Kauri Kids East Coast Bays

1 Evaluation of Kauri Kids East Coast Bays

How well placed is Kauri Kids East Coast Bays to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Kauri Kids East Coast Bays is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.

Background

Kauri Kids East Coast Bays is licensed to provide education and care for 14 children, including up to five aged under two years. The centre is situated in the East Coast Bays Leisure Centre. Children of all ages play together in a mixed-age setting. The service caters for a multicultural community and enrolments include small numbers of Māori children.

The philosophy of the organisation is based on setting an environment that empowers children to lead their own learning. Strong emphasis is placed on building partnerships with whānau based on trust, respect and the best interests of each child. Te Tiriti O Waitangi and Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, are recognised as guiding documents.

The Kauri Kids centres are managed centrally by Auckland Council. Kauri Kids, as part of Auckland Council, provide a governance and management framework, and support personnel to assist centres. An early childhood education (ECE) operations manager is responsible for the overall operation of the Kauri Kids services. The head teacher in each service reports to the centre manager of the leisure centre facility where the service is based.

The 2016 ERO report highlighted many aspects of quality practice which have been sustained. Areas for development in the 2016 report included internal evaluation and teaching practices. There has been very good progress in these areas. Bicultural practice and responses to children's language and cultural identity continue to be areas of focus for the centre.

This review was part of a cluster of four education and care reviews in the Auckland Kauri Kids organisation.

The Review Findings

The philosophy of the organisation is evident in practice. Children confidently farewell their caregivers, easily access a wide range of open-ended resources and settle into play of their own choosing. They move between indoor and outdoor play spaces with ease and have a sense of belonging in the centre. Children are settled and engaged and follow their interests and curiosities.

Children benefit from the small group size, responsive, respectful interactions and very good teacher to child ratios. The unstructured routine allows good periods of time for children to investigate, play imaginatively and take their thinking and interactions to a more complex level. Children confidently approach adults with their needs, ideas and for conversation.

A key teacher is appointed to each child, which allows good opportunities for whānau and teachers to talk together at pick up and drop off times, and to build relationships. Centre leaders have identified that they would like to promote more whānau involvement and continue to build learning partnerships with parents.

Teachers know children, their whānau and life contexts well. They talk conversationally with children, modelling language and providing new vocabulary. Teachers understand the communication styles of individual children and positively guide children's behaviour. They deliberately plan and set up the environment to encourage children into new experiences and to enhance their current interests and learning dispositions.

Te reo and tikanga Māori are visible in the centre environment. Internal evaluation projects include a bicultural perspective. Service leaders and teachers acknowledge that they would like to continue to strengthen their bicultural practice.

Teachers meet regularly to discuss effective teaching practices. Key teachers plan programmes for individual children. The organisation is currently engaged in professional learning that involves the implementation of the newly revised early childhood curriculum and how that will impact their planning. Children's portfolios of learning are well presented and individual to each child. The focus for the team is ensuring portfolios are of consistent quality and recognise children's languages, cultures and identity.

The centre is well managed and led. Leaders practise an open and consultative leadership style. They successfully engage the whole team in professional learning (PLD) opportunities. This ensures shared understandings across the team and supports the successful implementation of new initiatives. Ongoing engagement in professional learning is contributing to continued improvement. A relevant process for internal evaluation has been established that meaningfully investigates and promotes quality teaching practices.

The ECE operations manager effectively oversees the centres. She implements appropriate processes to increase head teacher communication and develops a shared understanding of the organisation's philosophy. Kauri Kids provides a comprehensive framework of policies and procedures and a robust appraisal process. Internal evaluation frameworks are now being established.

Key Next Steps

To enhance their current good quality provision for children, centre leaders agree that their key next steps include continued engagement with professional learning on the revised early childhood curriculum to:

• strengthen partnerships with whānau based on children's learning

• embed bicultural practice

• strengthen planning for individual children's learning, inclusive of their language, culture and identity.

Key Next Steps for the governing organisation

It would be beneficial for Kauri Kids to:

• continue to offer leadership PLD and provide opportunities to further enhance the leadership skills of head teachers and teachers

• deepen educators' use of planning, assessment and evaluation processes for children’s ongoing learning

• continue to identify how well new initiatives have impacted on learning outcomes for children

• ensure children have opportunities to experience and enhance their language, culture and identity.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Kauri Kids East Coast Bays 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.

Steve Tanner

Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)

Northern Region - Te Tai Raki

20 May 2020

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

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

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.

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.