36 Allum Street, Kohimarama, Auckland
View on mapAkarangi | 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 Kohimarama Montessori Pre-School 2 are as follows:
Outcome Indicators(What the service knows about outcomes for learners) |
Whakawhanake Sustaining |
Ngā Akatoro Domains |
|
Learning ConditionsOrganisational Conditions |
Whakawhanake Sustaining Whakaū Embedding |
Kohimarama Montessori Pre-School 2 is a privately owned centre providing care and education for children over the age of two years. Governance is provided by the owner and centre manager. All staff are Montessori trained and qualified. Children from diverse cultural backgrounds attend the centre.
Children engage well with Montessori equipment and resources that extend their learning through a
play-based context within the Montessori curriculum. They show a strong sense of belonging, participating with confidence in the centre’s curriculum and daily routines.
Children’s independence is promoted. Teachers give children opportunities through weekly topics to communicate their interests and inquiries. They respond meaningfully to these, supporting the development of children’s understandings, working theories and dispositions.
Teachers engage with children’s and parents’ languages and cultures to make the centre’s setting meaningful for its wider community of learners. Māori children’s identity is valued as the foundation for, and key to, their success as Māori learners. Teachers’ practice reflects a growing understanding of the essence of the Māori child, such as mana, wairua and mauri.
Leaders and teachers seek relevant support for children with additional needs, including forming relationships with agencies and organisations. They maintain close relationships with families, and they consider and use parents’ knowledge and aspirations to support the child.
Teachers’ assessment practices develop children’s identity as learners, and acknowledge their social and cultural worlds, and ways of learning. Their ongoing observations of children in everyday activities help teachers to form a picture of what children know, feel, are interested in, and can do.
Teachers understand the purpose of internal evaluation and review, and they collectively participate in these processes. The aim of their reviews is improvement focused and linked to outcomes for children. A development area for leaders and teachers is to build their evaluation capability to move from review to an evaluation focus.
Kohimarama Montessori Pre-School 2 will include the following in its Quality Improvement Planning:
Before the review, the staff and management of Kohimarama Montessori Pre-School 2 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:
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:
All early childhood services are required to promote children's health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.
Filivaifale Jason Swann
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki
21 September 2022
|
Early Childhood Service Name |
Kohimarama Montessori Pre-School 2 |
|
Profile Number |
20096 |
| Location | Kohimarama, Auckland |
|
Service type |
Education and care service |
|
Number licensed for |
30 children over the age of 2 years |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
100% |
|
Service roll |
22 |
|
Review team on site |
August 2022 |
|
Date of this report |
21 September 2022 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, April 2019; Education Review, July 2015 |
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Kohimarama Montessori Pre-School 2 is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Kohimarama Montessori Pre-School 2 is a well-established centre. It is one of two privately-owned centres with the same service provider. The owner is closely involved, particularly in the management and administration of both centres.
This centre is licensed to provide education and care for up to 30 children from two years to school age. However, most children start from around three years of age. Many children from Pre-School 1 transition to this centre when they reach three and a half years of age.
Families from a range of cultural backgrounds attend the centre. Some children learn English as an additional language.
The head teacher has responsibility for the day-to-day operation of the centre. Most teachers are qualified early childhood teachers and also have Montessori training. Together, they provide the learning programme. Since the 2015 ERO review there have been a number of staff changes. The head teacher has remained the constant staff member for children and parents.
The 2015 ERO report identified that children were confident and played purposefully. This continues to be evident and a strength. While leaders and teachers have made some progress towards addressing the key next steps of the 2015 report, there is further work to be done to:
strengthen teachers' understanding and use of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum
strengthen child-initiated learning
increase the promotion of Māori language and culture.
Children are confident and show a strong sense of belonging in the learning environment. They play co-operatively in pairs and small groups. The indoor and outdoor environments are well-resourced. Some children choose to work alone, exploring activities and equipment at their own pace.
Children have many opportunities to engage with the Montessori equipment. Teachers closely monitor children's progress and achievement over time by gathering comprehensive and relevant information. Children have some options to choose their play interests within the work cycle and daily routines.
Teachers are welcoming and inclusive. They view children as capable learners and intentionally prepare the orderly learning environments and lead topic-based activities. Music and singing are a regular part of the learning programme.
Teachers affirm children's work, and support their play within the limits of the purposefully structured environment. Leaders recognise the need to evaluate the extent to which the daily schedule results in children's learning being interrupted by centre routines and whole-group experiences.
Transition into this centre from Pre-School 1 is well managed and based on the needs of each child and family. Older children enjoy the opportunity to have their younger siblings at Pre-School 2. Transition to school is a focus for children in the six months before they start school. Children are given more advanced activities and challenges, including leadership opportunities.
Parents have online access to children's learning records and information about their participation in the programme. Teachers review children's progress every six months and report the outcomes to parents. Centre policies, procedures and other relevant centre information is readily available to parents.
