Seedlings Early Learning Centre

1 Evaluation of Seedlings Early Learning Centre

How well placed is Seedlings Early Learning Centre to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Seedlings Early Learning Centre is very well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

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

Background

Seedlings Early Learning Centre is privately owned and purpose-built. It is one of two centres owned and managed by two directors. One director takes responsibility for the day-to-day operation of this centre. The other director is the curriculum leader across both centres. Almost all staff are qualified early childhood teachers.

Leaders and teachers provide education and care for infants, toddlers and young children to school age. The centre is licensed for 75 children, including 25 up to two years. Children learn and play in two separate rooms specifically organised to meet the needs of the nursery and preschool children. Both groups have their own outdoor playgrounds.

Families from a range of cultural backgrounds attend the centre and staffing reflects this diversity. Some children are learning English as an additional language.

The philosophy emphasises respectful relationships, developing strong social competence, love of learning, manaakitanga and the right of the child to learn through play.

Since the October 2015 ERO review, leaders and teachers have maintained and improved the positive aspects of practice identified in the ERO report. They have made very good progress addressing the key next steps.

The Review Findings

Children are highly focused and confidently engaged in the very well designed and attractively resourced learning areas. They show care for and enjoyment in their learning environments. Children experience calm, respectful relationships with each other and their teachers. They play cooperatively for long periods of uninterrupted time. This helps to build their social competence and confidence. Teachers celebrate children's languages and cultures as a valued part of belonging to this centre.

Children have many opportunities to experience interest-based inquiry learning that helps to foster deeper, more complex learning. Teachers value the creative and expressive arts. They give children time to explore and experiment. Literacy, mathematics and science concepts are carefully integrated into children's learning in meaningful and appropriate ways.

Teachers are inclusive and child-focused. They model the centre values as they work collaboratively and respectfully with children and whānau. Teachers co-construct learning with children. They regularly observe children at play and plan for their learning. They skilfully enable children to follow their own interests and learning choices. Teachers celebrate and honour children's work and learning. They purposefully support the development of independence and self-help skills.

Infants and toddlers experience calm, nurturing interactions with attentive adults in a thoughtfully presented environment. Teachers deliberately ensure the continuity of routines between home and centre through regular communication with parents. They sensitively encourage children to recognise and communicate their needs. Teachers intentionally foster social competence and confidence through care routines and exploration.

Leaders and teachers are strongly committed to involving whānau in children's learning. They have established an ongoing relationship with local iwi to support the inclusion of Māori concepts, values and tikanga into practices and the learning programmes. Leaders have deliberately appointed a kaiako Māori to help build teachers' confidence with speaking te reo Māori, as they intentionally support Māori children succeed as Māori. Leaders have identified the need to further strengthen bicultural practice.

Internal evaluation is well established and leads to improvement. As a result of internal evaluation, there are clear, helpful guidelines and practices for children moving into, within and beyond the centre. Useful, reciprocal relationships with local schools have been created to support children's smooth transition to school.

Leaders are collaborative, reflective and strategic. They provide well considered team-building approaches and have an unrelenting focus on embedding the philosophy and values. Leaders purposefully support staff to develop their professional practices with carefully targeted professional learning and development and sound appraisal inquiry processes. The directors ensure clear alignment of the philosophy, values and strategic planning across centre practices. They have very well embedded operational systems and practices.

Key Next Steps

Key next steps include:

• further strengthening assessment, planning and evaluation processes and practices for individuals and groups to make learning priorities and evaluation of learning and teaching more visible

• continuing to strengthen and embed bicultural practice and increase understanding of Māori success for Māori.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Seedlings Early Learning 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:

• 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.

Dr Lesley Patterson

Director Review and Improvement

Southern Region - Te Tai Tini

28 April 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.