11 Vera Street, Gore
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Longford Kindergarten is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Longford Kindergarten is in Gore and offers education and care for 40 children aged two years up to school age. The philosophy states that relationships between people, places and are valued and nurtured. These connections create a culture and atmosphere of ako, mannakitanga, kotahitanga, whanaungatanga and kaitiakitanga within the kindergarten whare.
This is one of 23 kindergartens within the Kindergartens South Association (KS). KS is managed by a board of governors and a general manager. The general manager works with a team of senior teachers whose role is to support head teachers and staff working within each kindergarten.
Since the August 2017 ERO report there have been a number of changes to the board of governors and across management. The report recommended the kindergarten develop robust systems for assessment, planning and evaluation. Through these systems they needed to show how children's language, culture and identity was valued. In addition, the vision, long-term planning and philosophy was to be developed in collaboration with parents and whānau and internal-evaluation practices required strengthening. KS also needed to further develop systems to develop and improve the kindergarten's operations and practices. The KS, general manager and kindergarten leaders have made very good progress addressing the recommendations.
This review was one of a cluster of seven kindergartens within KS.
Children are well supported to lead their learning. Teachers know their children well and respond respectfully to their care and learning needs. They work positively alongside children in their learning and activities. There is a clear focus and purpose to the kindergarten programme and key learning priorities are evident. Teachers' and children’s passion for, and learning about, kaitiakitanga is evident in the environment, programme and in teachers' and children's conversations.
Te Ao Māori is integrated throughout the curriculum. Teachers are continually exploring local stories, making connections, developing whakapapa links, and building children's sense of belonging. The kindergarten's key learning priorities, linked to Māori values, help ensure success for Māori.
Children have free access to a variety of resources, activities and play equipment both outdoors and indoors. These appropriately challenge, motivate and extend children's learning and development.
There has been significant professional learning for teachers in the past year around supporting children's social and emotional development. The collaborative, cohesive team have used this increased knowledge to generate useful and effective teaching strategies. They have an established process to monitor and provide for children who need additional support and work effectively with a number of agencies who provide extra advice and guidance.
Records of planning and assessment show a greater awareness of children's needs, strengths and interests and a clear focus on developing learning goals and supporting children's progress. This focus needs to be consistently applied.
A growing involvement of parents has led to a strengthening of learning partnerships. Teachers make effective use of parent's knowledge and aspirations for their children's learning when planning for groups and individuals.
The process of internal evaluation is in the early stages of implementation, however internal evaluation is helping teachers build and improve practice and supports improved outcomes for children.
KS leaders provide effective support and mentoring for the head teacher and teachers within the kindergarten. KS continues to make significant progress in improving the systems and process for the effective governance and management of the association.
ERO, kindergarten leaders and teachers agree that the kindergarten's next steps with the support of the senior teacher is for the teaching team to continue to:
develop, implement and then evaluate the kindergarten's annual plan
consistently show the focus on children's learning and progress in assessment and planning processes
consolidate and extend internal evaluation processes, including evaluating the curriculum and how well they achieve the kindergarten's learning priorities.
Next steps for the KS board and managers are to further develop and implement:
the KS strategic Intent and annual plan
the services guiding document Te Kaupapa mo nga akonga tatou
internal evaluation processes and practices.
Before the review, the staff and management of Longford Kindergarten 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:
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.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region - Te Tai Tini
22 May 2020
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 |
Gore |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
45349 |
||
|
Licence type |
Free Kindergarten |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
40 children, aged over 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
40 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Females 18 Males 22 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori |
4 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
80% + |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
Review team on site |
March 2020 |
||
|
Date of this report |
22 May 2020 |
||
|
Most recent ERO reports |
Education Review |
August 2017 |
|
|
Education Review |
December 2013 |
||
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 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.
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.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
This centre is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children. However, it needs to develop and sustain aspects of its planning, assessment and evaluation.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Longford Kindergarten is located in Gore and is licensed for 40 children aged from two years to school age. Up to 30 children attend in the morning and 20 stay on for the afternoon.
The kindergarten is governed by Kindergartens South (KS) and receives regular support from senior teachers. There have been some staffing changes since the 2013 ERO report, including a relieving head teacher in 2015. After the 2013 ERO review, senior teachers supported the teachers to develop action plans to address the key next steps. However, teachers have not developed and sustained many of the identified key next steps in the 2013 ERO report.
