BestStart Buchanans Road

Education institution number:
45132
Service type:
Education and Care Service
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
117
Telephone:
Address:

5 Jarnac Boulevard, Christchurch

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Edukids Delamain - 23/10/2018

Here is the latest report for the Governing Organisation that this service is part of

 

1 Evaluation of Edukids Delamain

How well placed is Edukids Delamain to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Not well placed

Requires further development

Well placed

Very well placed

Edukids Delamain is well placed to promote positive outcomes for children.

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

Background

Edukids Delamain operates under the BestStart Educare Ltd management structure. BestStart is a large national organisation which owns early childhood centres across Aotearoa New Zealand.

The centre is licensed to provide education and care for 100 children, including up to 25 children under two years of age. The teaching programme is organised across four separate rooms, with different age groups in each room. Each room has a connected outdoor play area, with those children over three years sharing a play space with children from the preschool room. The centre is purpose built.

A centre manager (CM) oversees the day-to-day operation of the centre. Head teachers lead the programmes and practices in each room. A BestStart business manager (BM) and professional services manager (PSM) visit regularly to support the service. Most staff are trained early childhood teachers. A new CM was appointed in 2016. Since the 2015 ERO review, there have been some staff changes.

The centre's vision is, 'Children are at the centre of all that we do.' The philosophy is currently undergoing review. The centre's philosophy places importance on partnerships with parents, valuing children's cultures, respectful interactions and Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and the role of routines to support a sense of belonging.

Since the 2015 ERO review, the centre has made good progress towards addressing all of the areas identified for development. Improvements have been made to programme planning and identifying specific of teaching strategies. There is greater consistency of practices across the classrooms and increased valuing of different cultures in the learning programme and environment. Some areas for improvement identified in the 2015 ERO report require continued strengthening, as outlined in this report.

The Review Findings

Children’s interests, strengths and dispositions underpin assessment, planning and programme provision. Children readily contribute ideas to group plans. Teachers extend children's learning by engaging their curiosity and helping them seek answers to their questions.

There are many good examples of assessment and planning for individuals. These examples clearly identify children's learning goals, specify teaching strategies to support the achievement of the goals, and show the child's progress towards attainment of these. Teaching strategies are evaluated for effectiveness.

Children under two are cared for and nurtured by teachers who are quick to notice and respond to them. Care routines are respectful and responsive to the natural rhythm of babies, infants and toddlers.

Leaders and teachers foster positive relationships and a culture of care across the centre. There is collaboration and connectedness between the four classrooms. Planned opportunities for all children to interact contribute to their sense of belonging. Transition processes into and, within the centre, and on to schools are thoughtfully considered.

Teachers are inquiring into their practice to deepen their knowledge base and continually improve outcomes for children. The best examples demonstrate an increasing level of reflection and critical thought about how to best meet the needs, interests and strengths of children. This can be seen in the way teachers are:

  • using a range of useful strategies to support children with additional needs
  • empowering children's independence and confidence through positive interactions and engagement in learning with, and alongside , their peers
  • being more intentional about seeking parent and whānau aspirations for their children
  • beginning to explore the concept of Māori success as Māaori
  • showing greater awareness of children’s cultural backgrounds, particularly for children with Māori or Pacific heritage.

Leaders are effectively building consistent practices between rooms. There is strong focus on building a cohesive teaching team, leadership capability and sustainable practices across the four classrooms. This is promoting a professional environment and shared conversations about teaching and learning. Appraisal is robust providing teachers with affirmation and challenge to support their teaching practice.

Well-established quality assurance systems help monitor how well the organisation's expectations are met, and support ongoing improvement. The centre's leaders and teachers work well with the PSM and BM. They benefit from the contributions of the PSM and BM who provide direct feedback, professional learning and development, business management and HR support.

Key Next Steps

Centre leaders and ERO have agreed that the key next steps for further improvement are to continue to:

  • extend knowledge and use of internal evaluation, including more effective use of the centre's existing internal evaluation framework
  • empower children to take a greater lead in their own learning
  • be more deliberate about making connections to te ao Māori perspectives and including these in planning and programme provision.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Edukids Delamain 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 Edukids Delamain will be in three years.

Alan Wynyard

Director Review & Improvement Services

Te Waipounamu - Southern Region

23 October 2018

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

LocationChristchurch
Ministry of Education profile number45132
Licence typeEducation & Care Service
Licensed underEducation (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008
Number licensed for100 children, including up to 25 aged under 2
Service roll104
Gender composition

Boys: 58 ;

Girls s: 46

Ethnic compositionMāori 
Pākehā 
Pacific 
Chinese
Other ethnicities
12
47 

10 
26

Percentage of qualified teachers

0-49% 50-79% 80%+

Based on funding rates

80% +
Reported ratios of staff to childrenUnder 21:4Better than minimum requirements
Over 21:8Better than minimum requirements
Review team on siteSeptember 2018
Date of this report23 October 2018

Most recent ERO report(s)

 

Education ReviewNovember 2015
Education ReviewMarch 2012

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.