The owner supports teachers to engage in a useful appraisal process. Appraisal feedback supports teachers to strengthen their practice and improve outcomes for children. The centre's strategic planning needs to be strengthened. It should include an emphasis on curriculum provision for children, and annual action planning that shows how goals will be achieved and then evaluated.
Key next steps include:
reviewing the philosophy to reflect the centre's commitment to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and bicultural practices
strengthening assessment, planning and evaluation processes to increase the focus on dispositional learning, and to make children's learning and creative work more visible in key documentation and the environment
ensuring all children can independently access their learning information, and easily share it with each other, their teachers and whānau
increasing engagement in internal evaluation, and include a curriculum focus to evaluate the impact of teaching practices on outcomes for children.
Before the review, the staff and management of Kohimarama Montessori Pre-School 2 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.
Steve Tanner
Director Review and Improvement Services Northern
Northern Region
11 April 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.
|
Location |
Kohimarama, Auckland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
20096 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
30 children aged over 2 years |
||
|
Service roll |
48 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys 26 Girls 22 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Pākehā |
14 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% + |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Over 2 |
1:8 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Review team on site |
February 2019 |
||
|
Date of this report |
11 April 2019 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
July 2015 |
|
|
Education Review |
June 2012 |
||
|
Education Review |
May 2009 |
||
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.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Kohimarama Montessori Pre-school 2 is a well established centre. It has a positive reporting history with ERO. It is one of two centres, owned and managed by the same licensee. Pre-school 2 provides education and care for 30 children from three years to school age. Many of the children transition from Pre-school 1 which caters for children from two years of age.
The centre is staffed by six qualified teachers. It provides high adult-to-child ratios with stability and consistency of care. The two teachers from Pre-school 1 join the teaching staff at Pre-school 2 in the afternoon. Teachers have maintained their Montessori philosophical approach and aligned this to Te Whāriki, the New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum. They continue to have a shared belief in supporting children to ‘absorb learning by using their hands’.
The centre owner manager and head teachers from both pre-schools form a leadership team. Since the previous ERO review in 2012 the centre has been relicensed under the 2008 Early Childhood Education and Care Regulations. Teachers have reviewed and improved children’s access to the outdoor learning area.
Well established management practices and an emphasis on partnerships with parents/whānau continue to be reflected in centre practices and procedures.
Centre managers have a strong commitment to providing a good quality service with a culture of teacher reflection and a focus on continuous improvement. Clear shared vision and management plans guide centre operations. Sound systems to monitor health and safety are in place. The centre's philosophy statement is well documented and understood by the centre’s parent community. Teachers’ professional capabilities and leadership are fostered through ongoing professional development.
Children are confident, play cooperatively and communicate well. They have a strong sense of belonging and show care and consideration for others. Children have good opportunities to make choices about their play. Teachers support them to develop science, literacy and mathematics skills and concepts in the centre’s well resourced environment. Children are capable, competent and sociable learners.
Children’s play is purposeful and sustained. They show high levels of engagement in tasks and activities. They are aware of the routines of the day and take advantage during periods of outside play to engage in active and imaginative play. Teachers are considering strategies to maximise opportunities for more play and complex learning to develop in the outside area.
Centre leaders and teachers value parental and community involvement. Parents/whānau receive good information about their child’s learning and development. They are encouraged to contribute to the centre programme and join in events. There is a high level of parent satisfaction and appreciation of teachers and the programme.
Teachers are affirming of children’s ideas and supportive of children’s play. They develop and extend children’s skills and knowledge in a variety of Montessori learning areas. Teachers provide a balance between structured and child-initiated play. Children’s independence and self-management skills are valued and fostered by teachers. Teachers engage children in meaningful and sustained conversations that support children’s language development and encourage problem-solving strategies.
Warm relationships and respectful interactions underpin the programme and contribute to the centre’s calm and welcoming tone. Centre leaders are keen to further develop bicultural practices and to increase child-led assessment, planning and evaluation practices.
Centre managers are aware that self-review could be more evaluative, collaborative and child focused. They are aware of the benefits of strengthening the existing strategic plan and aligning it well to annual planning. Teacher appraisal could also be strengthened. External professional development would assist the centre to develop robust self review to guide improvements to teaching practices and the educational programme.
ERO and centre managers agree that next steps for the centre should include:
Before the review, the staff and management of Kohimaramara Montessori Pre-School 2 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:
All early childhood services are required to promote children's health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.
The next ERO review of Kohimaramara Montessori Pre-School 2 will be in three years.
Dianne Moffitt
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)
6 July 2015
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.
|
Location |
Kohimaramara, Auckland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
20096 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
30 children aged over 2 years of age |
||
|
Service roll |
59 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls 35 Boys 24 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Chinese other European Japanese British/Irish other |
3 36 6 6 2 2 4 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80% Based on funding rates |
80% |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
||
|
Over 2 |
1:8 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
May 2015 |
||
|
Date of this report |
6 July 2015 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
June 2012 |
|
|
Education Review |
May 2009 |
||
|
Education Review |
April 2006 |
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 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.