The Playhouse Pre-School

Education institution number:
25402
Service type:
Education and Care Service
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
39
Telephone:
Address:

51 Twomey Drive, Pukekohe

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The Playhouse Pre-School

ERO’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.

ERO’s Judgement

Regulatory standards

ERO’s judgement

Curriculum

Meeting

Premises and facilities

Meeting

Health and safety

Meeting

Governance, management and administration

Meeting

At the time of the review, ERO found the service was taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.

Background

The Playhouse Pre-School is one of two education and care services under the same new ownership. A newly appointed head teacher is responsible for the curriculum and supports the new teaching team. Serving a diverse community, a small number of enrolled children are identified as Māori or of Pacific heritages.

Summary of Review Findings

Children are responded to as confident and competent learners. Their preferences are respected, and they are involved in decisions about their learning. Adults providing education and care engage in meaningful and positive interactions to nurture reciprocal relationships. Children are encouraged to understand and accept other cultures.

Assessment and planning inform the curriculum, which is language rich and promotes the development of social competence. There is a range of experiences to enhance learning and development, both indoors and outdoors, individually and in groups. Regular opportunities are provided for parents to be involved in decision-making about their child’s learning.

Key Next Steps

Next steps include:

  • identifying teaching strategies that extend the complexity of older children’s play

  • making explicit in assessment and planning the use of learning outcomes in Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, to inform and support intentional teaching

  • increasing the opportunities children have to hear and speak te reo Māori in meaningful learning contexts.

Next ERO Review

The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.

Patricia Davey
Director of Early Childhood Education (ECE)

22 September 2023

Information About the Service

Early Childhood Service Name

The Playhouse Pre-School

Profile Number

25402

Location

Pukekoke

Service type

Education and care service

Number licensed for

40 children, including up to 15 aged under 2

Percentage of qualified teachers

80-99%

Service roll

20

Review team on site

September 2023

Date of this report

22 September 2023

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review, October 2019; Education Review, June 2016

General Information about Assurance Reviews

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.

ERO undertakes an Akanuku | Assurance Review process in any centre-based service:

  • having its first ERO review – including if it is part of a governing organisation

  • previously identified as ‘not well placed’ or ‘requiring further development’

  • that has moved from a provisional to a full licence

  • that have been re-licenced due to a change of ownership

  • where an Akanuku | Assurance Review process is determined to be appropriate.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

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:

  • curriculum

  • premises and facilities

  • health and safety practices

  • governance, management and administration.

As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO assesses whether the regulatory 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:

  • 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; safety checking; teacher certification; ratios)

  • relevant evacuation procedures and practices.

As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO also gathers and records evidence through:

  • discussions with those involved in the service

  • consideration of relevant documentation, including the implementation of health and safety systems

  • observations of the environment/premises, curriculum implementation and teaching practice.

The Playhouse Pre-School - 21/10/2019

1 Evaluation of The Playhouse Pre-School

How well placed is The Playhouse Pre-School to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Not well placed

Requires further development

Well placed

Very well placed

The Playhouse Pre-School is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

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

Background

The Playhouse Pre-School is a privately owned, purpose-built education and care service located in Pukekohe. The centre is licensed to provide all-day care for 40 children, including 15 up to the age of two years. At the time of this review there were 43 children enrolled.

The centre's philosophy is that 'early childhood should be fun; a time for mana aotūroa (exploration), discovery and active learning, where tamariki learn naturally through meaningful takaro (play) and social interactions'. The centre endeavours to create a pathway of learning for children.

Children learn in a mixed-age setting. The teaching team includes male and female staff. Almost all of the teachers hold a teaching qualification.

The centre owner forms part of the leadership team and is supported by a general manager. They manage a second early childhood centre that is located on the same street. The centre has a head teacher and two staff who have leadership roles for the different age groups.

The centre has responded very well to the June 2016 ERO report. The centre has: reviewed and developed their transition-to-school programme; strengthened assessment records to show children’s learning progress over time; and developed a centre-wide collaborative inquiry and evaluation process.

The Review Findings

Children learn in a calm and caring environment. Socialisation, friendships and collaboration between children are nurtured and tuakana teina relationships are encouraged through mixed-age play. Parents and children experience positive transitions into the centre. Well-established routines enable teachers to settle children under two in a separate area each day before they join the older children. Parents appreciate the warm relationships between teachers and children. Teachers are responsive to children who have English as a second language. Children’s sense of belonging and wellbeing is fostered.

Children participate in a broad range of learning experiences. Literacy and mathematics concepts are integrated naturally into play. A bush programme operates weekly for the 4-year old children and supports scientific exploration. The centre's transition-to-school programme has been significantly revised and now develops children's school readiness through a range of play-based learning opportunities. Tikanga Māori is integrated into daily routines and te reo Māori is used alongside English at mat time to introduce and revisit new learning. Centre leaders and teachers are reviewing play areas and resources as part of their strategic plan.

Effective systems support consistent and collaborative practices for the assessment, planning and evaluation of children’s learning. Teachers are responsive to children's dispositions and interests, and they provide opportunities to support children's progress through continuity of learning. Assessment portfolios are attractively presented and used by children to revisit their learning and develop early literacy skills. Teachers regularly write a learning evaluation for each child that is shared with parents and used to plan further learning opportunities for children. Children's strengths and interests are supported by responsive practices.

Leaders and teachers have developed reciprocal relationships with parents and the wider community. There are positive and trusting relationships between teachers and parents. A range of communication methods are used to share children's learning. Teachers gather and respond to parents' aspirations for their children and share learning strategies with parents to support children's development at home. Leaders and teachers have established useful relationships with several local schools as part of an evaluation of the centre's transition-to-school programme.

Centre leadership is effective. Useful systems promote consistent practice and shared understandings across the centre. A culture of strong relational trust and collaboration is evident. A systematic and comprehensive internal evaluation process supports ongoing review and improvement aligned to achieving strategic goals. A variety of targeted professional learning opportunities support teachers to grow their professional practice.

Key Next Steps

The centre's leaders and ERO agree that a useful next step is for leaders and teachers to continue to develop ways to enable children to lead their own learning.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of The Playhouse Pre-School 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 Region

21 October 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

Location

Pukekohe, Auckland

Ministry of Education profile number

25402

Licence type

Education & Care Service

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

40 children, including up to 15 aged under 2

Service roll

43

Gender composition

Male 22 Female 21

Ethnic composition

Pākehā
Other ethnic groups

40
3

Percentage of qualified teachers

0-49% 50-79% 80%+

Based on funding rates

80% +

Reported ratios of staff to children

Under 2

1:5

Meets minimum requirements

Over 2

1:10

Meets minimum requirements

Review team on site

August 2019

Date of this report

21 October 2019

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review

June 2016

Education Review

May 2013

Education Review

June 2010

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.