The Learning Corner Early Learning Centre

Education institution number:
20098
Service type:
Education and Care Service
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
45
Telephone:
Address:

222 Carrington Road, Mount Albert, Auckland

View on map

The Learning Corner 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 (PDF 3.01MB) are the basis for making judgements about the effectiveness of the service in achieving equity and excellence for all learners. The Akarangi Quality Evaluation Judgement Rubric (PDF 91.30KB) derived from the indicators, is used to inform the ERO’s judgements about this service’s performance in promoting equity and excellence.

ERO’s judgements for The Learning Corner Early Learning Centre are as follows:

Outcome Indicators

ERO’s judgement

What the service knows about outcomes for learners

Whakaū Embedding

Ngā Akatoro Domains

ERO’s judgement

He Whāriki Motuhake

The learner and their learning

Whakaū Embedding

Whakangungu Ngaio

Collaborative professional learning builds knowledge and capability

Whakaū Embedding

Ngā Aronga Whai Hua

Evaluation for improvement

Whāngai Establishing

Kaihautū

Leaders foster collaboration and improvement

Whakaū Embedding

Te Whakaruruhau

Stewardship through effective governance and management

Whāngai Establishing

2 Context of the Service

The Learning Corner Early Learning Centre is one of six services under the same ownership. At this service, a qualified centre manager leads a team of four qualified teachers and a cook. The philosophy aligns with Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, and values bicultural perspectives. The children enrolled are from diverse ethnic groups. A small number of children are Māori or have Pacific heritage.

3 Summary of findings

Children demonstrate a sense of belonging and familiarity with routines. They take responsibility for their own wellbeing, and that of the environment around them. Younger children confidently play with and alongside each other. Children with additional learning needs experience positive outcomes because of teachers’ specific and responsive teaching approaches.

Children benefit from teachers’ respectful interactions. Teachers encourage children’s oral language and developing social competencies. They support children’s exploration and are available for comfort and care. Parents value the relationships teachers develop with children and whānau. Teachers could consider ways to further support younger children’s independence and self-care.

Children experience a curriculum that daily integrates te reo and tikanga Māori. There are regular opportunities for children to participate in cultural celebrations and experiences. Teachers could increase the extent to which children’s languages and cultures are acknowledged in curriculum documentation, including assessment of children’s learning.

Information shared by parents with ERO affirms teachers’ knowledge of individual children’s strengths and interests. Assessment records include individual learning plans and parental aspirations for each child’s learning. Older children have some opportunities to revisit their learning records. Teachers could now create similar opportunities for all children to revisit their learning.

Leaders encourage teachers to be responsible for their professional learning. They contribute to building teacher capability by increasing teachers’ access to regular and relevant professional learning opportunities.

Leaders have established systems and practices that guide decision making and prioritise children’s learning. Internal evaluation could be improved by identifying a specific focus and agreeing on the quality indicators that would show improvements have been made. This could help teachers to monitor the impact of changes to teaching practices, or the curriculum provided, on improved outcomes for children. Leaders need to consistently monitor that licensing requirements are being met.

4 Improvement actions

The Learning Corner Early Learning Centre will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:

  • To review how well practices and learning areas provide equitable learning opportunities for younger children.
  • To improve teachers’ individual and shared capability to evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum and teaching practices for children’s learning.

5 Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of The Learning Corner 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.

6 Compliance

During the onsite review, the service provided ERO with sufficient evidence to show the following non-compliances had been addressed:

  • Checking equipment, premises and facilities for hazards to the safety of children as required by the licensing criteria and ensuring that identified hazards are eliminated, isolated or minimised (HS12).
  • Ensuring that all children’s workers who have access to children are safety checked in accordance with the Children Act 2014 (GMA7A).

