Thames Coast Community Kindergarten Inc

Education institution number:
34085
Service type:
Education and Care Service
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
26
Telephone:
Address:

4 West Crescent, Te Puru

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Thames Coast Community Kindergarten Inc

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 Thames Coast Community Kindergarten Inc 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

Whāngai Establishing

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

Thames Coast Community Kindergarten Inc is located in Te Puru. This community run kindergarten operates sessions for children over three, and up to three years of age. A parent committee provides governance support. A new head teacher leads a team of two fully qualified teachers.

3 Summary of findings

Children enjoy warm and meaningful relationships with teachers that are fostered over time. Time and space to explore, problem solve, and establish relationships with peers is given priority in the older children’s sessions. Younger children, up to the age of three, play alongside peers, teachers, and parents, promoting successful transitions into the kindergarten. Positive relationships in each grouping, enhance children’s learning and development.

Connections with the local school and wider community allow meaningful and contextual learning to take place. Teachers and leaders are beginning to develop their knowledge of te ao Māori. They have self-identified the importance of developing a curriculum that reflects local history, stories, and places of significance to Māori. A focus on teaching strategies to strengthen teachers’ knowledge about children’s culture, language and identity is not yet clearly evident.

Children experience a responsive curriculum where their individual and group learning is planned for. The well-resourced indoor and extensive outdoor areas provide opportunities for children to inquire and lead their own learning. Teachers are beginning to explore children’s learning and progression in relation to the learning outcomes from Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. Teachers regularly discuss children’s learning and provide verbal feedback to parents and whānau. The service has yet to develop learning-focused partnerships.

Teachers engagement in professional learning is creating change in teaching practices. High trust is evident between leaders, teachers, and the parent committee. Leaders and teachers are establishing evaluation for improvement processes. Sound policies and procedures guide centre operation. Teachers are beginning to refine and align the professional growth cycle and evaluative processes to assist them focus on improving learning outcomes for children.  

4 Improvement actions

Thames Coast Community Kindergarten Inc will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:

  • strengthen evaluation capability that includes a cultural lens, wider community voice, and outcomes for learners
  • continue to build leaders’ and teachers’ capability through the refinement of the professional growth cycle
  • develop learning focused partnerships with whānau through assessment and planning processes.

5 Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Thames Coast Community Kindergarten Inc 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.

Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui

21 June 2021 

6 About the Early Childhood Service

Early Childhood Service Name Thames Coast Community Kindergarten Inc
Profile Number 34085
Location Te Puru

Service type

Education and care service

Number licensed for

30 children, including up to 8 aged under 2.

Percentage of qualified teachers

80%+

Service roll

32

Ethnic composition

Māori 5, NZ European/Pākehā 20, Other ethnic groups 7.

Review team on site

May 2021

Date of this report

21 June 2021

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review, May 2017; Education Review, December 2013.

Thames Coast Community Kindergarten Inc - 01/05/2017

1 Evaluation of Thames Coast Community Kindergarten Inc

How well placed is Thames Coast Community Kindergarten Inc to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Not well placed

Requires further development

Well placed

Very well placed

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

Background

Thames Coast Community Kindergarten Inc is a non-profit early childhood service, situated in the small coastal village of Te Puru. The kindergarten was originally established by local families and has operated for over twenty years. It is managed by a voluntary parent management committee and three qualified teachers. The kindergarten runs full-day and sessional education and care for children from birth to school age.

Since the last ERO review, some new parents have been elected onto the management committee alongside long-standing parents. One new teacher appointment has been made and a teacher, who has been at the centre for many years has been appointed to the head teacher role. A kindergarten administrator has been employed to enable teachers to focus on teaching and learning.

Teachers have undertaken considerable professional development about self review and staff appraisal. As a result systems and practices for internal evaluation have been established to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of education and care.

The Review Findings

The kindergarten is very well placed to provide and sustain positive learning outcomes for children.

