Wharepuhunga Road, Te Awamutu
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 |
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Premises and facilities |
Meeting |
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Health and safety |
Meeting |
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Governance, management, and administration |
Not meeting |
At the time of the review, ERO identified non-compliance with regulatory standards that must be addressed.
Wharepuhunga Playcentre is a centre in rural Waikato administered by Te Whānau Tupu Ngātahi o Aotearoa – Playcentre Aotearoa. Day-to-day operation is run by parent and whānau members, with support provided from Playcentre Aotearoa staff. The service had their full licence reinstated in October 2020.
Wharepuhunga Playcentre’s 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 provides a language-rich environment that supports children’s learning. Children have opportunities to develop an understanding about the dual cultural heritage of Aotearoa New Zealand.
The premises and facilities are resourced to provide for the learning and abilities of the children attending. Playcentre Aotearoa must ensure the system of regular appraisal is implemented for its regional centre-facing staff.
ERO found an area of non-compliance in the service relating to:
[Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, GMA7]
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui
14 June 2021
| Early Childhood Service Name | Wharepuhunga Playcentre |
| Profile Number | 31016 |
| Location | Te Awamutu, Waikato |
|
Service type |
Playcentre |
|
Number licensed for |
30 children, including up to 15 aged under 2. |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
50-79% |
|
Service roll |
18 |
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori 5, NZ European/Pākehā 13. |
|
Review team on site |
March 2021 |
|
Date of this report |
14 June 2021 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, September 2016; Education Review, January 2013. |
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.
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:
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO assesses whether the regulated 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:
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO also gathers and records evidence through:
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Wharepuhunga Playcentre is an early childhood service run by a parent cooperative. It operates under the umbrella of the King Country Playcentre Association. It serves a rural community and is situated south of Te Awamutu and adjacent to Korakanui Primary School. The centre runs three sessions a week for children from birth to school age. One of these is the 'Big Kids Session' led by an employed supervisor. Since the 2013 ERO review, significant funding has been sourced to upgrade the environment and resources.
The playcentre is licensed for 30 children with a maximum of 15 under two years of age. The current roll is 25, and all children identify as Pākehā. A number of new families have enrolled in the playcentre. A strategic priority for the playcentre is to increase the number of children and families enrolled.
The New Zealand Playcentre Federation and the King Country Playcentre Association continue to provide effective governance, strategic direction, management support and adult education programmes for the centre.
The playcentre has a positive reporting history with ERO and effectively responded to areas for development identified in the 2013 report.
The centre philosophy aims to provide quality early childhood education 'through child-initiated play with children and whānau learning and playing together'. The playcentre philosophy is highly evident in the programme.
This review was part of a cluster of six playcentre reviews in the King Country Playcentre Association.
Children, parents and whānau benefit from a welcoming, inclusive and family-like culture at the playcentre. This fosters a strong sense of belonging and encourages parents and whānau to take an active role in their children's learning. Relationships are respectful, and adults listen and respond to children's ideas and interests. Tuakana-teina relationships are nurtured in the mixed-age group sessions as children learn alongside their siblings and whānau.
Children choose freely from a wide range of activities in the indoor and outdoor learning areas. Children are developing as competent, confident learners as they follow their own interests, and are supported to explore and investigate by interested adults.
The programme is responsive to children's interests and integrates early skills and concepts in literacy. Children actively participate in storytelling, and are encouraged to express their ideas through creative and imaginative play. Mathematical skills are promoted as children investigate and problem solve. Areas of play such as carpentry, construction, baking activities and the extensive range of puzzles facilitates this learning. Science concepts are explored in the natural world as children observe plants, insects and animals in their surrounding environment. Children learn through play in meaningful contexts that respond to their home and rural community life.
The outdoor environment is spacious, attractive, well planned and inviting for children. It offers many opportunities to appreciate and explore the natural and physical world. Parents set up equipment to meet children's interests, provoke curiosity and provide physical challenges for all age groups. Children cooperate to redesign the environment to sustain their interests and further their play and learning.
Babies and toddlers are included in all aspects of the programme. They benefit from warm, caring relationships with all adults. Mothers' wellbeing is supported as they nurture and care for their babies and as they enjoy the company of other parents and whānau. Babies and toddlers have easy access to an environment that is well resourced and encourages exploration, movement and intellectual stimulation through seeing, touching and hearing new things. This inclusive programme enables babies to develop their social and communication skills.
A feature of the playcentre is the close partnership with the local primary school. There are regular exchanges between the playcentre children and students at the school. These experiences stimulate and extend children's learning opportunities, and build their confidence in preparation for their transition to school.
All adults are engaged in playcentre education programmes that empower them to be well-informed, first educators of their children. The high ratio of adults to children ensures quality learning conversations with adults that listen and extend children's vocabulary, and use open-ended questions to further develop their oral language and communication skills.
Leaders have created a culture where children are first and foremost valued, celebrated and affirmed for who they are and what they bring to their learning. Emergent leadership is fostered and new members are well supported to take on roles and responsibilities. The parent support network is an integral part of the playcentre culture. The centre support person provides inspiration and motivation. This approach is contributing to professional leadership about teaching and learning. There are opportunities to share good practice from other centres and support for members undertaking new roles and responsibilities.
The New Zealand Playcentre Federation and the King Country Playcentre Association continue to provide good quality governance and management. The association provides comprehensive policies and guidelines, and employs a centre support person who assists families to operate the service in the best interests of children and their parents and whānau. The benefits of this support would be made more evident if a process was introduced to provide regular formal reports on the quality of centre programmes.
The playcentre and ERO agree that the next steps for the service are to work with the Association centre support person to review and strengthen:
the purpose of individual portfolios to ensure they clearly identify children's learning and progress, and allow children to revisit and share their experiences
the assessment, planning and evaluation process, giving particular attention to adding complexity to individual children's ideas and interests over time
the understanding and inclusion of te reo and tikanga Māori in the daily programme
reporting of the quality of centre programmes to whānau/parents and association.
Before the review, the staff and management of Wharepuhunga Playcentre 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 Wharepuhunga Playcentre will be in three years.
Lynda Pura-Watson
Deputy Chief Review Officer Waikato/Bay of Plenty
6 September 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 |
Wharepuhunga, Te Awamutu |
|
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
31016 |
|
|
Licence type |
Playcentre |
|
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
|
|
Number licensed for |
30 children, including up to 15 aged under 2 |
|
|
Service roll |
25 |
|
|
Gender composition |
Boys 18 Girls 7 |
|
|
Ethnic composition |
Pākehā |
25 |
|
Review team on site |
July 2016 |
|
|
Date of this report |
6 September 2016 |
|
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
January 2013 |
|
Education Review |
February 2010 |
|
|
Education Review |
December 2006 |
|
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.