62 Coronation Road, Hillcrest, Auckland
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 |
|
Curriculum |
Meeting |
|
Premises and facilities |
Meeting |
|
Health and safety |
Meeting |
|
Governance, management and administration |
Meeting |
At the time of the review, ERO found the service was taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.
Caterpillars to Butterflies Childcare provides education and care for infants, toddlers and older children. A qualified owner and a centre manager provides oversight for curriculum and governance. A small number of children enrolled are Māori or have Pacific heritage. This is the first ERO review of the service since it changed ownership in March 2021.
Teachers and leaders engage in meaningful, positive interactions to enhance children’s learning and nurture reciprocal relationships. The curriculum is inclusive, and responsive to children as confident and competent learners. Children’s preferences are respected, and they are involved in decisions about their learning experiences.
The service curriculum is consistent with Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. Children are provided with a range of experiences and opportunities to enhance and extend their learning and development, both indoors and outdoors, individually and in groups. A language-rich environment supports children’s learning.
Next steps include:
strengthening planning and evaluation by identifying teacher strategies to extend the complexity of children’s play and continuity of learning
increasing the opportunities parents and whānau have to contribute to their child’s learning, taking account of children’s individual needs.
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Filivaifale Jason Swann
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki
29 November 2022
|
Early Childhood Service Name |
Caterpillars to Butterflies Childcare |
|
Profile Number |
20225 |
|
Location |
Hillcrest, Auckland |
|
Service type |
Education and care service |
|
Number licensed for |
35 children, including up to 15 aged under 2 |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
|
Service roll |
45 |
|
Review team on site |
October 2022 |
|
Date of this report |
29 November 2022 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Previously reviewed as Caterpillars to Butterflys Childcare Education Review, May 2019; Education Review, January 2017 |
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.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Caterpillars to Butterflies Childcare is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Caterpillars to Butterflies Childcare provides full-day education and care for up to 35 children, including a maximum of 15 up to two years of age. Children are grouped according to age for routine times, but are able to mix freely for the majority of the day.
Families and the staff team reflect the centre's diverse community. Four staff are qualified teachers and two, including the owner, are completing training in early childhood teaching qualifications.
This is the first review of this centre since a change of ownership. The owner works full-time in the centre and manages the daily operation and administration. She has appointed a qualified teacher to lead the development of a local curriculum.
The new owner has revised the philosophy to include reference to Te Tiriti o Waitangi as a guiding document. The centre's mission statement and philosophy have been developed in collaboration with staff. A new strategic plan sets aspirations and goals to guide centre operations, as teachers embed new philosophical ideas about teaching and learning.
Children settle quickly to play at the start of the day. They are warmly welcomed by teachers, and make choices from the carefully and attractively arranged environment. Children engage in uninterrupted play for long periods. Teachers have close relationships with children and their families. These relationships support children's sense of belonging and wellbeing.
Revitalised indoor and outdoor environments have created spacious areas for children to develop their play. Ease of access to resources has added to children's ability to manage their own play. They engage in prolonged, friendly conversations and shared games. More frequent teacher conversations with children would help to support more complex play.
Infants and toddlers receive nurturing care, and have good opportunities to explore all parts of the centre. The playground is shared, and provides opportunities for children to challenge their physical skills and agility. Younger children are able to successfully master safe challenges. There are good processes in place for transitions into, through, and out of the centre.
Families are confident to approach teachers. They contribute information about their children's likes and interests to help teachers to make decisions about the learning programme. New assessment and planning systems have been developed, following whole team professional development. Teachers have made significant progress in observing and recording children's interests.
Teachers are working to increase their use of te reo Māori with all children. Some Māori protocols are included in routines. It would be useful for teachers to consider ways of recognising and celebrating children's cultural heritage and language in their portfolios, in consultation with whānau. This would be particularly appropriate to inform Māori and Pacific whānau and tamariki that their cultures and languages are respected and valued.
Collaborative review of policies and procedures has become regular. The owner is exploring ways of sharing policy decision-making with parents and whānau. Teachers are using a more thorough approach when considering the programme in action. Deepening these processes and providing leadership opportunities for teachers, children and families, would enable more informed decisions about the quality of the curriculum, and outcomes for children.
The owner places an emphasis on developing and sustaining a positive centre culture. She has made it a priority to engage all staff in professional learning, in order to develop shared understandings and agreement about curriculum practices. This has had a positive impact on teachers' confidence and enjoyment of their work with children, and is building improvement across the team.
Administration and documentation are becoming efficient. The strategic plan includes clear, purposeful statements about directions for the centre's development.
