Devine Road, Tamahere
View on mapTamahere Playcentre
Tamahere Playcentre - 02/03/2016
Here is the latest report for the Governing Organisation that this service is part of.
https://ero.govt.nz/governing-organisation/te-whanau-tupu-ngatahi-o-aotearoa-playcentre-aotearoa
1 Evaluation of Tamahere Playcentre
How well placed is Tamahere Playcentre to promote positive learning outcomes for children?
Not well placed | Requires further development | Well placed | Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Background
Tamahere Playcentre is a long-established, parent-led early childhood service. It is located in an attractive country setting with well-maintained buildings and grounds adjacent to the local primary school. The centre is licensed to cater for 21 children, including 15 up to the age of two years in a mixed-age setting. At the time of the ERO review there were 25 children on the roll, and 4 who identify as Māori. These families and whānau come from a large catchment area including Matangi and southern Hamilton City suburbs.
A change in membership and leadership in 2014 was a catalyst for parents and whānau to increase their commitment to ongoing training and build the collective responsibility of members. Current leaders and members are highly collaborative, experienced and well trained. They reviewed the centre philosophy and have taken the decision to maintain 3 group-supervised sessions each week to sustain and enhance learning for children. Infants and toddlers benefit from strong and sustained attachment to their mothers and other trusted adults, which include a Supporting Parents Alongside Children's Education facilitator.
Centre members have worked effectively to address the areas for development identified in the 2012 ERO report. This has resulted in:
- a high proportion of centre members participating in advanced levels of Playcentre course work
- strategies for promoting continuity of learning across sessions for children
- clear and manageable expectations for effectively documenting children’s learning and development
- improvements to property, equipment and centre organisation that includes a strategic approach to building extensions in 2016.
The New Zealand Playcentre Federation and the Waikato Playcentre Association (WPA) continue to provide effective governance, strategic direction, management support and adult education programmes for the centre. This support and training is underpinned by the WPA philosophy Whānau tupu ngātahi - families growing together.
The Tamahere Playcentre philosophy places high value on children and whānau working and learning together.
This review was part of a cluster of six reviews in the Waikato Playcentre Association.
The Review Findings
Tamahere Playcentre is very well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children and their families and whānau.
Children and adults demonstrate high levels of enthusiasm, enjoyment and ownership as they work and play together. Children make an active contribution to setting up and preparing the learning environment alongside adults. Parents highly value the strong connecting links for children between experiences at the centre and life at home. They appreciate the caring, trusting and supportive relationships that contribute to a strong sense of belonging and wellbeing for this community of learners.
Tamariki and their whānau are affirmed in their culture. The curriculum includes aspects of Tainuitanga such as local purakau, (stories of significance to Tainui). Members foster the meaningful and contextual use of te reo Māori and tikanga practices. There is a strong emphasis on learning about Papatuanuku, (the natural world), and visits to places of significance to iwi. Sharing hangi and Matariki celebrations with other centres is building whanaungatanga and integrating traditional cultural practices into the lives of members. Older children demonstrate care and take responsibility for younger children through tuakana/teina relationships. Manaakitanga is evident for all cultures in the centre.
Some centre members and leaders whakapapa to local iwi. The kaiawhina models appropriate tikanga practices, assists with correct pronunciation of te reo Māori, and shares traditional skills such as making paraoa (bread), and poi, and raranga with harakeke (weaving with flax).
Children are confident communicators. They take leadership roles, solve problems and express their ideas and opinions. Adults are responsive and highly interested in promoting children’s capability as learners. Learning conversations are enhanced by adults’ prior knowledge of children’s experiences and interests.
Members who are from other cultures enhance learning for all children and adults. Parents speak to children in their own languages in the context of play. Centre members actively support English as second language learners. There would be benefit in seeking further information and resources to enhance this process.
Older children are developing their social skills and emergent understanding of citizenship. They are able to extend their interests, add complexity to their play, and experience challenge. Adults promote flexible routines to meet children’s needs. They encourage children to make use of equipment and resources to enhance their play.
Infants and toddlers benefit from strong and sustained attachment to their mothers and other trusted adults. There is a caring and nurturing culture for families having new babies and support for older siblings. Appropriate spaces are provided for infant care and breastfeeding mothers.