The head teacher, with the support of the teaching team and kindergarten families, has established an organisational culture that promotes high levels of relational trust and collaborative ways of working. Over many years the kindergarten has successfully maintained strong reciprocal, responsive, and respectful relationships with families. The kindergarten continues to provide an inclusive, collaborative and shared approach to the management and leadership of the kindergarten. Teacher and parent partnerships contribute to children's sense of belonging and support their wellbeing.

Teaching is highly effective in developing children’s confidence and competence as lifelong learners. Teachers encourage children to make sense of the natural, social, physical and material worlds, to use their imagination and be creative. They recognise and value the importance of children's learning through play, and are highly skilled in noticing and responding to their interests and strengths. Teachers are intentional in the way they recognise and respond to all opportunities to engage in, and extend children’s learning. They take time to listen and explore deeper meanings, supporting them to critically think, problem solve and inquire.

Teachers know about current theories of learning and teaching. They use this knowledge to design a curriculum that is highly responsive to each child's unique knowledge, skills and dispositions. Children are encouraged to take responsibility for their self care, and be self-motivated, independent learners. Literacy, mathematics, science and other learning areas are integrated daily. Use of the local community further enriches children's learning experiences.

Teachers take personal responsibility for learning about the languages and culture of all children attending the service. Teachers validate to ao Māori, and te reo and tikanga Māori are an integral component of the daily programme. Teachers are beginning to develop a relationship with the local iwi, which should help them to strengthen the bicultural curriculum, and to affirm Māori children's language, culture and identity.

The environment is well planned to meet the diverse interests, strengths and abilities of toddlers and young children. Assessment scrapbooks build a picture of each child's progress over time and success in learning. Rich narratives capture the depth and complexity of children's learning.

Children's wellbeing is given priority during their transition into the kindergarten, and when moving onto school. Teachers work alongside families to develop an approach that best suits the needs of children. Reciprocal visits from the new entrant class to the kindergarten foster children's social relationships and friendships. Regular visits from the kindergarten to school also help children to experience a smooth transition to school.

Leadership, management and governance ensures an effevtive focus on kindergarten improvement and positive outcomes for children. Teachers belong to a professional cluster group with other local early childhood services. This enables them to reflect on their own practice, as well as to share their professional knowledge with others.

Teachers work in close partnerships with parents. Families are invited to actively contribute to all decisions for kindergarten operations. The parent management committee is dedicated and effectively manages the service. The kindergarten's strategic goals are developed in consultation with the community and monitored. Progress in meeting the goals are regularly shared back to the community. Teachers have established robust, well-developed internal evaluation practices, providing a sound foundation for ongoing improvement to support positive outcomes for children.

Key Next Steps

ERO, teachers, and the parent committee agree the next steps for development are to continue developing the bicultural curriculum in partnership with local iwi. This is likely to further enrich children's learning, and develop their knowledge about local histories and areas of significance. 

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Thames Coast Community Kindergarten Inc 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 Thames Coast Community Kindergarten Inc will be in four years.

Lynda Pura-Watson

Deputy Chief Review Officer Waikato/Bay of Plenty

1 May 2017 

2 Information about the Early Childhood Service 

Location

Thames, Waikato

Ministry of Education profile number

34085

Licence type

Education & Care Service

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

30 children, including up to 5 aged under 2

Service roll

37

Gender composition

Girls 19 Boys 18

Ethnic composition

Māori

Pākehā

Other European

Asian

9

21

4

3

Percentage of qualified teachers

0-49% 50-79% 80%+

Based on funding rates

80% +

Reported ratios of staff to children

Under 2

1:4

Meets minimum requirements

Over 2

1:8

Better than minimum requirements

Review team on site

February 2017

Date of this report

1 May 2017

Most recent ERO report(s)

 

Education Review

December 2013

Education Review

January 2011

Education Review

February 2008

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.

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.