341 Borman Road, Flagstaff-Hamilton, Hamilton
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Cumberland Early Education Centre is very well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Cumberland Early Education Centre is located in the Hamilton suburb of Rototuna. It provides full day education and care for preschool children from three months of age. The centre is a modern, purpose-built facility divided into five specific age groups. It is licenced for 120 children with a maximum of 50 up to two years of age. The roll reflects a diverse number of cultural backgrounds, including 5% whom are identified as Māori.
There is a lead teacher for each room, and an assistant manager and centre manager provide overall leadership. The service operates under the umbrella of Early Education Waikato (EEW) which provides governance for seven centres in Hamilton. Management, who are also responsible for the Waikato Kindergarten Association (WKA), consists of a CEO, two Education Managers, human resources and administration personnel.
The vision 'Every child reaching their full potential' guides the strategic direction for the entire association. The centre philosophy is based on building strong trusting relationships with tamariki and whānau and demonstrates a commitment to the Treaty of Waitangi principles. Teachers aim to provide a secure, stimulating natural environment that empowers children to develop a lifelong love of learning.
The centre has a positive ERO reporting history and has continued to maintain high quality systems and practices through internal evaluation processes. Since the last ERO review the centre has introduced individual planning for all children.
Children benefit from high quality resources and opportunities for meaningful learning experiences. The curriculum responds well to children's interests and needs, and empowers them to exercise choice, take risks and solve problems. Literacy, mathematics and other curriculum areas are integrated into daily programmes. The extensive and well-maintained outdoor environment provides stimulating and physical challenge for all ages. The programme is enriched through bicultural contexts for learning, multicultural celebrations and excursions. Māori children are affirmed in their culture and identity. Leaders acknowledge that this as an area to continue to extend, strengthening teacher use of te reo Māori and te ao Māori in the curriculum planning and practice. The home languages of children from other cultures are embraced and celebrated. Children are encouraged to be confident and independent learners. They are safe and nurtured in a caring whānau-like environment.
Positive and affirming relationships are clearly evident between teachers, children and their families. The values of the centre philosophy are well established and highly evident in practice. Open and personalised communication with whānau fosters strong relationships and supports children's learning and wellbeing. High quality intentional teaching extends children’s knowledge, skills and social competencies. Teachers purposefully develop children's oral language, confidence and self-management skills. Individual planning for all children actively encourages whānau participation and helps inform ongoing adaptive programme design. Assessment, planning and evaluation celebrate children’s successful learning. Children up to the age of two benefit from respectful, nurturing and highly attentive interactions. Teachers respond very well to their non-verbal cues in a calm and caring environment.
Leadership is highly collaborative and promotes a positive culture for teachers and children. Relationships between leaders and teachers are highly reciprocal and based on regular communication, respect and trust. Coaching and mentoring is an integral part of this. Intentional opportunities are provided for teachers to critically reflect on their practice. Professional learning and development is targeted and well aligned to the EEW strategic direction. Ongoing innovation and improvement to streamline centre operations continue to support positive outcomes for children and their whānau. Effective liaison with whānau and community has strengthened the place of bicultural practice in the centre. Internal evaluation practices across the centre align well to the overall vision and goals of the service and successfully sustains high quality practices.
The EEW has a clear vision and strategic direction for the service. Bicultural values are embedded in the centre's philosophy. The principles of the Treaty of Waitangi are strongly evident within all centre relationships and practices. Consultation with parents, family and whānau has contributed to the review and development of a shared vision. Strengthening relationships with the local community is an ongoing focus. Policy review is undertaken regularly to support daily operations. Strategic planning is effectively focused on improving outcomes for all children.
Continue to strengthen teacher use of te reo Māori and te ao Māori in the curriculum planning and practice and make more visible in assessment.
Before the review, the staff and management of Cumberland Early Education Centre 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.
Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services
Central Region
11 September 2019
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.
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Location |
Hamilton |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
46148 |
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Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
120 children, including up to 50 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
143 |
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Gender composition |
Male 50% Female 50% |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
5% |
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Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
80% + |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:4 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
July 2019 |
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Date of this report |
11 September 2019 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
May 2015 |
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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.
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Cumberland Early Education Centre is located in Hamilton and provides full-day education and care for pre-school children from three months of age. The centre is licensed for 120 children, including 50 under two years of age. At the time of this ERO review, 97 children were enrolled, of whom 26 identify as Chinese.
