Twizel Free Kindergarten

Education institution number:
5479
Service type:
Free Kindergarten
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
41
Telephone:
Address:

135 Mackenzie Drive, Twizel

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Twizel Free Kindergarten

1 ERO’s Judgements 

Akarangi | Quality Evaluation evaluates the extent to which this early childhood service has the learning and organisational conditions to support equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners. Te Ara Poutama Indicators of quality for early childhood education: what matters most are the basis for making judgements about the effectiveness of the service in achieving equity and excellence for all learners. Judgements are made in relation to the Outcomes Indicators, Learning and Organisational Conditions. The Evaluation Judgement Rubric derived from the indicators, is used to inform ERO’s judgements about this service’s performance in promoting equity and excellence.  

ERO’s judgements for ​Twizel Free Kindergarten​ are as follows: 

Outcome Indicators 

(What the service knows about outcomes for learners) 

Whakaū Embedding​

Ngā Akatoro Domains 

 
Learning Conditions 
Organisational Conditions 

​​Whakawhanake Sustaining​ 

Whakaū Embedding​

2 Context of the Service 

Twizel Free Kindergarten is one of 13 kindergartens governed by South Canterbury Kindergarten Association. Children who attend are from a variety of ethnic backgrounds including a small number of Māori children and a small number of Pacific children. The kindergarten has made good progress since the 2016 ERO report.  

3 Summary of findings 

The kindergarten’s curriculum strongly reflects the curriculum priorities of local community and Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. Children experience a broad range of opportunities to explore and learn about their local area through regular excursions. There are many opportunities for children to hear and speak te reo Māori in day-to-day experiences. They are very well supported to make choices about their learning within well-resourced environments and from a wide range of intentional learning experiences.  

Assessment information shows children’s learning is enhanced by teachers working in partnership with whānau. The learning priorities are aligned to Te Whāriki and identified learning outcomes. These are reviewed annually in consultation with whānau and community and form the base of children’s curriculum experiences. Documentation shows children’s participation in a rich range of experiences.  It shows their learning overtime in relation to the learning outcomes of Te Whāriki but could more consistently show all children’s developing capabilities in relation to the kindergarten’s identified learning priorities. Children have a positive learner identity.  

Governance and leaders have established and implement sound systems, process and practices to drive improvement within the association. This includes relevant opportunities for professional learning and engagement in professional growth and reflection. Senior teachers support improved practice by regularly visiting and mentoring kindergarten staff.  

Improved guidelines for internal evaluation are in place. However, governance, leadership and within individual kindergartens internal evaluation for improvement requires further embedding to be fully effective. This includes developing the collective capability to effectively monitor and evaluate the improvement actions to better determine whether they are having the desired impact.  

The board, managers and teaching teams effectively implement the association’s strategic vision, values and goals. Collaboration with mana whenua is enabling them to develop practices that show deepening commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Decision making and allocation of resources are focused on enabling children and whānau full participation within the kindergarten.  

4 Improvement actions 

​Twizel Free Kindergarten​ will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning: 

  • Consistently document all children’s developing capabilities in relation to the kindergarten's identified learning priorities. 
  • Governance and management to continue to build own and teachers’ capability use evaluation to scrutinise all aspects of operation and more clearly show the impact of planned actions on outcomes for identified individuals and groups of learners.  

5 Management Assurance on Legal Requirements 

Before the review, the staff and management of ​Twizel Free Kindergarten​ completed an ERO 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; safety checking; teacher registration; ratios) 
  • relevant evacuation procedures and practices. 

All early childhood services are required to promote children's health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements. 

​During the review, the service provided​ ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:  

  • a detailed record of safety checking, including risk assessment required to be complete after all relevant information is obtained.   

Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, (GMA7A) 
 

Patricia Davey 
Director of Early Childhood Education (ECE)  

​11 December 2023​   

6 About the Early Childhood Service  

Early Childhood Service NameTwizel Free Kindergarten
Profile Number5479
LocationTwizel
Service type  ​Free Kindergarten​
Number licensed for  35 children over the age of 2 
Percentage of qualified teachers  ​100%​
Service roll 37 
Review team on site August 2023 
Date of this report ​11 December 2023​
Most recent ERO report(s) ​Education Review​, ​June 2016​; ​Education Review​, ​October 2014​ 

Twizel Free Kindergarten - 29/06/2016

1 Evaluation of Twizel Free Kindergarten

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

Not well placed

Requires further development

Well placed

Very well placed

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

Background

Twizel Kindergarten provides education and care for up to 35 children aged two to five years. Since the last ERO review, the roll has grown and there are increased numbers of two year olds. A third teacher has been appointed to work some days in response to roll growth. A new head teacher has also been appointed.

