Little Nest Early Learning Centre

4 Kids and Whanau Centre - 16 Aug 2022

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 4 Kids and Whanau Centre are as follows:

2 Context of the Service

4 Kids and Whanau Centre is a community based, not-for-profit early childhood centre governed by a charitable trust. The centre has a Christian-based philosophy that promotes children’s love for learning, family and community. Teachers reflect the ethnically diverse backgrounds of the children and families that attend the service.

3 Summary of findings

Children explore, and become involved in, a variety of learning experiences in a well-resourced environment. Their learning is extended by teachers who carefully consider their interests and set up provocations and project-based learning. These experiences provide children with opportunities to develop:

• knowledge of literacy, mathematical and science concepts

• independence, confidence, and problem-solving skills

• theories and understandings that help them make sense of their world

• respect and care for the world around them.

Children’s learning is supported through responsive and respectful relationships with parents, whānau, and the community. Children benefit from tuakana | teina relationships in a mixed aged environment. Their languages, cultures and identity are acknowledged and respected. Making parents’ and children’s perspectives more visible in the curriculum is an ongoing focus for teachers.

Teachers implement good quality practices that demonstrate that care is an integral part of the curriculum. Interactions are calm, unhurried, and respectful. Teachers thoughtfully and intentionally give priority to children’s oral language development. They ask open-ended questions and recognise that oral language plays a key role in building children’s thinking and learning capability.

Good assessment practices make children’s learning visible. These practices provide children with feedback that recognises their efforts, challenges, and successes. The use of te reo and tikanga Māori practices are evident in planning and assessment documentation. Teachers are in the process of more consistently using this in their daily practice.

Leaders and teachers engage in evaluation processes that promote positive outcomes for children. Access to professional learning opportunities is building teaching capability and collective capacity. Everyone takes part in evaluation and inquiry practices. Strengthening evaluation practices to better support the service to ensure that equitable outcomes for children are measured and sustained over time is an area to further embed.

Leaders advocate for and alongside children, parents and whānau to ensure all children have access to quality, inclusive education and care. They align resources to the service’s philosophy, vision, goals and priorities for learning.

4 Improvement actions

4 Kids and Whanau Centre will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:

• Embed the continued use of te reo and tikanga Māori in daily practices.

• Further include the perspectives of children, parents and whānau in the curriculum to demonstrate and recognise children’s languages, cultures and identity.

• Further embed ongoing evaluation practices to ensure that improvement actions are both measured and sustained over time, specifically around equitable outcomes for learners.

5 Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of 4 Kids and Whanau 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.

Filivaifale Jason Swann
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki

16 August 2022 

6 About the Early Childhood Service