Centre members meet regularly to plan, evaluate and document children’s learning and development. Programmes are informed by children’s identified strengths and interests. The learning and development of children is highly visible in attractively presented centre displays and individual profile books. Children enjoy sharing and revisiting their learning, and celebrate their success with others in this way.
Particular strengths of the programme are:
- close links to the early childhood curriculum Te Whāriki
- fostering children’s creativity and responding to their imaginative ideas
- rich dramatic play through revisiting well-loved stories, puppetry, and role playing alongside parents as partners in play
- ready access to high quality materials and equipment in all sixteen areas of play
- trips and excursions into the local and wider community.
Centre leaders are experienced and bring a wealth of knowledge to their roles and responsibilities. There are efficient systems to ensure succession planning for new office holders and effective induction processes for new members. Centre leaders maintain close and meaningful connections to WPA and other centre leaders. They are deepening their relationship with the adjacent school through reciprocal visits. This approach is enhancing transition to school for children and their families.
Leaders model good teaching practices. They foster emergent leadership and inspire new members to persevere with ongoing adult learning and course work. Leaders have developed some manageable ways to document and display children’s learning and development. A next step is to develop and document shared understanding about what a high quality assessment portfolio for children looks like.
There is sound understanding and effective use of self review for on-going centre development and improvement and sustainability.
The WPA's strategic commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi is highly evident. The principle of productive partnerships with Māori whānau underpins all WPA practices and operations, and funding is made available for related professional development. The high quality response to Ka Hikitia has resulted in clear expectations, and a systematic and sequential approach to building members’ understanding, confidence and competence in te ao Māori.
An experienced centre support worker (CSW) was recently appointed and is providing ongoing and highly valued guidance and knowledgeable support for centre leaders and members. She is also a professional development provider for the Playcentre Federation and Ministry of Education.
A long-standing kaiawhina continues to support centre members and children to develop their understanding of te ao Māori and their confidence to integrate this knowledge in the context of playcentre philosophy.
Management Assurance on Legal Requirements
Before the review, the staff and management of Tamahere 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:
- 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.
Next ERO Review
When is ERO likely to review the service again?
The next ERO review of Tamahere Playcentre will be in four years.
Lynda Pura-Watson
Deputy Chief Review Officer
2 March 2016
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
Location | Tamahere, Hamilton | |
Ministry of Education profile number | 33024 | |
Licence type | Playcentre | |
Licensed under | Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 | |
Number licensed for | 21 children, including up to 15 aged under 2 | |
Service roll | 25 | |
Gender composition | Girls 17 Boys 8 | |
Ethnic composition | Māori Pākehā Chinese | 4 19 2 |
Review team on site | December 2015 | |
Date of this report | 2 March 2016 | |
Most recent ERO report(s) | Education Review | October 2012 |
Education Review | October 2009 | |
Education Review | August 2006 |
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 and Next Review
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:
- Very well placed – The next ERO review in four years
- Well placed – The next ERO review in three years
- Requires further development – The next ERO review within two years
- Not well placed - The next ERO review in consultation with the Ministry of Education
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.
Tamahere Playcentre - 20/11/2012
1. Evaluation of the Service
How well placed is the service to promote positive outcomes for children?
Tamahere Playcentre is very well placed to promote and support outcomes for children.
Context
Tamahere Playcentre is located in a rural setting between Hamilton and Cambridge. It caters for children from birth to school-age. It operates three sessions per week with a fourth late afternoon whānau session on Fridays in Terms 1 and 4. There are high ratios of adults to children at each session. Centre members maintain close relationships with the adjacent primary school, which enables a smooth transition for children as new entrants at the school.
Since the 2009 ERO review, the centre’s membership has continued to grow and more parents are participating in playcentre education courses. This has led to further development of the centre’s self-review and planning processes. Further property developments have improved the environment for children and parents. In November 2010 the centre was registered under the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008.
The centre’s philosophy indicates that members value adults and children learning together through play in a safe, positive and stimulating environment. The New Zealand Playcentre Federation and the Waikato Playcentre Association (the association) provide effective governance and strategic direction. A knowledgeable and experienced centre support worker (CSW) is employed by the association to assist the centre with administration and regulatory requirements.
