Hillcrest High School Community Childcare

1 Evaluation of Hillcrest High School Community Ch-Care

How well placed is Hillcrest High School Community Ch-Care to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Hillcrest High School Community Ch-Care requires further development to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

Hillcrest High School Community Ch-Care requires further development to ensure that centre governors are compliant with all health and safety licensing requirements, as outlined in the Licensing Criteria for Early Education and Care Services 2008.

ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.

Background

Hillcrest High School Community Ch-Care is located in Hamilton city. It provides education and care for children from three months to school age in a mixed-aged setting. This not-for-profit, community-based centre is governed by a board of trustees consisting of parent and staff representatives. The centre is licensed for 34 children, including eight under two years. The 37 children enrolled are representative of a culturally diverse community, including 13 who identify as Māori.

The centre’s vision is to 'foster a love of learning in a fun, safe and supportive learning community'. Their philosophy aims to provide children with individual and unique opportunities for holistic life-long learning in an inclusive and respectful environment.

Since the December 2016 ERO report a new centre manager has been appointed. She is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the centre and leads a new teaching team of three fully qualified teachers and one teacher in-training. The centre has responded to some of the area for development identified in the previous ERO report.

The Review Findings

Some key practices and procedures need attention to meet the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008. Governance and management practices require further development to ensure service operations meet requirements.

A clear focus on developing children’s social competence promotes a culture for learning. Teachers use positive guidance strategies well to encourage and acknowledge children's efforts and successes. Children are empowered to make choices and lead their learning increasing their confidence and independence.

Māori children and whānau benefit from manaakitanga and whanaungatanga evident in practice. Rich experiences extend children's knowledge of te ao Māori. These practices are supporting Māori children and their whānau to feel valued and affirmed in their culture. Strengthening visibility of all children's language, culture and identity in assessment documentation, including children from Pacific heritage, is an identified next step. 

Children are provided with a broad range of learning experiences both in the centre and in the community. The outdoor learning environment and regular excursions into the local nature reserve, provide children with opportunities to learn to manage risk and engage in problem solving. Children are developing as resilient and self-confident learners.

Children with additional needs and their whānau are well supported through consistency of practice and collaboration with external agencies.

Teachers' know each child well. They use this knowledge to develop individual learning plans for children that reflect their needs and parent aspirations. Continuing to develop individual planning and assessment should strengthen the visibility of children's progression of learning over time.

Transitions in to and out of the centre are flexible and responsive to the needs of individual children and their families. Infants and toddlers benefit from nurturing and secure relationships in a caring and calm environment. 

Respectful relationships between teachers, children and whānau are nurtured. Leaders are building teacher capability through effective internal evaluation practices that are improving aspects of the curriculum. Ongoing professional learning and development promotes a reflective culture focused on improvement and positive outcomes for children. Review for accountability purposes requires strengthening. Fully implementing the annual appraisal that meets the Teaching Council New Zealand requirements for the issue and renewal of teachers' practising certificates is needed.

A well-embedded philosophy promotes positive learning outcomes for all children. Regular communication and consultation with parents is increasing their involvement in decision making and the life of the centre. Strategic direction has been self-identified as an area to improve. Governance demonstrates a commitment to equitable outcomes for children.

Key Next Steps

To better promote sustainability and improvement it is timely for the board, in consultation with leaders, to:

• clarify roles and responsibilities for governance and for leadership
• develop a long-term strategic plan that identifies specific goals linked to priorities for learning and timelines to monitor progress
• strengthen governance and management systems, including oversight and monitoring to meet the licensing requirements and regulatory standards.

In addition, leaders acknowledge that assessment, planning and evaluation practices should be strengthened to better reflect:

• increasing complexity of children's learning over time
• the visibility of all children's languages, cultures and identities.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Hillcrest High School Community Ch-Care 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.

Actions for compliance

ERO found areas of non-compliance in the service related to health and safety practices and governance and management. To meet requirements the service needs to improve its performance in the following areas:

• having a current Fire Evacuation Scheme approved by Fire and Emergency New Zealand
• carrying out and evaluating relevant emergency drills on at least a three-monthly basis
• gathering appropriate parental acknowledgement of the administering and daily collection of medications
• notifying the specific agency and Ministry of Education of any serious injury, illness or incident
• safety checking of work force that is robustly undertaken and recorded.

[Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, HS4, HS8, HS28, HS34, GMA7A, Children's Act 2014].

To improve practice the service needs to:

• ensure a robust process of policy and procedure review is carried out.

[Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008]

Development Plan Recommendation

ERO recommends that the service, in consultation with the Ministry of Education, develops a plan to address the key next steps and actions outlined in this report.

Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region - Te Tai Pūtahi Nui

3 July 2020 

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

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

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.

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.