Phil Cowie
Acting Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki

2 November 2021 

7 About the Early Childhood Service

Early Childhood Service Name

The Learning Corner Early Learning Centre

Profile Number

20098

Location

Mount Albert, Auckland

Service type

Education and care service

Number licensed for

69 children, including up to 16 aged under 2

Percentage of qualified teachers (delete if not applicable)

50-79%

Service roll

41

Ethnic composition

Māori 5, NZ European/Pākehā 4, Indian 10, Chinese 5, Bangladeshi 4, other ethnic groups 13

Review team on site

August 2021  

Date of this report

2 November 2021

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review, April 2018
Education Review, November 2014

The Learning Corner Early Learning Centre - 17/04/2018

1 Evaluation of The Learning Corner Early Learning Centre

How well placed is The Learning Corner 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

The Learning Corner Early Learning Centre is a long established early childhood service located in Mt Albert, Auckland. The centre is licensed to provide all day education and care for 69 children, including 16 up to the age of 2 years.

The centre is one of several that are privately owned. The managers and teachers from these centres are able to network for professional development and exchange ideas about teaching and learning practice.

The centre manager has a team of seven qualified teachers with some support staff. Infants and toddlers have their own separate indoor and outdoor play areas, and older children play and learn in other age-appropriate learning spaces.

The service's philosophy focuses on the significance of the family and whānau involvement in children's learning. It states a strong commitment to fostering an interactive, fun environment where children can learn positively.

The 2014 ERO review identified many positive features. The report recommended strengthening learning programmes especially for older children, based on their individual interests. A further suggestion was to review and improve the indoor environments for babies and toddlers. There has been positive growth in both of these areas of development.

The Review Findings

Parents value being welcomed and included in the centre and develop a strong sense of belonging. Relationships between children, teachers and parents are affirming and positive.

Te reo Māori is evident in the centre and tikanga Māori has become an integrated part of centre practice. Children's come from many different cultural backgrounds. Their celebrations and important events become a visible and effective part of the learning programme. Leaders and teachers could now define more specific goals to extend bicultural understandings for all children.

Children generally are self-managing, capable and confident learners. They engage well in cooperative and collaborative play that fosters busy, positive learning. The programme supports individual children's interests and needs. Social competencies are explicitly taught and parents value this part of children's learning.

Primary care practices for infants and toddlers support strong attachments between child, teacher and parent. Home routines are followed where possible, to ensure children transition smoothly into the centre when they enrol.

The learning environments are busy and vibrant. Children have access to play in spacious areas and can select from a good range of equipment, materials and resources. They enjoy projects and investigations. Planting gardens is widening children's view of their world with "garden to table" learning activities.

Physical challenge is a feature of the two main outdoor environments that supports children to develop and gain strength in their physical abilities. Infants and toddlers can actively play and explore in the new spaces that have been developed.

The centre's records of learning show that teachers recognise and respond to children's individual interests and strengths. Centre leaders agree that more connections could be made between observations and other evidence to show children's learning progress over time.

Teachers are regularly involved in useful and strategic professional learning that focuses on improving educational outcomes for children. A review of teacher appraisal systems would help to ensure they are aligned with Education Council requirements. Enhancing appraisal practices would support staff to become more reflective about their practice and document how they are developing as teachers.

Key Next Steps

Useful areas for further development include:

  • a greater focus on children's learning in the centre's philosophy statement
  • a review of strategic and annual planning processes to ensure manageability and effectiveness
  • more in-depth learning records that recognise and respond to individual children's developing dispositions for learning.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of The Learning Corner 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.

Next ERO Review

When is ERO likely to review the service again?

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

Julie Foley

Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)

Te Tai Raki - Northern Region

17 April 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

Mount Albert, Auckland

Ministry of Education profile number

20098

Licence type

Education & Care Service

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

69 children, including up to 16 aged under 2

Service roll

51

Gender composition

Girls 28 Boys 23

Ethnic composition

Pākehā
Samoan
other Pacific peoples
other

20
2
3
26

Percentage of qualified teachers

80% +

Reported ratios of staff to children

Under 2

1:4

Meets minimum requirements

Over 2

1:10

Meets minimum requirements

Review team on site

January 2018

Date of this report

17 April 2018

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review

November 2014

Previously reviewed as:

Little Scholars Early Learning Centre - Mt Albert

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.