This review was part of a cluster of fourteen kindergarten reviews in the Southland Kindergarten Association (trading as Kindergartens South).
Children who require additional support for their learning and behaviour are well supported at Longford Kindergarten. Teachers, with the support of KS and external agencies, develop detailed planning and implement specific strategies leading to improved outcomes for these children. They have developed a culture where children and their whānau feel accepted and included.
Teachers are skilled at carefully listening to and building on children's ideas. They give children time to make choices, explore and play, and learn at an unhurried pace. Teachers are responsive to children's interests and strengths. They provide children with a wide variety of experiences. This includes a weekly outing for older children to experience nature in a local reserve.
Teachers deliberately foster children's:
oral language skills
growing knowledge of early literacies
dispositions to be caring and nurturing and make friends
active exploration, wonder and creativity.
Teachers have used professional learning and development to improve opportunities for children to learn about te ao Māori. Children frequently hear and use te reo Māori, waiata, karakia and Māori legends. These practices are helping create an environment where Māori children and their whānau know that their culture is valued. Teachers need to embed and sustain this professional learning. They need to show in assessment practices how Māori children are actively engaged in their learning, progressing well and succeeding as Māori.
Systems for planning, assessment and evaluation for groups and individuals have not been sufficiently robust and sustained to effectively support all children's learning when teachers have been faced with challenges. Teachers need to develop a shared understanding of effective planning, assessment and evaluation. They need to ensure guidelines reflect this. When planning for groups and individual children, teachers must:
consistently show in documentation how they respond to parents' wishes for their children's learning
show how they value and respond to children's language, culture and identity
identifying the desired outcomes for children's learning
clearly show the strategies and experiences to support the learning
evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies and experiences in supporting children's learning.
The kindergarten does not have a clear vision to set its direction and guide long-term planning. This needs to be urgently addressed. Teachers need to work collaboratively with parents to ensure whānau values, beliefs, and aspirations and expectations for their children's learning are reflected and responded to in the vision.
The kindergarten philosophy currently reflects what teachers believe are the desired outcomes and priorities for children's learning. The philosophy needs to be refocused in collaboration with parents and whānau to more clearly show their desired outcomes for children and to better reflect the bicultural heritage of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Teachers do not have a good understanding of robust internal evaluation practices. They need to build their understanding and use of effective internal evaluation to monitor and improve programmes and practices.
The kindergarten benefits from ongoing and well-planned professional learning and development. A new appraisal system is being introduced, further development is required to include expectations for observations and explicit links to Tātaiako. Specific goals to support leadership should be included within the process.
The kindergarten receives good support from Kindergartens South. The KS board has a clear strategic vision that outlines key priorities for development. The next step is to ensure explicit alignment of these priorities to each kindergartens’ long-term planning. The board has identified that internal-evaluation practice is not strong at board level. The board needs to receive evaluative reporting of how well these plans and other initiatives have been enacted and the impact on children’s learning.
Longford Kindergarten will be better placed to promote positive learning outcomes for all children when the head teacher and teachers, with strong and ongoing support from Kindergartens South, develop and sustain robust systems to effectively plan, assess and evaluate the learning of individual and groups of children.
Since the onsite phase of the review ERO has requested an action plan from KS that shows how the priorities for improvement at Longford Kindergarten will be addressed. ERO will request progress updates against this plan.
The key next steps to promote positive outcomes for all children are for the head teacher and teachers, with the support of the senior teachers, to:
develop robust systems to consistently plan, assess and evaluate for groups and individual children
show how children's language, culture and identity is valued in planning and assessment
develop the vision, long-term planning and the philosophy in collaboration with parents and whānau
develop and use effective internal-evaluation practices.
The key next steps for the KS board are to:
continue to develop and embed the appraisal system
develop and use rigorous internal-evaluation practices
ensure explicit alignment of kindergarten planning to implement the KS strategic goals
receive evaluative reporting of progress towards the strategic goals.
Before the review, the staff and management of Longford Kindergarten 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:
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 Longford Kindergarten will be in three years.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern (Te Waipounamu)
10 August 2017
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 |
Gore |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
45349 |
||
|
Licence type |
Free Kindergarten |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
40 children aged over 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
33 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls: 19 Boys: 14 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori |
2 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
80% + |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
Review team on site |
May 2017 |
||
|
Date of this report |
10 August 2017 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
December 2013 |
|
|
Education Review |
December 2011 |
||
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:
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.