372 Don Buck Road, Massey, 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 (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 Redhills Community Kindergarten Inc are as follows:
Outcome Indicators |
ERO’s judgement |
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What the service knows about outcomes for learners |
Whakawhanake Sustaining |
Ngā Akatoro Domains |
ERO’s judgement |
|
He Whāriki Motuhake The learner and their learning |
Whakawhanake Sustaining |
|
Whakangungu Ngaio Collaborative professional learning builds knowledge and capability |
Whakawhanake Sustaining |
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Ngā Aronga Whai Hua Evaluation for improvement |
Whakawhanake Sustaining |
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Kaihautū Leaders foster collaboration and improvement |
Whakawhanake Sustaining |
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Te Whakaruruhau Stewardship through effective governance and management |
Whakaū Embedding |
Redhills Community Kindergarten Inc is a well-established, non-profit early childhood service. Full day and sessional options are offered for children over the age of two years. The centre has a teaching team of four qualified teachers, including the centre manager. It is governed by a committee made up of external personnel and parents.
Children’s mana is fostered through a curriculum that is responsive to their languages, cultures, and identities. Teachers promote appropriate cultural practices such as communal caregiving and tuakana/teina relationships. Inclusive and affirming teaching practices support children to be successful learners.
Learning environments are calm, and unhurried, allowing children to explore, be creative and become fully involved in a wide variety of learning experiences. Teachers are thoughtful and intentional in their programme planning and responsive to individual children’s interests and strengths.
Leaders and teachers establish responsive and respectful partnerships with children, whānau and the wider community. They collaborate with whānau and external agencies to access support for children with additional learning needs. Teachers are effective in promoting and achieving equitable outcomes for these children.
Teachers are proactive in taking responsibility for their professional learning and growth. They accept challenges to their own beliefs and practices to ensure ongoing professional learning contributes to sustained improvement and positive outcomes for all children.
Evaluation for improvement is continuous. It is a part of teachers’ daily routine and is consistently focused on promoting and achieving equitable outcomes for children. Teachers regularly monitor the implementation of improvement actions, evaluate the impact, and identify further changes that need to be made.
Leaders actively promote shared understandings of the service’s philosophy, vision, and priorities for children’s learning. They advocate for all children to ensure they have access to high quality, inclusive education, and care. Leaders and teachers work tirelessly to support the health, wellbeing and learning of children and their whānau.
Those responsible for governance and management actively support initiatives that contribute to positive social and community outcomes for their children and whānau.
Redhills Community Kindergarten Inc will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:
Before the review, the staff and management of Redhills Community Kindergarten Inc 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
Phil Cowie
Acting Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki
16 August 2021
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Early Childhood Service Name |
Redhills Community Kindergarten Inc |
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Profile Number |
20142 |
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Location |
Massey, Auckland |
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Service type |
Education and care service |
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Number licensed for |
35 children, no children under 2 years |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
|
Service roll |
28 |
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori 11, NZ European/Pākehā 10, Pacific 4, other ethnic groups 3 |
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Review team on site |
July 2021 |
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Date of this report |
16 August 2021 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, December 2014 |
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Redhills Community Kindergarten Inc is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Redhills Community Kindergarten is a well-established service managed by a parent committee. It is licensed to provide sessional and full day education and care for up to 35 children over two years old. The service caters for a multicultural community with significant numbers of Māori, Pacific and Pākehā families. Teachers aspire to provide opportunities for children to 'grow up as competent and confident learners, secure in their sense of belonging'.
Day to day management of the centre is shared by the supervisor and the teaching team. They report to the committee each month. Committee members are becoming increasingly active in decision-making and in undertaking management tasks.
Teachers are all fully registered and have been together in the centre for many years. They value the diversity of the community and the trusting relationships they have established with families. Teachers appreciate professional development opportunities and are currently becoming familiar with Te Whāriki 2017, the revised early childhood curriculum.
In 2014 ERO endorsed several positive aspects of the service including the quality of relationships, partnerships with parents, and the well-resourced environment. Next steps for development included programme evaluations, integrating maths with children's play and reducing the formal aspects of the transition to school programme. Teachers continue to work on improvements in these areas.
Children are settled and happy in the centre. They are warmly greeted on arrival and have positive relationships with teachers. Children are developing social skills as they play cooperatively together and they confidently make choices from prepared activities and available resources. Children benefit from the well-resourced environment, including an interesting and challenging outdoor playground.
Teachers encourage children to play independently, and affirm their endeavours with questions and prompts for additional ideas. Teachers engage children in friendly conversations and support their sense of wellbeing in the centre. They also include a Māori perspective in the programme which enables children to become familiar with waiata and te reo Māori. Teachers should now strengthen their focus on deepening children's learning and considering ways to empower them as learners. This could include more challenging investigations and project work in the transition to school programme, and teachers more deliberately using children's individual strengths and interests to focus their teaching.
Teachers have developed a useful planning format that prompts them to reflect on individual children's play and to consider resources and activities that will support interests. Planning could be further improved by providing guidance for teachers in extending learning and prompting more rigorous reflection on the quality of children's learning experiences. Teachers recognise that an improved focus on continuity of learning in children's assessment portfolios would also help them to enhance the quality of learning outcomes.
Many families have a long association with the kindergarten. Teachers know them well and encourage their involvement in the kindergarten. While some parents actively contribute through committee work, some rely on informal conversations with staff to know about their child's learning. Teachers have established a digital portal for families to access and comment on children's learning stories. Teachers should consider strategies to promote families' use of this tool and increase parent feedback that could help with programme development.
The supervisor and committee have developed effective systems for the management of the kindergarten. Establishing digital administration systems, and seeking external financial guidance have streamlined the operation of the service. A strategic plan provides broad guidelines for future directions. However, a clear action plan for implementation would be useful to ensure expected outcomes are met.
Regular policy review is in place, but teachers need to further develop and document the processes for evaluating their practices, programmes and systems. Leaders also recognise the need to further refine and update teacher appraisal processes and documentation.
Centre leaders agree that key next steps for development should include:
Before the review, the staff and management of Redhills Community Kindergarten Inc 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 Redhills Community Kindergarten Inc will be in three years.
Julie Foley
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)
Te Tai Raki - Northern Region
31 May 2018
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 |
Massey, Auckland |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
20142 |
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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 |
35 children, over 2 years of age |
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Service roll |
39 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 22 Girls 17 |
||
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
9 |
|
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Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
80% + |
||
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
April 2018 |
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Date of this report |
31 May 2018 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
December 2014 |
|
|
Education Review |
November 2011 |
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|
Education Review |
August 2008 |
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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 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.