The kindergarten is one of eleven within the South Canterbury Free Kindergarten Association (SCFKA). Many families travel significant distances to attend the kindergarten. Some children attend for only one or two days a week.

The teaching team, with extensive support of the SCFKA, has made significant improvements in the quality of education and care for children since the last ERO report in October 2014.

The Review Findings

The new, very experienced head teacher has built on the progress already made on the recommendations from the previous ERO report. She has effectively led the team to evaluate and improve all aspects of the curriculum and teaching and learning. She has built shared leadership between herself, teachers, the committee and children.

The teachers, in consultation with parents, have redeveloped the philosophy to better reflect their key values and beliefs. There is a greater focus on learning evident in the kindergarten. However, the philosophy could more clearly state the desired outcomes for children's learning.

Teachers plan a rich curriculum based on the principles and strands of Te Whāriki (the early childhood curriculum). They have developed a culture that values parents' and children's strengths and makes good use of the knowledge they bring.

Children benefit from a rich and interesting programme that reflects the local environment and their lives. This includes:

  • sustainability and the living world
  • early mathematics and literacy
  • growing children's thinking skills, including creativity, problem solving, curiosity and inquiry
  • promoting children's physical development.

Children and their families benefit from the positive relationships they have with the teachers. Teachers value children's diverse language and cultural backgrounds. This is evident in wall displays, greetings and children's profile books. Teachers know the children and their families well. Teachers demonstrate in practice authentic partnerships with families. This is evident in the way they talk with families about their children and seek their aspirations for their children's learning and development. Teachers have genuine conversations with children and help children learn the skills for playing well together. They ensure children have choices in how they use the learning environment.

Other aspects of the programme that support children's learning include:

  • the interesting and enticing environments
  • supportive transitions into the kindergarten and to school
  • the wide range of resources available.

Teachers have developed ways of meaningfully integrating Māori perspectives into the programme and practices. Examples are teaching children to care for the environment and encouraging concepts such as tuakana/teina (older children caring for younger children).

There are useful systems supporting ongoing assessment, planning and evaluation for groups and individuals. Teachers acknowledge they are continuing to develop and improve these.

Teachers use self review to make improvements to programmes and practices. To further develop self-review practices teachers need to:

  • ensure the focus of the review is guided by an evaluative question
  • refine the indicators that guide the review to ensure they match the focus
  • consistently use the indicators throughout the process.

The SCFKA has been very supportive of the kindergarten and has taken a strategic and well-planned approach to making the improvements. There are comprehensive records of this process. It is timely to evaluate the need for the quantity of documentation that surrounds decision making and improvements.

The SCFKA ensures effective day-to-day management of the kindergarten.

Key Next Steps

The key next steps to ensure the sustainability of practices within the kindergarten are for teachers to:

  • strengthen the philosophy
  • continue to refine aspects of planning, assessment and evaluation
  • explore ways to make how teachers plan with and alongside children and their families more evident in documentation
  • further develop self-review practices.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Twizel Free 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.

Next ERO Review

When is ERO likely to review the service again?

The next ERO review of Twizel Free Kindergarten will be in three years.

Lesley Patterson

Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern

29 June 2016

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

LocationTwizel
Ministry of Education profile number5479
Licence typeFree Kindergarten
Licensed underEducation (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008
Number licensed for35 children from 2 to 5 years
Service roll33
Gender composition

Boys: 18

Girls: 15

Ethnic composition

Māori

Pākehā

Chinese

Nepalese

French

1

29

1

1

1

Percentage of qualified teachers

0-49% 50-79% 80%+

Based on funding rates

80% +
Reported ratios of staff to childrenOver 21:10Meets Minimum Requirements
Review team on siteMay 2016
Date of this report29 June 2016

Most recent ERO report(s)

 

Education ReviewOctober 2014
Education ReviewJune 2010
Education ReviewOctober 2007

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 and Next Review

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:

  • Very well placed – The next ERO review in four years
  • Well placed – The next ERO review in three years
  • Requires further development – The next ERO review within two years
  • Not well placed - The next ERO review in consultation with the Ministry of Education

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.

Twizel Free Kindergarten - 02/10/2014

1 Evaluation of Twizel Free Kindergarten

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

Not well placed

Requires further development

Well placed

Very well placed

Twizel Free Kindergarten requires further development to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

The 2011 ERO report found that planning, assessment and evaluation practices were in the early stages of development. ERO found that this is still the case with little progress being made. There needs to be stronger leadership and a greater focus on learning in the kindergarten programme.

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

Background

Twizel Free Kindergarten is located on the edge of the school grounds. The kindergarten has recently changed its hours so that children may attend six hours a day to better meet the needs of parents.

