Lollipops Napier Port

ERO’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.

ERO’s Judgement

At the time of the review, ERO found the service was taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.

Background

Lollipops Napier Port operates under the umbrella of the national early childhood organisation, Evolve Education Group. This is the first Akanuku | Assurance review for the service since moving from a provisional licence. The all-day education and care service was issued its full licence in March 2020.

Summary of Review Findings

A responsive curriculum supports children to be confident and competent learners. Their preferences are respected, and they are involved in decisions about their learning experiences. Teachers engage in meaningful and positive interactions to enhance children’s learning and nurture reciprocal relationships. A range of experiences and opportunities support children’s learning and development. The service curriculum is consistent with Te Whāriki.

An ongoing process of self-review helps the service maintain and improve the quality of its education and care. Opportunities are provided for parents to contribute to the development and review of the service’s operational documents.

Key Next Steps

Next steps:

• continue to strengthen assessment, planning and evaluation for consistency of practice across the centre
• more opportunities to reflect the cultures and home languages of all children in the service curriculum.

Next ERO Review

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

19 November 2020

Information About the Service

General Information about Assurance Reviews

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.

ERO undertakes an Akanuku | Assurance Review process in any centre-based service:

• having its first ERO review – including if it is part of a governing organisation
• previously identified as ‘not well placed’ or ‘requiring further development’
• that has moved from a provisional to a full licence
• that have been re-licenced due to a change of ownership
• where an Akanuku | Assurance Review process is determined to be appropriate.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

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:

• curriculum
• premises and facilities
• health and safety practices
• governance, management and administration.

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:

• 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 certification; ratios)
• evacuation procedures and practices for fire and earthquake.

As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO also gathers and records evidence through:

• discussions with those involved in the service
• consideration of relevant documentation, including the implementation of health and safety systems
• observations of the environment/premises, curriculum implementation and teaching practice.

1 Evaluation of Lollipops Napier Port

How well placed is Lollipops Napier Port to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Lollipops Napier Port requires further development to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

There is uncertainty about the service's capability and capacity to sustain and improve its performance.

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

Background

Lollipops Napier Port, previously known as Lollipops Educare Napier, is a privately-owned service licensed to provide education and care for 100 children, including 25 up to two years of age. At the time of this ERO evaluation, there were 101 children on the roll, including seven who are Māori. Separate learning spaces provide for the needs of infants, toddlers and young children.

The service is one of seven in the Hawkes Bay governed by Evolve Education Group (Evolve). A manager is responsible for quality assurance and professional learning and an acting area manager provides support to the centre manager and teaching team. Eleven teachers have an early childhood qualification. Four staff have full certification, five are provisionally certificated and two are subject to confirmation. Several educators are untrained.

The service's philosophy, reviewed in 2018, reflects the values and beliefs of teachers, families and whānau.

The April 2016 ERO report identified the need to develop a shared understanding of internal evaluation and to strengthen te ao Māori in curriculum and assessment practices. Improvement of the appraisal system was also needed. Significant staffing changes at Evolve and the centre have impacted on the rate and sufficiency of progress in responding to these areas.

This review was part of a cluster of two centre reviews in Evolve.

The Review Findings

Children engage in a range of child-initiated, play-based experiences for the majority of their time at the centre. Teachers select and introduce a variety of learning opportunities as part of group programme planning. E-profiles are records of learners’ participation and enjoyment in activities of choice. Observations of children in everyday activities are beginning to build a picture of how teachers notice, recognise and respond to learners' interests and ideas. Teachers should continue to seek support and guidance to build their capability in assessment, planning and evaluation.

Infants are encouraged to become active communicators and explorers. Programme provision for these very young learners focuses on nurturing their wellbeing through responsive caregiving. Adults play and work alongside children to support their developing skills.

The centre manager is focused on growing staff understanding of bicultural practice. Te reo Māori is heard throughout the daily programme. Teachers continue to consider ways to further develop their capacity to respond to Māori learners.

Professional leadership requires strengthening. Through training, the manager has developed her knowledge of internal evaluation for improvement. Strengthening the teaching team's understanding of how evaluation contributes to high quality practice and outcomes for children is key next step for development.

The revised appraisal process provides a sound framework to support teachers to develop their practice. Most teachers are new to the service and a full cycle of appraisal had not been completed. Appraisal was an area for improvement in the previous ERO report. This needs to be addressed to support teachers’ growth and to meet requirements of the Teaching Council.

The centre's 2019 action plan identifies some useful priorities and goals. There is an emphasis on growing curriculum leadership to enhance the quality of teaching and learning. Further alignment of the action, strategic and annual plans is needed to support the manager and teachers to show progress towards meeting these goals and achievement of the Evolve vision.

Key Next Steps

Evolve should increase its support to teachers and leaders to improve their understanding of and practices in:

• appraisal

• building leadership capability in a deliberate, systematic manner

• internal evaluation, to know the impact of teachers’ practices on children’s learning

• aspects of assessment, planning and evaluation for children's learning.

Evolve must also ensure that:

• all appointments are consistent with the revised appointments process and with the requirements of the Children's Act 2014

• any and all records related to serious incidents, complaints and reporting to relevant external agencies, if required, are made available on request to relevant agencies.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Lollipops Napier Port 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 identified areas of non-compliance relating to health and safety practices and governance management and administration. To meet requirements the service needs to improve its performance in the following areas:

• any and all records related to serious incidents, complaints and reporting to relevant external agencies, if required, are made available on request to relevant agencies

• appointments are consistent with the revised appointments process and consistent with the requirements of the Children's Act 2014

• a designated space is available to support the provision of restful sleep for children under the age of two at any time they are attending.
  [Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, HS4, GMA7, GMA7a, PF37].

Since the onsite stage of the review, the service has provided ERO with steps taken to address the need for:

• the appointment process to be consistent with the requirements of the Children's Act 2014
• a designated space being made available to support the provision of restful sleep for children under the age of two at any time they are attending.

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

10 June 2019

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.