This review was conducted as part of a cluster approach to reviews in six early childhood education services within the Waikato Playcentre Association umbrella organisation.
The Review Findings
Tamahere Playcentre is run as a family cooperative by enthusiastic, capable and dedicated parents who have created a supportive community and a strong sense of belonging for children and adults. Parents take shared responsibility for the learning and care of all children in each session. Continuity of learning is supported by regularly reviewing and recording children’s changing and emerging interests. Effective teaching practices include:
- maintaining positive, sensitive and responsive relationships with children
- modelling good questioning skills
- playing alongside children to sustain engagement, particularly with dramatic play
- fostering early knowledge of literacy and numeracy skills through conversations, learning stories, shared reading and writing experiences
- ensuring that bilingual displays support families to develop their knowledge and understanding of te reo Māori . The centre philosophy is displayed alongside the historical meaning of the area’s name.
Children and their families experience a welcoming, safe environment at the centre. The stimulating indoor and outdoor play areas include bilingual displays and other resources to support the development of te reo me ōna tikanga Māori. Younger children benefit from mixed-age sessions where older children are role models for safe, inclusive play and provide encouragement for them to try new things.
Parents provide a wide variety of interesting activities for children to explore. They also contribute rich perspectives to the design of the curriculum by using personal skills such as music to enhance learning for all. Children are able to develop their social skills and enjoy their learning through play in meaningful contexts. Observations of children’s participation and learning have clear links to Te Whāriki, [New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum]. These are recorded in individual profile books where next steps for learning are also indentified. Te Whāriki underpins the programme and its evaluation at each session. Parents appreciate the knowledge of the experienced supervisor who models good practice to parents at each session and demonstrates high levels of respect for children’s ideas.
Centre members take a shared approach to leadership within the centre. The individual skills of centre members are valued and used well to strengthen centre operations. More experienced members take responsibility for supporting newer members to facilitate centre sustainability. All members are encouraged and supported to participate in and complete playcentre training modules. Members have developed a useful framework for strategic planning that guides centre direction. Clear goals and actions are reviewed to monitor centre development and improvements. Formal and informal reviews of centre practices are regular and well informed.
Centre members and ERO agree that the centre’s next steps are to:
- continue to develop processes for extending children’s thinking and problem-solving skills.
- make clearer links between children’s identified next steps for learning and subsequent profile entries to show progress and development
- rationalise resources and displays to ensure children are able to maximise their use
- access CSW reports as a tool for continuing review and development.
2. Legal Requirements
Management Assurance on Legal Requirements
Before the review, the staff and management of Tamahere 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:
- 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.
3. Next Review
When is ERO likely to review the early childhood service again?
ERO is likely to carry out the next review in three years.
Makere Smith National Manager Review Services Northern Region (Acting)
20 November 2012
Information about the Early Childhood Service
Location |
Tamahere |
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
33024 |
|
Licence type |
Playcentre |
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
|
Number licensed for |
21 children, including up to 15 aged under 2 |
|
Service roll |
32 |
|
Gender composition |
Boys 17 Girls 15 |
|
Ethnic composition |
NZ European/ Pākehā NZ Māori Other |
28 2 2 |
Review team on site |
September 2012 |
|
Date of this report |
20 November 2012 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review Education Review Accountability Review |
October 2009 August 2006 September 2002 |
General Information about Early Childhood Reviews
About ERO Reviews
The Education Review Office (ERO) is the New Zealand government department that reviews schools and early childhood services throughout New Zealand.
Review focus
ERO's education reviews in early childhood services focus on the factors that contribute to positive learning outcomes for children. ERO evaluates how well placed the service is to make and sustain improvements for the benefit of all children at the service. To reach these findings ERO considers:
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 self review and partnerships with parents and whānau.
Review Coverage
ERO reviews do not cover every aspect of service performance and each ERO report may cover different issues. The aim is to provide information on aspects that are central to positive outcomes for children and useful to the service.
Disclaimer
Individual ERO school and early childhood service reports are public information and may be copied or sent electronically. However, the Education Review Office can guarantee only the authenticity of original documents which have been obtained in hard copy directly from either the local ERO office or ERO National Office in Wellington.