meet expected standards before extending the centre's licence.
Before the review, the staff and management of Shining Star Educare 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.
To improve current practice, the owner should:
review health and safety practices, equipment and records to ensure appropriate standards are maintained and legal requirements are met
promptly review policies in response to law changes and ensure they are signed and dated.
ERO identified areas of non-compliance relating to management of the centre. To meet requirements the service needs to improve its performance in the following areas:
regular teacher appraisal
maintaining current police vetting for all non-certificated staff
reviewing and updating policies to incorporate the requirements of The Vulnerable Children Act 2014.
Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, GMA7, GMA7A.
ERO recommends that the service consult with the Ministry of Education and plan to address the key next steps and actions outlined in this report.
The next ERO review of Shining Star Educare will be within two years.
Graham Randell
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern
8 May 2017
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 |
Otahuhu, Auckland |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
46512 |
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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 |
33 children, including up to 10 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
33 |
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Gender composition |
Girls 18, Boys 15 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori Tongan Samoan |
1 28 4 |
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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 |
1:4 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Over 2 |
1:6 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
March 2017 |
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Date of this report |
8 May 2017 |
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Most recent ERO report(s)
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No previous ERO reports |
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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 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.