76 Dundale Avenue, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Blockhouse Bay Christian Kindergarten is very well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Blockhouse Bay Christian Kindergarten, located adjacent to the Blockhouse Bay Community Church, provides sessional and full-day education and care for children over two years of age. Families who attend the centre are from the local, culturally diverse area. The largest groups of children are Indian, Chinese and those with Pacific heritage.
The governing board is made up of members of the church, staff and parents. It has recently appointed a new centre manager to replace the long-serving manager, who retired in mid-2018. All teachers hold full teacher practising certificates. Many of the staff speak more than one language, and some are able to speak with children and their families in their home languages.
The centre has a positive reporting history with ERO. Since the 2014 ERO review there have been improvements to the learning environments and teachers have strengthened their bicultural practices, assessment and planning. The centre continues to focus on providing support for families and the local community, enacting the church's philosophy of service.
Children benefit from an inclusive environment, and positive, respectful relationships with their teachers. They are familiar with centre routines and expectations, and are well supported to develop appropriate social skills. Children grow in confidence to negotiate and problem solve. Teachers' thoughtful interactions support children's sense of wellbeing and their learning.
Children's learning is well supported during long periods of uninterrupted play. They are able to make decisions about their work and often engage in group play scenarios. This play sometimes leads to more complex and cooperative play. Literacy, numeracy, science and technology concepts are promoted within the context of play. Children have good opportunities to be creative and engage in imaginative play.
Teachers' programme planning is highly responsive to children's strengths, interests or particular learning needs. It involves deliberate decision making about priorities for children's learning. Teachers meet daily to discuss individual children's learning and evaluate the programme. Together they develop a good knowledge of each child that influences their planning.
Teachers have established strong partnerships with whānau. Whānau are welcome at the centre and teachers make time to talk with them about children's wellbeing and learning. Parents learn about and contribute to their children's assessment and planning through face-to-face discussion and through online portfolios.
Information that parents share with teachers about children's home cultures has a positive impact on the culture of the centre. Teachers explain to parents how they support children to learn in literacy and numeracy and in other areas of the curriculum.
Teachers manage children's transitions into the centre and to school very well. They encourage parents of new children to be at the centre while their children settle. Teachers also support parents to understand the process of preparing children to move confidently on to school.
The staff work well together as a team and are committed to ongoing improvement. They make good use of internal evaluation to monitor the quality and effectiveness of centre operations and to guide decision making and strategic planning. Internal evaluation would be strengthened by clarifying the questions that guide each review. Strategic planning goals could be more clearly defined and used to monitor progress towards those goals.
Teacher are very well supported to improve their professional practice. They often engage in whole-staff professional learning and development. A strong and effective appraisal process is in place, and there are opportunities for teachers to learn from each other. All staff are encouraged and supported to take leadership roles.
The manager provides very effective leadership. There are good management systems in place. She works effectively with the chairperson of the governing board. A comprehensive framework of up-to-date policies and procedures guides centre operations.
Centre leaders and staff agree that they could continue to strengthen the extent to which bicultural practices are integrated throughout the curriculum.
Before the review, the staff and management of Blockhouse Bay Christian Kindergarten 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
18 April 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 |
Blockhouse Bay, Auckland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
20563 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
50 children aged over 2 years |
||
|
Service roll |
58 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls 36 Boys 22 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori |
3 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% + |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
Review team on site |
February 2019 |
||
|
Date of this report |
18 April 2019 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
June 2014 |
|
|
Education Review |
April 2011 |
||
|
Education Review |
February 2008 |
||
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 |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Blockhouse Bay Christian Kindergarten is a well established centre, located in the grounds of the Blockhouse Bay Community Church. It provides sessional and full day education and care for children over two years. The centre has a positive reporting history with ERO. Families in the centre are from a variety of cultural and ethnic groups. The centre has effective management practices and there is very good partnership with parents/whānau.
The centre is well staffed with a manager, fully registered teachers and one administrator. There is a high adult to child ratio. Since the 2011 ERO review the indoor environment has been refurbished and the outdoors upgraded. The centre manager and teachers have strengthened self review and developed improved strategies for extending children’s interests. Good community relationships continue to be a strength. The centre offers parenting courses for families and helps them to access social support services when needed. Sessions are now available for two and a half year old children and, at the time of this 2014 review, there was one child under three years of age enrolled.
The centre’s philosophy underpins the high quality, child led programme. The curriculum reflects the principles of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum and well integrated Christian values. Teachers have a genuine commitment to being inclusive and to developing a more bicultural curriculum. Teachers affirm and build on the children’s strengths. Attractively presented assessment and planning documents shows how children’s group and individual interests shape the programme. Children’s portfolios are highly valued and show the development of children’s interests and learning.
Teachers have high expectations, interact skilfully and sustain conversations with children. This contributes to children being confident, capable learners. Children have good opportunities to experience meaningful literacy, numeracy, and science activities. Children play cooperatively, have leadership opportunities and show empathy for others. Teachers successfully foster children’s social competence and their communication and problem solving skills. Children have fun as they make discoveries and learn through purposeful play.
Respectful and trusting relationships between teachers and families contribute to the sense of community in the centre. Teachers are culturally responsive. They celebrate children’s cultural diversity, use home languages and affirm children’s cultural identities. Teachers actively encourage parent and whānau partnership in children’s learning and development. Parents/ whānau are kept well informed and are encouraged to share their knowledge and ideas. The centre has strong connections with the local community and schools. Children’s transition into the centre and on to school is well supported.
Children learn in a vibrant well resourced learning environment. This supports their sustained engagement in play. Children have very good opportunities to explore and be physically active in the spacious outdoor area. They engage in complex imaginative play and are able to be creative through an extensive variety of art, dance, and music activities. They are capable, confident learners.
Self review is robust, child focused, and used as a basis for improvements. Clear strategic goals, aligned to the centre vision statement and centre philosophy, are clearly outlined in annual plans. Rigorous performance management promotes high quality teaching practices and leadership opportunities.
Strong professional leadership enables the centre to maintain its focus on providing high quality early childhood education and care. Positive working relationships, mentoring and collaboration between management and staff help create a culture of trust and respect. The centre is governed effectively by a management committee that includes parents, church representatives and some centre personnel. There is effective record keeping, professional discussion and a comprehensive framework of policies and procedures.
Centre managers identified some areas for ongoing development. These include continuing to:
Before the review, the staff and management of Blockhouse Bay Christian Kindergarten 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 Blockhouse Bay Christian Kindergarten will be in four years.
Dale Bailey
National Manager Review Services
Northern Region
3 June 2014
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 |
Blockhouse Bay, Auckland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
20563 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
50 children, including up to 0 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
54 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys 26 Girls 28 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
NZ European/Pākehā Māori Indian Chinese Middle Eastern Niue Tongan Samoan Cook Island Māori Southeast Asia Other Asian |
6 1 27 8 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80% Based on funding rates |
80% |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
Review team on site |
April 2014 |
||
|
Date of this report |
3 June 2014 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
April 2011 |
|
|
Education Review |
February 2008 |
||
|
Education Review |
March 2005 |
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.