58 Chichester Drive, Papakura
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Kiwi Supertots Learning Centre - Papakura is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Kiwi Supertots Learning Centre - Papakura is a well-established centre that operates out of a remodelled house in residential Papakura. It is licensed for 35 children, including 15 up to the age of two years. The centre’s philosophy has family at the heart of achieving positive outcomes for children.
The centre is divided into three separate areas for babies, toddlers and preschool children. They all have access to a large, shared outdoor play area.
The owners and area manager oversee the centre with two associate supervisors responsible for the day-to-day operating. There have been many new teachers employed since the 2016 ERO review. The teaching team consists of four registered and three unqualified teachers. Staff reflect the cultural diversity of the community.
The 2016 ERO report identified areas of good practice, many of which have been maintained, including extending children's oral language and integrating te reo Māori. Some of the areas identified for ongoing improvement have been addressed.
Children are respected and cared for in the inclusive environment. They happily participate in teacher-led activities and have opportunities to choose their own play. Children's home languages and backgrounds are valued. Teachers know children well and build positive and supportive relationships with families. Children up to the age of two years are sensitively nurtured and their needs closely monitored and addressed.
Teachers carefully plan ways to extend children’s collective interests through project-based activities. They are committed to enhancing children’s knowledge and skills. There are examples of practice where children’s individual interests are identified and enhanced. This good practice should be shared across the centre. Teachers would benefit from external professional learning and development (PLD) on ways to promote children’s individual interests and dispositions, and to record children's progress over their time at the centre. Teachers could also evaluate the effectiveness of the transition-to-school programme in relation to positive outcomes for children identified in Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum.
Teachers have a collective commitment to increasing children's awareness of the bicultural heritage of Aotearoa New Zealand. Te reo Māori and some aspects of tikanga Māori are integrated into the daily programme. Children have visited the local marae to build their knowledge of local history. They also participate in activities that build their knowledge of Pacific languages. Children with Pacific heritage are warmly greeted in their home languages.
Portfolios of children’s learning are attractive and show how each child's learning links to the strands of Te Whāriki. Online learning stories show children’s participation in activities and include teachers' suggestions about ways in which these activities could be expanded. Teachers meet regularly with parents to discuss their aspirations for their children. However, it is not clear in portfolios how well children are progressing towards these aspirations or progressing with skills, knowledge, attitudes or dispositions.
The owners have implemented many useful systems and processes to ensure the centre meets regulatory requirements. They have implemented appropriate strategies to ensure teachers are well inducted into the centre. They have now developed a useful template to guide internal evaluation processes. Although the focuses and outcomes of internal evaluation differ between rooms, the focus of all the evaluations should be on positive outcomes for children.
A five-year strategic plan guides the direction of the centre. Ongoing centre improvement could be strengthened through stronger alignment between the short and long-term goals, and the centre's vision. Centre goals could be more easily evaluated if they were specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely.
The owners, area manager and associate supervisor agree that their key next steps are to:
strengthen learning outcomes for children by purposefully fostering each child’s individual learning pathway
enhance internal evaluation systems to more specifically promote improved outcomes for children.
Before the review, the staff and management of Kiwi Supertots Learning Centre - Papakura 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
29 November 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.
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Location |
Papakura, Auckland |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
25187 |
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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, including up to 15 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
34 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 24 Girls 10 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
14 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% + |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:4 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Over 2 |
1:6 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
October 2019 |
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Date of this report |
29 November 2019 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
June 2016 |
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Education Review |
June 2013 |
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Education Review |
June 2010 |
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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 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.
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Kiwi Supertots Learning Centre is located in a residential suburb of Papakura. It is licensed to provide full-day education and care for 35 children, including up to 15 under two years old. The centre is divided into three areas for infants, toddlers and preschool children. All children have access to the outdoors.
The service is led by the centre manager who brings long serving educational experiences. The management group has developed policies and procedures which are regularly reviewed by teachers and parents. Professional development and support for staff is ongoing.
Over 80 percent of the staff are qualified early childhood teachers. The supervisor has responsibility for care routines and programme implementation for the different age groups.
The centre caters for a multicultural community. Teachers celebrate this diversity and encourage children to respect the languages and cultures of others. They provide specific support for children with identified special needs.
The centre’s philosophy focus is to create a friendly, safe and secure educational environment. The philosophy also places priority on acknowledging and incorporating bicultural practices into the programme.
Children have positive relationships with staff. They enjoy friendships with each other and are developing self-management skills. Children have opportunities to participate in extra-curricular activities such as dancing, yoga, and music. They engage well with the resources and activities teachers provide. They would now benefit from further challenge in their learning experiences.
Teachers are nurturing and caring to children and respond well to their emotional needs. Teachers consistently engage with children and ask questions to encourage their involvement in play. They endeavour to set up an environment that reflects children's interests. They could now consider reviewing the ways they respond to children's different developmental stages and abilities.
Teachers use a sound planning framework that considers children’s interest. They appropriately modify the planning approach for infants and toddlers. They identify resources, activities, and some strategies to support learning.
Online portfolios have been successful in increasing parents’ participation in children's learning and supplement the hard copy portfolios. Teachers' efforts to analyse learning in portfolios and to evaluate the centre programme helps to inform planning. They could now strengthen their focus on teachers' roles in extending children's learning.
Several strategies support bicultural practices. These include the celebration of Māori festivals, the use te reo Māori in portfolios, some teachers using te reo Māori in conversations with children, and making aspects of tikanga Māori visible in the environment. Pacific and other cultures are recognised through features such as a cultural wall that displays greetings in family languages. Staff reflect the cultures and home languages of the children.
Management systems are well established and contribute to the running of the centre. There is a good policy framework to guide centre operations. Whole team professional development is provided for teachers. A useful internal evaluation framework enables teachers to reflect on their practice and identify strategies for improvement. Managers could further enhance centre development by aligning their strategic plan to an annual plan that measures progress against the centre's longer-term strategic goals.
The service has well developed systems to support the growing leadership of the head teacher and teachers. This includes the implementation of a teacher performance appraisal system to support ongoing improvements in teaching, learning and centre performance. It could now be beneficial to work towards lifting teacher expectations through encouraging the identification of increasingly challenging individual goals for improving teaching practice.
Centre members agree that the next steps for the centre are to:
view how well the planning structure is guiding teachers to extend children’s learning
review the ways they plan and cater for children's different developmental stages
align strategic and annual planning to better measure progress against centre strategic goals
include Tātaiako : Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners in the centre appraisal process to strengthen teachers’ focus on bicultural practices and to increase the rigour of performance management systems.
Before the review, the staff and management of Kiwi Supertots Learning Centre - Papakura 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.
The next ERO review of Kiwi Supertots Learning Centre - Papakura will be in three years.
Graham Randell
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern
22 June 2016
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 |
Papakura, Auckland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
25187 |
||
|
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 14 Girls 12 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Indian Tongan others |
3 7 9 2 5 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
80% + |
||
|
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 |
May 2016 |
||
|
Date of this report |
22 June 2016 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
June 2013 |
|
|
Education Review |
June 2010 |
||
|
Education Review |
May 2007 |
||
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.