Edukids Delamain - 02/11/2015

1 Evaluation of Edukids Delamain

How well placed is Edukids Delamain 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

Edukids Delamain operates under the BestStart Educare Ltd management structure. BestStart (previously known as Kidicorp Ltd) is a large national organisation that owns early childhood centres across New Zealand.

The centre provides education and care for children up to school age. It is licensed for 100 children, including up to 25 children, aged up to two years old. An increasing number of the staff, children and families are from diverse cultures and backgrounds.

The centre is purpose built and set up as four rooms; a nursery, toddler room, preschool and a prep-room for the oldest children. It is appropriately resourced and well maintained.

A centre manager oversees the day-to-day operation of the centre. She is supported in her role by regular visits from a business manager and a professional service manager from the BestStart organisation.

There have been many changes in staff since the 2012 ERO review. Most staff are trained early childhood teachers. Those who are beginning teachers are being well supported to work towards full teacher registration.

The Review Findings

The new teaching team has recently reviewed the centre philosophy. Teachers have successfully developed a more shared philosophy to reflect and guide how they work with children.

Teachers are respectful of children. They interact with them in caring and positive ways. They listen to children’s preferences and respond appropriately. Teachers interact with infants and toddlers in sensitive and nurturing ways. Children’s oral language development is well supported.

Teachers' value and support children’s home languages. Some teachers speak and use other languages when interacting with children.

Teachers value and promote effective relationships. They actively encourage children’s social skills and support them to play successfully with others.

Children have good opportunities to learn about their community with regular visitors to the centre, and excursions into the local community. Teachers have established useful links with local schools to support children as they move on to school.

Children benefit from a programme that is based on what teachers notice about children’s interests and how they extend these. Teachers make good use of Te Whāriki (the New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum) as part of their planning process. They are more purposefully seeking parents’ aspirations and making increasing use of parents' ideas to inform their programme planning.

Teachers' individual strengths and interests are well used in the programme and for aspects of leadership. This is particularly evident, in some rooms, for supporting the learning of Pacific children, children who have English as a second language, and understanding of Māori perspectives.

Teachers work well as a team and share information regularly to ensure children’s needs are well met. Teachers work effectively with other agencies to support children and their families who may need additional support.

Teachers are becoming more reflective. They are now using an increasing range of evaluative tools and indicators to assess their own practice and to help them focus more on improved learning outcomes for children.

The business manager and professional service manager provide useful support and leadership to guide centre improvement and development. Teachers are provided with regular and useful professional learning and development. There is a clear system guiding the appraisal of teachers.

BestStart has many systems to help centres improve learning outcomes for children. These include:

  • a review process to identify what is going well, and next steps for centre improvement
  • support from centre managers in the day-to-day operation of centres from regular visits of education and business managers
  • effective systems and processes for ensuring children have safe and healthy learning environments.

Key Next Steps

The centre managers have identified, and ERO agrees, that key next steps to improve outcomes for children include:

  • strengthening self review, including following a clearer process and focusing more on evaluating the quality of teaching
  • improving the ways teachers evaluate programme planning and the effectiveness of their teaching strategies
  • increasing the visibility of children’s language, culture, and identity in the environment and programme
  • giving greater prominence across the centre to Māori perspectives in programmes and practices.

Some rooms have particular programme strengths, for example bicultural and multicultural practices, that are not as evident in other rooms. The centre manager and teachers now need to consider ways to develop greater consistency for children and their families as they move through the centre, by identifying where best practice is occurring, and making these practices more widely evident across the centre.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Edukids Delamain 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 Edukids Delamain will be in three years.

Chris Rowe

Deputy Chief Review Officer Māori (Acting)

2 November 2015

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

Christchurch

Ministry of Education profile number

45132

Licence type

Education & Care Service

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

100 children, including up to 25 aged under two

Service roll

131

Gender composition

Boys 53%;

Girls 47%;

Ethnic composition

Māori

Pākehā

Chinese

Indian

Pacific

Other ethnicities

17%

42%

11%

5%

2%

23%

Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80% Based on funding rates

80%

Reported ratios of staff to children

Under 2

1:5

Better than minimum requirements

 

Over 2

1:10

Meets minimum requirements

Review team on site

August 2015

Date of this report

2 November 2015

Most recent ERO report

Education Review

March 2010

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.