A team of one full-time and two part-time teachers provides programmes for up to 35 children aged from two-to-five years. The kindergarten roll has fallen in recent times. Currently around 15 children attend each day. Some children travel considerable distances to attend.

As children approach school age they are assigned a buddy from the school and attend a transition to school programme provided by the kindergarten.

This review was part of a cluster of 11 reviews in the South Canterbury Free Kindergarten Association (SCKFA).

The Review Findings

Children and their families benefit from warm and caring relationships with the teachers. Teachers welcome families to stay and spend time with their children during the sessions. They know many of the families well. Some of the families and community members have special skills that they share with the children, such as weekly yoga and art sessions.

Children work and play in a spacious indoor and large outdoor area. There is a strong Māori dimension woven through the programme. Children have access to a wide range of interesting resources. Teachers provide additional resources and experiences for children as they follow their play interests. This includes many outings into and beyond the local community, such as, visits to the library, Mainly Music and an outing to Aoraki, Mount Cook.

ERO observed children playing well together and older children helping younger children in their play. The teachers are aware of children who need extra support in the programme and seek advice and help for them.

As part of this review, ERO investigated how well teachers were providing for mathematics learning. Teachers told ERO of the mathematics learning that occurs through play with blocks, puzzles, baking, sand and water. Through these experiences children incidentally learn mathematics concepts such as size and shape. As improvements to planning, assessment and evaluation are made the teachers will be able to deliberately provide a richer mathematics curriculum.

Key Next Steps

The overall finding is that there is insufficient focus on learning and purposeful teaching in the kindergarten. A significant need is to build leadership and cohesive teamwork. The association is already providing extra resources and support for the kindergarten, but not enough progress has been made. The association, with the teachers needs to:

  • identify the key next steps for improvement

  • develop and implement an action plan that strategically addresses these next steps.

The next steps include:

  • strengthening leadership and teamwork

  • reviewing the philosophy so that it better reflects the learning priorities that teachers and families have for children’s learning

  • developing knowledge and use of self review and using the outcomes of review to inform future planning.

Planning, assessment and evaluation for individuals and group learning needs to improve. Currently there is little group planning in place.

Teachers need to determine curriculum priorities for children’s learning and be clear about the

intended outcomes. These priorities should be made clear in group planning. Planning for individual and groups of children should include clearer next steps and the strategies teachers plan to use to support children’s learning. Evaluations should show the effectiveness of these strategies and show how children have made progress over time.

Governance

The SCFKA is governed by a board and managed by a newly appointed general manager. The board:

  • has a strong commitment to teaching and learning

  • seeks parents’ views about important matters in the association

  • has made changes to the roll size and opening hours of the kindergartens to be more responsive to community needs and maintain the financial viability of the association

  • is very responsive to important government initiatives such as ensuring educational success for all children.

Next steps for the board are to:

  • know more about its roles and responsibilities as the governing body

  • develop strategic planning

  • ensure that reports review how well the association’s goals are met, are more evaluative and are better used for future planning

  • refine appraisal systems to ensure that staff and teachers more formally receive accurate feedback about their work.

The senior teachers provide useful ongoing professional development and maintain a strong focus on teaching and learning to the kindergartens within the association. They have shared with the teachers at Kowhai Kindergarten the expectations they have for teaching and learning and how well they think the team is meeting those expectations.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Twizel Free 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.

Some systems for ensuring the health and safety of children need to be better used. In particular, more care is needed in the recording of earthquake and fire drills. Risk analysis and management records for outings could be more robust.

Development Plan Recommendation

ERO recommends that the service consult with the Ministry of Education and plan to address the key next steps and actions outlined in this report.

Next ERO Review

When is ERO likely to review the service again?

The next ERO review of Twizel Free Kindergarten will be within two years.

Graham Randell

National Manager Review Services Southern Region

2 October 2014

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

Twizel

Ministry of Education profile number

5479

Licence type

Free Kindergarten

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

35 children over two years of age

Service roll

25

Gender composition

Boys: 14 Girls:: 11

Ethnic composition

Māori

NZ European/Pākehā

Other

4

20

1

Percentage of qualified teachers

0-49% 50-79% 80% Based on funding rates

80%

Reported ratios of staff to children

Under 2

Not applicable

 
 

Over 2

1:10

Meets minimum requirements

Review team on site

July 2014

Date of this report

2 October 2014

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review

June 2011

 

Education Review

October 2007

 

Supplementary Review

June 2004

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 and Next Review

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:

  • Very well placed – The next ERO review in four years
  • Well placed – The next ERO review in three years
  • Requires further development – The next ERO review within two years
  • Not well placed - The next ERO review in consultation with the Ministry of Education

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.