The owner recognises that key next steps are to continue to:
use external support to build teacher capability and understanding of curriculum effectiveness, and to strengthen internal evaluation
build culturally responsive practices that recognise and celebrate language, culture and identity
provide leadership opportunities for children, teachers and families
revise the teacher appraisal process to meet Teaching Council requirements.
Before the review, the staff and management of Caterpillars to Butterflies Childcare 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
10 May 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 |
Hillcrest, Auckland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
20225 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
35 children, including up to 15 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
46 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys 24 Girls 22 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori |
1 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
50-79% |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:4 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:6 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
March 2019 |
||
|
Date of this report |
10 May 2019 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
No previous ERO reports under this management |
||
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 |
Caterpillar to Butterflys Childcare requires support to improve the quality of the programme and the management of the centre in order to better promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Caterpillars to Butterflys Childcare is located in the North Shore suburb of Hillcrest. It is licensed to provide all day education and care for 35 children including 15 up to two years of age. The centre is organised into two main areas to cater for infants and toddlers, and older children. Children are from diverse cultural backgrounds, and are mostly Māori, Pākehā, Chinese or Indian.
The centre opened in 2008 and has had five ERO reviews since that time. It returned to a regular three year review cycle in 2013. The owner and manager have addressed some areas for improvement identified in ERO's 2013 report. They have developed strategic and annual plans to guide operations and have begun to use an appraisal process. The centre maintains a stable staff of qualified, registered teachers and teachers in training.
Parents and children are warmly welcomed into the centre. Children appear to be happy and settled. They have affectionate relationships with each other and their teachers. Children know the centre routines well. Infants and toddlers benefit from mixed-age play in shared areas. Teachers' relationships with children are caring and nurturing.
Teachers are enthusiastic in their interactions with children. They are beginning to have meaningful discussions with them. Further engagement in one-to- one conversations should help to build children’s oral language skills and knowledge.
Teachers are trying to use te reo Māori mainly through songs. They should continue to model the use of te reo throughout the day. The inclusion of children’s cultures in the programme and learning environment would also be worthwhile.
Parents contribute to the curriculum through sharing children’s interests. Teachers make good links to the principles and strands of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, in some portfolios.
Teachers could now benefit from professional support to develop planning, assessment, and teaching strategies to extend learning through children’s interests. A useful next step would be to develop ways to more clearly document children's learning progress and development. This would also enable teachers to better evaluate the effectiveness of their practices in promoting positive outcomes for children.
The condition of the outdoor learning environment limits opportunities for children to learn and play. A review of the outdoor space in 2013 has not resulted in sufficient improvement. A more deliberate approach to the management of this environment is necessary to encourage children to explore, investigate and make choices about their learning.
The owner agrees that the centre's existing teacher appraisal system requires strengthening. She should consider using the Ministry of Education resource Tātaiako: Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners, to build teachers awareness of cultural competencies.
A review of the philosophy, strategic and annual plans, policies and appraisal should be undertaken with the aim of better aligning these documents. The manager has identified that a shared approach to leadership could further help to build staff capability. Professional learning in this area has been planned for senior teachers in 2017.
The manager and teachers are continuing to develop internal evaluation. The manager has accessed professional learning courses for staff. More effective evaluation should help managers and teachers to make informed decisions and identify priorities for development.
The manager agrees that priorities for centre development include:
teacher's participation in professional learning to improve the quality of teaching practices
improving programme planning and assessment to strengthen provision for children's learning
reflecting on how well teachers support all children's languages and cultures
strengthening the rigour of internal evaluation.
Before the review, the staff and management of Caterpillars to Butterflys Childcare 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 identified areas of non-compliance during the review. To meet requirements the service needs to:
implement a curriculum that is informed by assessment, planning, and evaluation and that demonstrates an understanding of children's learning
support teachers to demonstrate an understanding of children's learning and development that is consistent with current research, theory and practices in early childhood education
ensure that all teachers are regularly appraised.
Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, C2, C4, GMA7.
ERO recommends that the service consult with the Ministry of Education and plan to address the key next steps and actions outlined in this report.
The next ERO review of Caterpillars to Butterflys Childcare will be within two years.
Graham Randell
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern
23 January 2017
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 |
Hillcrest, Auckland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
20225 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
35 children, including up to 15 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
26 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys 16 Girls 10 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Chinese Indian other European other |
5 9 4 3 3 2 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
80% + |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:5 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
October 2016 |
||
|
Date of this report |
23 January 2017 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
June 2013 |
|
|
Supplementary Review |
April 2012 |
||
|
Supplementary Review |
November 2010 |
||
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.