13 Thomas Crescent, Western Heights, Rotorua
View on mapAkarangi | 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 Waiapu Kids - St Francis Whanau Aroha are as follows:
Outcome Indicators(What the service knows about outcomes for learners) |
Whāngai Establishing |
Ngā Akatoro Domains |
|
Learning ConditionsOrganisational Conditions |
Whakaū Embedding Whakaū Embedding |
Waiapu Kids – St Francis Whanau Aroha is one of eight services governed and managed by Anglican Care Waiapu (ACW). A centre manager guides the teaching team. ACW provides governance support. Of the 41 children enrolled, 38 identify as Māori. The service philosophy prioritises whanaungatanga and the mana of the child.
Tamariki experience an inclusive curriculum where their mana and sense of belonging are fostered. Kaiako are beginning to make connections with the local hapū and explore areas of significance to Te Arawa. The curriculum reflects the unique place of Māori as tangata whenua. Te reo and tikanga Māori are integrated into the daily routine.
Infants and toddlers are empowered to lead their learning within a play-based curriculum. They experience:
an unhurried environment where their non-verbal cues are responded to by attentive kaiako
tuakana-teina relationships that encourage older tamariki to play alongside them.
The service works collaboratively with external agencies to support children with additional learning needs.
Tamariki learning is enhanced through leaders and kaiako working as a professional learning community. They engage in professional development opportunities aligned to building kaiako capability and service priorities. They are beginning to use the ACW monitoring processes and evaluation practices.
Kaiako are beginning to explore children’s learning and progress in relation to the intended learning outcomes of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. Further strengthening the individual assessment process is required to better identify progress of learning overtime.
A well-considered approach to progressing strategic objectives responds to the diverse needs of the community. Children’s wellbeing is the primary consideration in decision making. An extensive range of policies and initiatives has been developed to support accountability across the organisation. These are in various stages of implementation. A commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Christian values underpins the Waiapu organisation priorities.
Waiapu Kids - St Francis Whanau Aroha will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:
strengthen kaiako understanding of assessment, planning and evaluation and the use of learning outcomes to guide children’s learning
continue to build shared understandings of internal evaluation with a focus on the impact of teaching and learning practices on outcomes for children.
At the governance level, Anglican Care Waiapu priorities are to refine the reporting process to enable closer scrutiny of:
how well each service is achieving their priorities for children’s learning
the effectiveness of improvement actions and the impact on achieving equitable learning outcomes for children.
Before the review, the staff and management of Waiapu Kids - St Francis Whanau Aroha 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.
Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui
15 August 2022
|
Early Childhood Service Name |
Waiapu Kids - St Francis Whanau Aroha |
|
Profile Number |
30127 |
|
Location |
Rotorua |
|
Service type |
Education and care service |
|
Number licensed for |
42 children, including up to 5 aged under 2 |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
|
Service roll |
41 |
|
Review team on site |
May 2022 |
|
Date of this report |
15 August 2022 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, May 2018; Education Review, June 2015 |
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Waiapu Kids – St Francis Whanau Aroha is located in the Western Heights area of Rotorua. It operates under the umbrella of Anglican Care Waiapu, which provides governance and management support for the service.
The centre provides education and care for children from birth to school age. At the time of this review 34 children were enrolled and nearly all are of Māori descent. The centre is licensed for 42 children with provision for up to five children under two years of age. Centre organisation comprises a mixed-age approach where children of all ages play and learn together.
The centre supports participation, provides nutritional meals, transport, good staff/child ratios, and provides experiences outside of the centre to extend children's learning.
The centre is staffed with mostly qualified and registered teachers. A new centre manager was appointed in September 2016. Her initial focus has been to build relational trust with staff, parents, whānau and children, develop a new philosophy and enhance the centre’s learning environment.
Through its philosophy the centre acknowledges the Treaty of Waitangi and the place of tangata whenua. It promotes values of manaakitanga, ako, whanaungatanga and kaitiakitanga, and Christian principles of love, care and respect. The centre aims to provide an innovative programme that extends children's interests and recognises the holistic way they learn and grow.
ERO’s last review in June 2015 identified key next steps for improvement about the centre philosophy, assessment, planning and evaluation, and provision for children up to two years of age. The centre manager and teachers have strengthened practice in these areas.
The service’s vision and centre philosophy embrace Treaty of Waitangi principles and Christian values. A strong priority for centre governance, management and staff is providing equitable participation for all children and their families. Centre leaders and teachers consistently seek to realise the potential of Māori children and their whānau.
Partnerships with families are authentic, productive and based on genuine respect. Centre leaders and teachers understand and respond to parent aspirations and encourage them to play an active part in centre decision making and their children’s learning.
Self review is well developed. There is a shared understanding of internal evaluation for improvement. It considers organisational priorities, parent and teacher perspectives for ongoing centre development with a clear focus on improved provision and outcomes for children.
The centre philosophy is consistently enacted through a bicultural curriculum and treaty-based practices. These are integral to children’s learning experiences and opportunities. Child and parent voice are strongly reflected in decisions about curriculum planning to enrich each child's learning. In addition, connections with outside agencies and involvement of whānau support equitable opportunities and the inclusion of children with additional learning needs.
Assessment, planning and evaluation systems and practices continue to develop in response to individual children’s interests, strengths and needs. Assessment supports the development of Māori children's identity as Māori. It also shows links to whānau interests and learning at home. Summaries of children’s learning make links between Te Whāriki strands and The New Zealand Curriculum, supporting children's transition to school.
