103 Queen Street, Pukekohe
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 |
During the onsite visit, the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed a non-compliance and is now taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.
Smiling Stars Childcare Centre is one of two services that are under the same ownership. Previously known as Scholars Preschool, the service has been under new ownership since November 2021. The service roll is culturally diverse and includes small numbers of tamariki who have Māori or Pacific heritages.
Kaiako providing education and care engage in meaningful, positive interactions to enhance the learning of tamariki and nurture reciprocal relationships.
The service curriculum acknowledges and reflects the unique place of Māori as tangata whenua. Tamariki are given the opportunity to develop knowledge and an understanding of the cultural heritages of both parties to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The curriculum supports tamariki to be confident in their own culture and encourages tamariki to respect other cultures.
Positive steps are taken to acknowledge the aspirations held by whānau and there are opportunities for whānau to be involved in the learning of tamariki.
Next steps include:
identifying and implementing kaiako strategies to extend, support and sustain the complexity of learning for older tamariki
increasing the intentional use of the learning outcomes in Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, in assessment and planning, to inform and support teaching.
During the review, the service provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliance:
Ensuring the written procedure for monitoring children’s sleep include children being checked for warmth, breathing, and general wellbeing at least every 5 to 10 minutes, or more frequently according to individual needs (HS9).
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Patricia Davey
Director of Early Childhood Education (ECE)
20 September 2023
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Early Childhood Service Name |
Smiling Stars Childcare |
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Profile Number |
10398 |
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Location |
Pukekohe |
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Service type |
Education and care service |
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Number licensed for |
35 children, including up to 10 aged under 2 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
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Service roll |
37 |
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Review team on site |
June 2023 |
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Date of this report |
20 September 2023 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Previously reviewed as Scholars Preschool: Akanuku | Assurance Review, August 2021 |
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.
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Scholars Preschool is not well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Scholars Preschool is a privately-owned early childhood centre, located in Pukekohe. It is an all-day education and care service licenced for 30 children with eight aged up to two years of age. The centre provides two age group environments, one for infants and another for toddlers and young children.
The centre's philosophy aims to provide an environment that is a child's home away from home. The core values are to develop strong responsive relationships with children and whānau to promote partnerships between home and centre. Leaders and teachers believe children should have access to experiences in the local community to enhance their learning and understanding of the wider world.
Since ERO's 2015 external evaluation there have been considerable changes to staff.
Leadership has accessed professional learning and development to increase their individual and collective capability in self review, assessment, planning and evaluation.
Staff changes have impacted on the centre's ability to provide a sustained approach to promoting positive learning outcomes for all children. There remains an urgent need for management to build the capability of the new teaching team to support them to effectively notice, recognise and respond to children's learning, particularly of children in the over two age group area.
Children’s knowledge and what they bring to learning is not yet providing a basis for decisions about the programme. The centre's curriculum needs further development in responding to the interests and strengths of children to better support and extend their learning.
Centre leaders and teachers have established positive relationships with families, supporting children’s sense of belonging and wellbeing. The owner and manager express a commitment to inclusive practices. They advocate and support families in accessing additional learning support to promote children's full participation in the centre programme. Children have the opportunity to learn in the local community through regular walks and outings. Infants experience a calm environment with personalised care and teachers who tune into and respond to their non-verbal communication.
Centre management and leaders need to develop clear documented procedures and expectations for teacher practice based on Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, current research and effective teaching strategies for children.
Centre practices require improvement. In particular, intentional and responsive opportunities to engage in, and extend, children's learning.
Internal evaluation practices need strengthening. In particular incorporating the use of:
These key next steps are needed to enable leaders and teachers to better identify and plan for the necessary sustained improvements to curriculum delivery, teaching and learning practices.
Before the review, the staff and management of Scholars Preschool 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 found significant areas of non-compliance in the service related to curriculum and health and safety practices. To meet requirements the service needs to improve its performance in the following areas:
ensure practices of adults providing education and care demonstrate an understanding of children’s learning and development, and knowledge of relevant theories and practice in early childhood education
ensure the curriculum responds to the learning interests, strengths and capabilities of enrolled children
ensure that when children leave the premises on an excursion to the local pool, assessment and management of risk is undertaken, and adult child ratios are determined accordingly. Parents/caregivers also have given prior written approval to their child's participation and of the proposed ratio. [Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, C2, C4, HS17, Regulation 43]
ERO recommends that the Ministry reassess the licence of Scholars Preschool. ERO will not undertake a further education review of this service until the Ministry of Education is satisfied that the service meets licensing requirements.
Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services
Central Region
19 July 2019
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 |
Pukekohe |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
10398 |
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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 8 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
30 |
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Gender composition |
Male 16 Female 14 |
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Ethnic composition |
NZ European/Pākehā |
23 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% + |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:4 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Over 2 |
1:6 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
June 2018 |
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Date of this report |
19 July 2019 |
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Most recent ERO report(s)
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Education Review |
November 2015 |
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Education Review |
September 2013 |
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Education Review |
September 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:
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.
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.
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.