187 Tramway Road, Enderley, Hamilton
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 |
| Curriculum | Not meeting |
| Premises and facilities | Meeting |
| Health and safety | Meeting |
| Governance, management and administration | Meeting |
At the time of the review, ERO identified non-compliance with regulatory standards that must be addressed.
Discovery Tree is a privately-owned service. The qualified owner works alongside kaiako in supporting curriculum delivery and daily operations. The service’s philosophy is underpinned by Te Ao Māori values. Serving a diverse ethnic community, almost three quarters of children enrolled whakapapa Māori, with a small number of Indian and Pacific learners attending.
Adults engage in positive interactions with children and support them to develop social competence. There are opportunities for children to develop knowledge and an understanding of the cultural heritages of both parties to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Children are not consistently provided with a range of experiences to enhance and extend their learning.
Opportunities are provided for parents to communicate with adults about their child. Information and guidance are sought, when necessary, from agencies and services to enable adults to work effectively with children and their parents. A philosophy statement and budget guide service operations.
Leaders need to better monitor practices and systems to ensure regulatory standards are maintained.
ERO found an area of non-compliance in the service relating to:
Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, C9.
During and since the review, the service provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:
ERO recommends the Ministry follows up with the service provider to ensure that non-compliances identified in this report are addressed promptly.
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Patricia Davey
Director of Early Childhood Education (ECE)
1 February 2024
| Early Childhood Service Name | Discovery Tree |
| Profile Number | 46052 |
| Location | Enderley, Hamilton |
| Service type | Education and care service |
| Number licensed for | 49 children, including up to 14 aged under 2 |
| Percentage of qualified teachers | 80-99% |
| Service roll | 40 |
| Review team on site | December 2023 |
| Date of this report | 1 February 2024 |
| Most recent ERO report(s) | Akanuku | Assurance Review, November 2022; Education Review, June 2018 |
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 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:
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO also gathers and records evidence through:
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.
Regulatory standards |
ERO’s judgement |
|
Curriculum |
Meeting |
|
Premises and facilities |
Meeting |
|
Health and safety |
Meeting |
|
Governance, management and administration |
Meeting |
Since the onsite visit, the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed non‑compliances and is now taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.
Discovery Tree, previously Twinkle Toes Educare, changed ownership in May 2021. The new owner is a qualified teacher who works alongside a combination of qualified, in training and unqualified teachers. Almost three quarters of children are Māori, with a small number of Pacific and Indian learners.
Teachers engage in meaningful, positive interactions with children that nurture reciprocal relationships. The curriculum is inclusive, and responsive to children as confident and competent learners. Children’s preferences are respected, and they are involved in decisions about their learning experiences.
The environment and curriculum acknowledge and reflect the unique place of Māori as tangata whenua. There is opportunity for children to develop knowledge and an understanding of the cultural heritages of both parties to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
An ongoing process of self-review and internal evaluation helps to maintain and improve the quality of its education and care.
Next steps include:
build all teachers’ knowledge about the theories that underpin Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum
improve the extent to which assessment practices show children’s progress and learning over time
for teachers to support children’s complexity of learning through an increased range of learning opportunities both indoors and outdoors, for both age groups.
Since the onsite visit, the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:
evidence that the service has a current Fire Evacuation Scheme approved by Fire and Emergency New Zealand (HS4)
the temperature of warm water delivered from taps that are accessible to children is no higher than 40 degrees, and comfortable for children at the centre to use (HS13)
water stored in any hot water cylinder is kept at a temperature of at least 60 degrees (HS14)
[Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, HS4, HS13, HS14].
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui
7 November 2022
|
Early Childhood Service Name |
Discovery Tree |
|
Profile Number |
46052 |
|
Location |
Enderley, Hamilton |
|
Service type |
Education and care service |
|
Number licensed for |
49 children, including up to 14 aged under 2 |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
|
Service roll |
42 |
|
Review team on site |
October 2022 |
|
Date of this report |
7 November 2022 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review, June 2018; Education Review, February 2015 |
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.
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.
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.