Teachers' relationships with children are caring, loving and respectful. They use a range of effective strategies to respond to all learners, including the small number of children under two years of age. They are highly attuned to each child's identity, dispositions, interests and prior knowledge. Co-construction between teachers and children builds on children’s ideas and working theories, supporting problem solving and experimentation. There is a strong emphasis on building children’s oral language in te reo Māori and English. Children are affirmed for who they are and demonstrate confidence and competence as self-motivated learners.
The centre manager, with support from other leaders within Waiapu Kids - St Francis Whanau Aroha, need to develop and implement appraisal systems and practices that consistently build teacher capability. Important considerations include:
professional leadership and critique that more specifically informs teachers' professional learning, development and continual improvement of practice including well documented systems and procedures in relation to appraisal and professional development.
Before the review, the staff and management of Waiapu Kids - St Francis Whanau Aroha 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 Waiapu Kids - St Francis Whanau Aroha will be in three years.
Lynda Pura-Watson
Deputy Chief Review Officer
Te Tai Miringa - Waikato / Bay of Plenty Region
28 May 2018
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 |
Rotorua |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
30127 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
42 children, including up to 5 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
35 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys 22 Girls 13 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori |
32 |
|
|
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 |
1:8 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
April 2018 |
||
|
Date of this report |
28 May 2018 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
June 2015 |
|
|
Education Review |
March 2012 |
||
|
Education Review |
January 2009 |
||
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:
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.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Waiapu Kids - St Francis Whānau Aroha, previously know as St Francis Whānau Aroha Centre, is located in the Westerns Heights area of Rotorua. It operates under the umbrella of Anglican Care Waiapu, which provides governance, management support and strategic direction for the service.
The centre provides care and education for children from birth to school age. At the time of this ERO review, 28 children were enrolled and 22 are of Māori descent.
The centre receives equity funding through the Ministry of Education. This additional resource is used to provide nutritional meals, transport, extra staffing and experiences outside of the centre that extend children’s learning.
The centre’s philosophy acknowledges Te Tiriti o Waitangi and recognises children’s individuality. A key aspiration of the philosophy is ‘empowering children, parents and whānau to learn and grow within a caring, stable family environment, and incorporating Christian principles’.
The centre has a positive reporting history with ERO. Since ERO’s last review in March 2012 there have been significant changes to centre management, the teaching team and support staff.
All aspects of centre operations and practices strive to meet the service’s vision for ‘a loving and just society’. Core Christian and Māori values underpin the wairua of the centre’s culture that recognises and celebrates the inherent potential of tamariki and whānau Māori. In addition, these values are expressed through treaty-base practices and the close and genuine relationships staff have with tamariki, their families and whānau.
Anglican Care Waiapu provides sound and responsive support to ensure continuity for centre operations, guidance and mentoring for centre management and staff. The centre manager is knowledgeable, dedicated, and has a clear focus on providing children with the best possible opportunities and outcomes. She is a collaborative leader who works to empower teachers to maximise their strengths and talents, to be reflective and strengthen their practice.
The centre manager has been pivotal in refocusing and improving the quality of self review. Recent reviews have resulted in positive changes to centre routines, the environment and learning experiences for children. Self review would be strengthened through further development of strategic and annual plans. Such plans could then be used to monitor progress and evaluate the achievement and effectiveness of centre goals to enhance experiences and learning outcomes for children.
The new teaching team are redefining curriculum priorities. There is a strong influence of Te Arawa kawa, tikanga Māori, tikanga Pacifica, tikanga Pākehā and stories from the Bible. Current emphases include children’s cultural and social confidence, partnerships with parents, transitions into the centre and to school, and the natural environment. The team has worked hard to develop a sound framework for assessment and planning. This revised approach includes a greater emphasis on individual children’s cultural identity, interests, learning, and parent contributions.
Teachers are strong advocates for children, and for parents as their first teachers. Relationships between teachers and tamariki are warm, affectionate and caring. Transitions into the centre are well supported and take account of the needs and preferences of children and parents. Teachers work well together to ensure children's’ learning and care needs are met. They skilfully engage alongside children as they play, following and extending interests. Te reo Māori is used as a functional language by teachers and is understood by children, some of whom confidently and spontaneously respond and use te reo Māori.
It is timely for the new team to review the centre philosophy and document the shared vision, values, beliefs and priorities that influence the curriculum, environment, teaching practice and desired outcomes for children.
Teachers need to continue to review and develop assessment, planning and evaluation practice. This is necessary to strengthen their planned and spontaneous responses to children’s interests and learning, and evaluation of programmes.
The centre has recently included children up to the age of two years. It is therefore timely for teachers to develop a curriculum and environment, and agreed teaching practices that are responsive to the interests, routines and capabilities of these very young learners.
Before the review, the staff and management of Waiapu Kids - St Francis Whānau Aroha 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 Waiapu Kids - St Francis Whānau Aroha will be in three years.
Dale Bailey
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern
4 June 2015
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 |
Western Heights, Rotorua |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
30127 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
30 children, including up to 5 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
28 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys 14 Girls 14 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Cook Island Kiribati |
22 4 1 1 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80% Based on funding rates |
80% |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:3 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:9 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
April 2015 |
||
|
Date of this report |
4 June 2015 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
March 2012 |
|
|
Education Review |
January 2009 |
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:
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.