Young Explorers Early Learning Centre

Education institution number:
45540
Service type:
Education and Care Service
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
48
Telephone:
Address:

566 Bucklands Road RD2, Pukekohe

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Young Explorers Early Learning Centre

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 Young Explorers Early Learning Centre are as follows:

Outcome Indicators

(What the service knows about outcomes for learners)

Whakaū Embedding

Ngā Akatoro Domains

 

Learning Conditions
Organisational Conditions

Whakaū Embedding

Whakaū Embedding

2 Context of the Service

This is an established center inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach, which promotes working collaboratively as a community to extend children’s learning. The owner and center manager lead a team of teachers across two age-based rooms. At the time of the review, a small number of Māori children were enrolled.

3 Summary of findings

Children’s learning is richly supported by a clear understanding and delivery of the center philosophy. The well-established priorities for learning are visible through children’s daily experiences. Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, is thoughtfully enacted in partnership with the elements that make up the Reggio Emilia approach. Children’s learning and development is enhanced, and positive learning outcomes are evident for all groups of children.

Evolving child-led project work enables children to explore and develop their theories and thinking about how the world works. Infants and toddlers experience a curriculum underpinned by care, with teachers skillfully enacting respectful practice for this age group. Children’s prior learning is recognized, and there is opportunity for children to grow their social competence alongside their peers.

Children’s experiences outside of the center are woven through the daily programme to positively impact their learning. Information about Māori and Pacific learners' cultures are gathered by teachers, and a range of celebrations from these cultures form part of the center curriculum. Reflection of children’s individual identity, cultures and languages in assessment of children’s learning continues to grow and be responsive to parents’ aspirations.

Strong relational trust as a team, with a focus on shared leadership, supports teachers to grow their practice and experience. In-depth evaluation practices support consistent growth over time with clear capability across leaders and teachers. Progress has been made to ensure practices promote a bicultural curriculum. Leaders have identified that connecting with local people and places of significance remains a growth area. ERO affirms this direction.

4 Improvement actions

Young Explorers Early Learning Centre will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:

  • To consistently reflect children’s individual cultures, languages and identity in planning, assessment, and centre project work documentation.

  • Further develop the service’s local curriculum and priorities for learning in partnership with families and mana whenua to reflect places, people and stories relevant to the local area.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Young Explorers Early Learning Centre 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.

Patricia Davey
Director of Early Childhood Education (ECE)

12 June 2023

6 About the Early Childhood Service

Early Childhood Service Name

Young Explorers Early Learning Centre

Profile Number

45540

Location

Pukekohe

Service type

Education and care service

Number licensed for

40 children, including up to 10 aged under 2

Percentage of qualified teachers

80-99%

Service roll

55

Review team on site

March 2023

Date of this report

12 June 2023

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review, August 2018
Education Review, September 2015

Young Explorers Early Learning Centre - 21/08/2018

1 Evaluation of Young Explorers Early Learning Centre

How well placed is Young Explorers Early Learning Centre 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

Young Explorers Early Learning Centre is a privately owned education and care service based in the Buckland area on the outskirts of Pukekohe. The centre is licensed for 40 children, including 10 under the age of two years. It operates in two age-based rooms. The roll of 49 includes nine Māori children. The centre owner is also the centre manager and provides professional leadership for teachers. Since the previous ERO review in 2015, centre leadership has remained the same and there have been some changes in the teaching team.

The Reggio Emilia (RIE) inspired philosophy makes a commitment to teachers working alongside children, facilitating their learning, provoking their curiosity and developing their capacity to make meaning of the world around them.

The Review Findings

Children enjoy participating in a programme that strongly reflects the centre philosophy. The programme is primarily child-initiated with specific teacher-led projects and set meal times. Particular strengths of the programme include:

  • the project approach that provokes children’s curiosity and supports their thinking
  • a primary caregiver system that underpins children’s sense of wellbeing and belonging
  • children's ready access to high-quality resources and equipment
  • well-managed transitions into the centre, between the two age-based rooms and on to school.

Children's learning is enhanced by frequent excursions into the wider community. Older children also participate in a weekly excursion that provides opportunities for them to extend their problem solving skills and experience safe physical challenge. Well-presented individual profiles, that are also available electronically, reflect children's participation in the programme. These capture children's emerging interests and learning. They support teachers planning to extend children’s play and their learning.

Children under the age of two years enjoy caring and nurturing relationships with their teachers. They play and learn in a calm and settled environment. Young children's care needs are well met by teachers who are responsive to supporting home routines.

The centre has an inclusive approach to supporting children with additional needs. The centre manager and teachers access appropriate external expertise and work in partnership with parents to support positive outcomes for these children.

Māori children’s language, culture and identity is acknowledged and celebrated through the use of waiata, karakia, access to natural resources and celebration of events such as Matariki. Teachers implement appropriate tikanga Māori practices when interacting with children and whānau. An important next step for the centre is to build teachers' confidence and capability in using te reo Māori in their interactions with children and including te ao Māori in the centre environment.

Teachers work collegially in the best interests of children. They are committed to the centre philosophy. A special feature of the centre is the positive and affirming relationship that teachers have with children and their families. Teachers use a wide range of effective strategies that promote children’s problem solving and thinking skills. They participate alongside children in meaningful play. Teachers effectively promote children’s oral language, literacy, mathematics and science knowledge and skills through the project approach and children's self-initiated play.

Professional leadership of the centre is well-informed. The centre manager is committed to providing a high-quality service through the provision of low child-to-teacher ratios and maintaining a high proportion of qualified staff. A shared leadership model provides opportunities for teachers to share their knowledge and expertise among the team. Teachers receive regular feedback about their practice and generous funding for their professional learning and development. An appropriate policy framework has been developed to guide centre operations. Useful self-review processes, linked to the centre's philosophy, contribute to ongoing improvement. Self-review could be further strengthened by aligning it more clearly to outcomes for children.

Key Next Steps

The key next steps for the centre manager and teachers are to:

  • consult with parents to develop a local curriculum that reflects parent aspirations for their children and the expectations of Te Whāriki
  • further develop bicultural practices by
    • increasing teachers' capability and confidence in using te reo Māori with children

    • reflecting te ao Māori in the centre's environment
    • strengthening relationships with local marae.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Young Explorers Early Learning Centre 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.

In order to improve current practice teachers should complete an assessment and management of risks prior to all excursions.

Next ERO Review

When is ERO likely to review the service again?

The next ERO review of Young Explorers Early Learning Centre will be in three years.

Adrienne Fowler

Director Review and Improvement Services

Te Tai Miringa - Waikato / Bay of Plenty Region

21 August 2018

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

Pukekohe

Ministry of Education profile number

45540

Licence type

Education & Care Service

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

40 children, including up to 10 aged under 2

Service roll

49

Gender composition

Girls 27 Boys 22

Ethnic composition

Māori
Pākehā
Other ethnic groups

9
37
3

Percentage of qualified teachers

80% +

Reported ratios of staff to children

Under 2

1:3

Better than minimum requirements

Over 2

1:6

Better than minimum requirements

Review team on site

July 2018

Date of this report

21 August 2018

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review

September 2015

Education Review

September 2012

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.