Totara Park Playcentre

1 Evaluation of Totara Park Playcentre

How well placed is Totara Park Playcentre to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Totara Park Playcentre is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

Background

Totara Park Playcentre is one of 17 playcentres in the Hutt Valley region. The service operates for five sessions each week and is licensed for 30 children, including up to 15 aged under two years. Families enrolled represent a number of diverse cultures. Ten of the children identified as Māori.

At the time of its May 2016 ERO review, the centre was one of 17 administered by the Lower Hutt Playcentre Association, under the umbrella of The New Zealand Playcentre Federation Inc. In June 2019, the 32 associations nationwide amalgamated into one new entity, a charitable trust called Playcentre Aotearoa. Hutt Valley playcentres are now managed as part of a regional hub (the organisation) within the new entity.

A centre support worker (CSW), employed by the organisation, regularly visits the playcentre and provides professional advice and feedback to strengthen the programme for children. A centre administrator (CA) works with parents and caregivers (members) to support compliance with regulations. Day-to-day management is the role of centre-elected office holders. At the time of this review, many families were new to the service. A session supervisor, with recognised levels of training, provides ongoing support for the implementation of the daily programme.

Playcentre philosophy recognises the importance of parents working together, alongside their children, to support their self-initiated play and promote their learning.

The previous ERO report identified areas for improvement. These included appraisal and culturally responsive strategies to support Māori children. Appropriate appraisal systems are now in place. Though responsiveness to Māori remains a next step for the service, some progress is evident.

This review was one of eight in Playcentre Aotearoa, Hutt Valley region.

The Review Findings

Child-led learning is very well supported in a calm, engaging learning environment. Older and younger children are empowered to make choices and work together. Adults play responsively alongside children and use deliberate strategies to challenge them and extend their thinking, oral language and friendships. Families demonstrate a strong sense of belonging. Members take collective responsibility for the learning and wellbeing of all children and know them well. The playcentre's community-focused philosophy is clearly evident in practice.

Improving the bicultural curriculum has been a centre priority. Positive changes to practices, the environment and resources are providing increased opportunities for all children to engage with te reo me ngā tikanga Māori. Members should now focus on monitoring children's learning outcomes in this area, including through assessment documentation. In addition, the organisation should continue to support members to understand and enact specific, culturally responsive strategies for Māori children.

Members know children well, and document how they provide engaging experiences that support their interests. Assessment, planning and evaluation should be strengthened, to focus on extending children’s learning characteristics, rather than their activities. Exploring the goals of Te Whāriki, the early learning curriculum, and considering how these could guide planning for ‘where to next’ for children, would be a useful first step.

Collaborative internal evaluation processes are becoming embedded in centre practice, with organisation support and guidance. ERO and leaders agree that this is an area for ongoing development. The process would benefit from an increased focus on measurable success indicators, based on positive learning outcomes for children. This would better support members to know the impact of their practices.

Centre members are focused on quality provision for children and work well as a team. Long-serving members model playcentre philosophy and expectations and offer valuable support to newer members. A strong sense of collective ownership of the centre fosters regular improvements, for the benefit of children.

The CSWs work collaboratively to support centre members in their roles. Relational trust is prioritised. They offer useful guidance, support and encouragement to foster members’ understanding and engagement. At times, written feedback does not include sufficient detail about next steps to strengthen centre practices. The organisation should establish consistent reporting expectations, with a particular focus on promoting the next steps outlined in this ERO report and monitoring necessary improvements.

Across the organisation, children and their families would benefit from increased clarity around identifying and supporting children with diverse learning needs, including speech and language. This should involve proactive, timely information-sharing and guidance for all playcentres.

The restructure of playcentre operation is being carefully worked through to support a new and more sustainable future for the organisation. The regional office provides a range of support for centres. Regional leaders agree that key next steps are to embed the recently reviewed policy framework and appraisal systems.

Key Next Steps

Organisation leaders should prioritise support for Totara Park Playcentre members in the following areas:

• continuing to grow culturally responsive practices, particularly for Māori children

• focusing assessment, planning and evaluation on deliberately extending children’s learning

• using measurable, child-focused success indicators in internal evaluation

• embedding new policies and procedures, including appraisal, in centre practice.

In addition, the organisation should:

• establish clear and consistent practices for providing challenging feedback to centres, focusing on priority improvement areas

• ensure that centres receive clear, useful and timely guidance around identification and support strategies for children with diverse learning needs.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Totara Park Playcentre 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.

Guiding policies and procedures have been recently revised at national level by Playcentre Aotearoa, to reflect current legislation. To improve practice, members should build their understanding of these new documents and ensure they consistently guide centre practice.

ERO identified areas of non-compliance related to health and safety. To meet requirements, the service should ensure that:

• all equipment that could fall or topple and cause serious injury or damage are secured
• the written emergency plan is reviewed on at least an annual basis.

Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education Services 2008, HS6, HS7

Since the onsite phase of this review, the playcentre has taken steps to address these.

Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services 
Southern Region - Te Tai Tini

21 February 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.