112 Rawhiti Avenue, Matamata
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 |
At the time of the review, ERO found the service was taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.
Tower Road Christian Pre School is governed by Matamata Christian Early Learning Centres Limited under Peria Christian Education Inc. The service regained its full licence in December 2020. A new centre manager has been recently appointed. The philosophy places value on emotional, social, spiritual, physical, and intellectual outcomes for children.
A biblical curriculum is integrated with Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. Young children experience meaningful, positive interactions that nurture reciprocal relationships. Teachers support children’s learning in a language-rich environment. The curriculum supports children’s social competency and understandings of appropriate behaviour. The unique place of Māori as tangata whenua is acknowledged. Aspirations held by parents for children are integrated into planning and assessment. Opportunities are given for whānau to be involved in decision making. The learning environment supports different types of indoor and outdoor experiences appropriate to the ages of children attending. Suitable health and safety practices are implemented.
Next steps include:
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Shelley Booysen
Acting Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui
9 September 2021
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Early Childhood Service Name |
Tower Road Christian Pre School |
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Profile Number |
30013 |
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Location |
Matamata |
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Service type |
Education and care service |
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Number licensed for |
30 children aged over 2 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
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Service roll |
30 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori 5, NZ European/Pākehā 18, Other ethnic groups 7 |
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Review team on site |
July 2021 |
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Date of this report |
9 September 2021 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, June 2018; Education Review, August 2016 |
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 |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Tower Road Christian Pre School is a full-day education and care service. It is located in a residential area of Matamata and is licensed for 30 children from two years to school age. The preschool offers flexible attendance hours and days to meet the needs of families.
A new board of directors was appointed in January 2017, and a new team including the centre manager was appointed six months ago.
The centre's philosophy is strongly reflective of Christian values and beliefs. The centre aims to create a welcoming environment that supports a strong sense of belonging for children and their whānau. The philosophy states that teachers focus on knowing the children well and value the knowledge that they and their family bring to the centre.
Since the last ERO report in 2016, the centre has made considerable progress. Professional learning and development has improved teaching practice, and appraisal systems have been strengthened. A strategic plan has identified priorities for the ongoing improvement of the centre.
Strong and effective relationships and partnerships have been developed with parents and whānau who are able to take an active role and in their child's learning. Respectful, nurturing and positive relationships are evident between teachers and children, and children and their peers. Children are provided with feedback which acknowledges their effort and success.
Children effectively lead their own learning. They are empowered by teachers to take responsibility for their wellbeing and belonging. Independence and self-help skills are strongly promoted for all children. Consequently children see themselves as successful learners.
The curriculum is inclusive, responsive and effectively supports children's interests, strengths, ideas and beliefs. Teachers understand the children in the context of whānau and the wider community. The programme for children reflects the special Christian character and beliefs. Assessment, planning and evaluation focuses on dispositions for learning and show continuity of learning and progress. Children experience a learning environment that promotes links from home and contributes to a strong sense of belonging.
Literacy and numeracy are enhanced through meaningful and interesting opportunities in authentic everyday life contexts. Transitions to school are flexible, based on the needs of the child and supported by effective partnerships with families and whānau. Children are respected and valued for the knowledge and skills they bring to the learning.
Teachers effectively promote a bicultural curriculum and there is a strong commitment to The Treaty of Waitangi and how it is enacted in the programme. Teachers' understanding of te ao Māori, te reo, waiata and karakia are improving and children are encouraged to develop knowledge of the bicultural nature of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Highly collaborative ways of working are evident among all who are involved in the service and effective change and improvement has occurred. The centre manager is focused on improving the quality of care and education, valuing self review and reflection to improve practice. Emerging self-review processes have a focus on continual change and improvement. Appraisal and teachers inquiries have been further developed and refined. To further strengthen this process formal observations of teaching practice now need to occur.
The board of directors has established a useful strategic plan, relevant policies and procedures to guide daily operations and meet legislative requirements. They respond to the diverse community that attend the service and strongly reflect the Christian values and beliefs of the philosophy. The new centre manager has been well supported with targeted professional learning.
The board of directors needs to:
consult with teachers and whānau about the centre philosophy, strategic plan and policies
build their knowledge about early childhood education practice and procedures.
Leaders and teachers need to:
further strengthen the appraisal process to include formal observations and feedback to teachers that supports teachers to build their professional capability
consider strengthening the bicultural curriculum as teachers review the centre philosophy.
Before the review, the staff and management of Tower Road Christian 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:
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 areas of non-compliance relating to management policies and procedures in relation to:
The next ERO review of Tower Road Christian Pre School will be in three years.
Lynda Pura-Watson
Deputy Chief Review Officer
Te Tai Miringa - Waikato / Bay of Plenty Region
28 June 2018
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 |
Matamata, Waikato |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
30013 |
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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 |
30 children, including up to 0 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
52 |
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Gender composition |
Girls 28 Boys 24 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
5 |
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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 |
Over 2 |
1:6 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
May 2018 |
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Date of this report |
28 June 2018 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
August 2016 |
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Education Review |
July 2013 |
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Education Review |
June 2010 |
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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:
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.