C/- Te Akau School 953 Te Akau Road, Ngaruawahia
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 |
|
Premises and facilities |
Not meeting |
|
Health and safety |
Meeting |
|
Governance, management, and administration |
Not meeting |
At the time of the review, ERO identified non-compliance with regulatory standards that must be addressed.
Te Akau & Districts Playcentre is run by a parent cooperative and operates under the umbrella of the Te Whānau Tupu Ngātahi o Aotearoa - Playcentre Aotearoa. It serves a rural community and is situated adjacent to Te Akau Primary School.
Infant, toddlers and young children experience positive and meaningful interactions with adults who nurture reciprocal relationships. Children’s preferences are respected, and they are able to make decisions about their learning in a language-rich environment. The service curriculum provides children with a range of experiences and opportunities to enhance their learning and development.
An ongoing process of self-review helps the service maintain and improve the quality of its education and care. During a recent restructure period Playcentre Aotearoa regional centre-facing staff have not been appraised.
ERO found areas of non-compliance in the service relating to ensuring:
[Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, PF11, GMA7]
Since the onsite visit the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:
ERO recommends the Ministry follows up with the service provider to ensure that non-compliances identified in this report are addressed promptly.
The next ERO review will be in consultation with the Ministry of Education.
Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui
31 May 2021
| Early Childhood Service Name | Te Akau & Districts Playcentre |
| Profile Number | 33027 |
| Location | Te Akau |
|
Service type |
Playcentre |
|
Number licensed for |
25 children, including up to 15 aged under 2 |
|
Service roll |
19 |
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori 5, NZ European/Pākehā 14 |
|
Review team on site |
April 2021 |
|
Date of this report |
31 May 2021 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, June 2016; Education Review, December 2012 |
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.
Te Akau Playcentre is an early childhood service run by a parent cooperative and operates under the umbrella of the Waikato Playcentre Association (WPA). It serves a rural community and is situated adjacent to Te Akau Primary School. The centre runs two sessions a week for children from birth to school age. Since the 2012 ERO review, significant funding has been sourced to upgrade the environment and resources.
The playcentre is licensed for 25 children with a maximum of 15 under two years of age. The current roll is 18 and 10 who are identified as Māori. 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 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 association’s strategic commitment to te Tiriti o Waitangi is evident in its bicultural leadership model. High value is placed on productive partnerships with Māori whānau, and funding is made available for related professional development. The association’s commitment to Ka Hikitia has resulted in clear expectations for continuing to build members’ understanding, confidence and competence in te ao Māori.
The playcentre has a positive reporting history with ERO and effectively responded to areas for development identified in the 2012 report.
The centre philosophy states that, 'parents are educators, we play, learn and grow together, respect and nurture each other'. The playcentre philosophy is highly evident at all levels of centre operations.
This review was part of a cluster of 8 reviews in the Waikato Playcentre Association.
A strength of the playcentre is the sense of belonging to a supportive family-focused community experienced by children and their whānau. Parents, especially those new to the area, appreciated the welcoming and inclusive environment for them and their children. Affirming relationships based on mutual trust and acceptance are highly evident among adults and children. Adults take a communal approach to responding to the physical and emotional needs of all children, which currently include a high proportion of new born babies. They are highly responsive to individual needs and rhythms of children especially babies and toddlers who are able to play and explore alongside their whānau.
Children are encouraged to initiate their own play and follow their interests. They have ongoing access to an extensive range of high quality, age-appropriate resources both in the indoor and outdoor play areas. Babies and toddlers are effectively supported in their play by interested adults and older siblings. The indoor area provides attractive spaces for creative and imaginative play, and the promotion of early literacy skills and a love of stories. The construction area and comprehensive puzzle selection fosters early mathematical skills.
Innovative developments in the outdoor areas invite children's exploration and interaction with the natural world. Children and their families are involved with the plantings and care of the fruit trees, native plants and vegetable garden. The harvesting, cooking and eating of produce is a popular element in the programme. Healthy eating and physical activity is actively encouraged. There are many opportunities for problem solving and physical challenges that promote risk taking in a safe environment. The programme is responsive to individual children's needs and this promotes extended periods of uninterrupted play and sustained learning opportunities.
A feature of the playcentre is the close partnership with the adjoining primary school. There are regular exchanges between playcentre children and students at the school. These experiences stimulate and extend children's learning opportunities, and build confidence for their transition to school.
All adults are currently engaged in playcentre education programmes that empowers them to be well-informed, first educators of their children. The high ratio of adults to children ensures quality learning conversations where rich oral language is modelled and shared. Adults demonstrate an increasing confidence in their use of te reo Māori in the daily programme, and this supports and affirms Māori children's language, identity and culture. Individual learning portfolio's record an outline of each child's involvement in the programme.
Leadership of the programme and operations is shared by the whānau cooperative. This provides a rich variety of challenging and worthwhile experiences for the adults involved, who receive both encouragement and professional support from the association. Leaders promote and model healthy nutrition and positive attitudes to physical activity, which reflects an holistic approach to wellbeing.
A useful next step is for parents to strengthen the planning and assessment process in learning stories to show more clearly how they add complexity to children's ideas and interests over time. This is likely to improve their ability to effectively evaluate the programme and further enhance the learning opportunities for children. Support for this should be provided by the CSW and includes sharing examples of best practice.
Before the review, the staff and management of Te Akau & Districts 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.
The next ERO review of Te Akau & Districts Playcentre will be in three years.
Lynda Pura-Watson
Deputy Chief Review Officer
10 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 |
Te Akau |
|
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
33027 |
|
|
Licence type |
Playcentre |
|
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
|
|
Number licensed for |
25 children, including up to 15 aged under 2 |
|
|
Service roll |
18 |
|
|
Gender composition |
Girls 6 Boys 12 |
|
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā |
10 8 |
|
Review team on site |
April 2016 |
|
|
Date of this report |
10 June 2016 |
|
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
December 2012 |
|
Education Review |
November 2006 |
|
|
Education Review |
December 2002 |
|
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.