The centre is a modern, purpose-built education facility and opened in 2012. This is the first ERO review for the service. The building is divided into five autonomous rooms each specialising in a specific age range. Each room is overseen by a team leader who is supported by the centre manager. An additional service is the provision of nutritiously cooked daily meals.
The centre’s philosophy aims to ensure children are competent, confident and successful learners and this is well enacted. Teachers in each room have developed their own vision for high-quality education specific to the age of children they work with.
The centre operates under the umbrella of Early Education Waikato (EEW) that provides governance and management for five centres in Hamilton. EEW is a non-profit charitable organisation, overseen by three directors, and shares the same CEO as the Waikato Kindergarten Association. Educational Service managers provide advice and guidance for centre managers and teachers. The strategic direction of EEW is guided by their strategic plan and overarching vision, ‘Every child reaching their full potential’. EEW has a commitment to providing a quality, sustainable service that effectively meets the diverse educational needs of all children attending and provides strong learning outcomes for them.
Early Education Waikato is managed effectively by an experienced leadership and administration team, and they manage the Waikato Kindergarten Association. A kaumātua from Tainui provides advice, guidance and support about Māori language, culture and identity.
The centre benefits from clear guidelines and expectations provided by EEW for practice and the availability of good self-review processes for monitoring and evaluating the quality of education and care it provides. These processes are contributing to its efficient operation.
Cumberland Early Education centre is providing high-quality education service for its community. Children and their families are welcomed into a positive culture where relationships are respectful and caring. At all age levels children experience sensitive and trusting relationships with teachers, fostering their sense of belonging and wellbeing.
Teachers use a wide range of highly effective teaching practices to motivate and engage children in purposeful play and learning. Children’s social competencies are promoted by teachers consistently applying positive guidance strategies. These include quality conversations to extend children’s’ learning and thinking skills. Children interact with one another positively in their play and have extensive opportunities to enrich their communication and language development.
Children have access to a comprehensive range of high-quality resources in a spacious, well-organised, safe environment. Children are encouraged to make decisions and lead their own learning in a wide range of interesting experiences prepared in the environment. At various times of the day children are able to intermingle with other age groups and siblings. Children participate in meaningful sustained play where they can develop their confidence as capable, self-managing learners.
Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, underpins all aspects of the centre’s exciting programmes. Strong elements of literacy, mathematics, care and respect for the environment, science and the arts are interwoven into the daily programme. A good start has been made on including te reo and tikanga Māori into the daily interactions and curriculum. The centre manager and teachers recognise that this is an area for ongoing development and they are committed to extending bicultural practices.
Families are invited to participate in their child’s education through on-line individual assessment portfolios that celebrate children’s successes and learning. Parents have opportunities to share their culture and skills, to further enhance learning programmes experienced by children.
Particular features of the age-based rooms are as follows:
Babies (3 months - 15 months)
Young toddlers (15 months - 2 years)
Older toddlers (2 years - 3 years)
Young children (3 years - 4 years)
Older children (4 years to school age)
Since the centre opened management and teachers have reviewed and established systems for centre operations. A focus has been to develop flexible transition procedures that prioritise supporting children’s emotional well-being as they graduate from one room to another, and on to school.
The knowledgeable centre manager, with the support of a very capable educational services manager has set high expectations for quality education and professional practice. Together they provide ongoing effective leadership for curriculum development, staff management and centre operations. The centre benefits from skilled team leaders who have formed an effective professional relationship with management and teachers.
A particular strength of centre operations is the regular, purposeful self-review programme that leads to ongoing improvements to centre operations and practices. A collaborative and reflective team culture focuses on achieving the best possible outcomes for children.
ERO supports management’s intention to enhance the centre-wide self-review programme by making direct links between the annual plan and teachers’ personal professional goals.
Before the review, the staff and management of Cumberland Early Education Centre 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:
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 Cumberland Early Education Centre will be in four years.
Dale Bailey
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern
4 May 2015
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Location |
Hamilton |
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|
Ministry of Education profile number |
46148 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
120 children, including up to 50 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
97 |
||
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Gender composition |
Girls 54 Boys 43 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Chinese Indian South East Asian Tongan Other European Other Asian Other |
2 55 26 2 2 1 5 2 2 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80% Based on funding rates |
80% |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:4 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
February 2015 |
||
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Date of this report |
4 May 2015 |
||
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
No previous ERO reports |
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.