Torbay Kindergarten

1 Evaluation of Torbay Kindergarten

How well placed is Torbay Kindergarten to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Torbay Kindergarten is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

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

Background

Torbay Kindergarten is one of 15 early childhood services operating under the umbrella of Northern Auckland Kindergarten Association, (the association) now trading as Kaitiaki Kindergartens. The service is licensed for 40 children aged over two years and serves a diverse ethnic community. Many families have English as a second language. Of the 80 children enrolled, 7 are Māori. The service operates 3 daily sessions for children aged over 4 years, with the other days for younger children.

A governing board sets strategic direction for the association. Management of the association’s operations is the responsibility of the general manager (GM). Two professional practice leaders (PPL's) have oversight of teaching and learning, compliance, policy development and leadership. Day-to-day operation in this kindergarten is the responsibility of the head teacher who leads a team of four registered teachers.

Since the June 2015 ERO report, there has been turnover of personnel at management and senior leadership levels. There have been some changes to the teaching team.

The philosophy underpinning teaching and learning emphasises the value of whakawhanaungatanga with tamariki, whānau and community; children’s holistic development, and the importance of reflecting whakamana and manaakitanga in daily practices.

The previous ERO evaluation findings were to continue to further develop kaupapa Māori concepts to help support children's culture, language and identity. Progress is evident in this area.

This review was one of nine in the Northern Auckland Free Kindergarten Association.

The Review Findings

The high quality learning environment is carefully resourced to cater for children's current interests and emerging ideas. Literacy, mathematics, nature and science, and the arts are integrated into the programme in meaningful ways. The learning environments promote highly responsive interactions. Positive, reciprocal relationships are evident between staff, families and children.

The valued learning outcomes described in the philosophy are strongly evident in practice. Children are highly engaged and self-motivated. They are given the space and time to develop and test their working theories with the use of natural and open-ended resources. Environmental sustainability is effectively practised, and children are actively involved in promoting this.

Group planning is well considered, meaningful and effectively recorded through displayed stories. Learning outcomes are documented. Ongoing reflection identifies next steps for teachers and learners. An area of focus for the kindergarten is to continue to develop place-based learning.

Children benefit from teachers' effective assessment and planning practices. They document useful information about children’s individual interests, skills and development, as well as their engagement in the rich group curriculum. Portfolios show that teachers know children well. Stronger acknowledgement of parents' aspirations for learning, as well as children’s culture, language and identity, would strengthen assessment documentation.

Teachers liaise with parents and outside agencies, as appropriate, to support the learning and wellbeing of children with diverse learning needs.

Children are very well supported in their transition into and through the kindergarten. Strong relationships with local schools ensure children settle quickly. Teachers continue to seek effective ways of sharing children's learning with new entrant teachers.

Significant work has been undertaken by teachers to develop kaupapa Māori concepts. These are strongly evident in the environment. Children are familiar with and participate in karakia and waiata. Māori children experience success in their learning as Māori. Teachers use te reo Māori in learning conversations with children and at times in profile books. The kindergarten has developed useful connections in the community to support their approach.

Leaders and teachers regularly collaborate on reviews of their practice to promote improvement. They access current research and consult with families. An increased focus on the evaluation of practices would support stronger decision making. Developing clear indicators of success to measure the effectiveness of initiatives and programmes is a next step. This should better enable leaders and teachers to evaluate the impact of changes made and progress towards long-term goals.

The association has some good processes in place to support teachers. These include an improved inquiry-based appraisal, targeted learning and development opportunities and access to PPLs' guidance. Assisting teachers to implement and embed the new policy framework and reporting requirements and deciding on the form and function of the PPL role, and how this will be enacted in kindergartens, are priorities.

With the appointment of a new board, GM and leadership team, considerable work has been done to review the existing management structures, processes and guidelines for operation, and to improve accountability. The board and GM should continue to review and develop governance and operational roles and responsibilities, in consultation with teachers and the community, to support the sustainability of operation and ensure continuous improvement to outcomes for children.

Key Next Steps

Priorities for teachers are to continue to develop their:

• reflection of children's culture, language and identity in assessment documentation

• use of internal evaluation.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Torbay Kindergarten 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.

ERO identified an area of non-compliance relating to health and safety. The service provider must ensure that:

• heavy furniture, fixtures and equipment that could fall or topple and cause serious injury or damage are secured.

Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, HS6

Since the on-site phase the kindergarten has provided evidence to show the area of non-compliance has been addressed.

Steve Tanner

Director Review and Improvement Services Northern

Northern Region

27 March 2020

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.