125 Sturges Road, Henderson, Auckland
View on mapERO’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.
Regulatory standards |
ERO’s judgement |
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Curriculum |
Meeting |
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Premises and facilities |
Meeting |
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Health and safety |
Meeting |
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Governance, management and administration |
Meeting |
Since the onsite visit the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed non-compliances and is now taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.
Mini Miracles Educare Western Heights is a privately owned and operated education and care service. Relocation into a new purpose-built building occurred in 2021, and the service now provides for children in three age-based rooms. There have been staffing changes, including a new centre manager, since the 2018 ERO report.
The design and layout of the premises support the provision of indoor and outdoor experiences. The service is well resourced with a sufficient quantity and variety of furniture, equipment, and materials.
Print-focused wall displays support a language-rich environment.
The service curriculum is consistent with Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. It is informed by assessment and planning documentation that demonstrates an understanding of children’s learning. Adults providing care and education engage in positive interactions, which are beginning to nurture reciprocal relationships. The service curriculum acknowledges the unique place of Māori as tangata whenua. Improved monitoring of health and safety is required to meet and maintain regulatory standards.
Since the onsite visit, the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:
Ensuring the gate to the kitchen remains unobstructed and closed so that children cannot access it without adult assistance or supervision (PF17).
Reviewing the service’s emergency plan on at least an annual basis and improved practices are implemented as required. Maintaining the service’s emergency supplies to ensure they are sufficient for the age and number of children and adults at the service (HS7).
Ensuring all relevant emergency drills (fire, earthquake, and lockdown) are carried out on at least a three-monthly basis, and the evaluation of these inform the annual review of the service’s emergency plan (HS8).
Checking sleeping children for warmth, breathing and general wellbeing at least every 5 to 10 minutes.
Checking equipment, premises, and facilities every day of operation for hazards to children (HS9).
Ensuring records of all injury, illness and incidents that occur at the service include evidence that parents have been informed (HS12).
Ensuring records of injury, illness and incident show evidence that parents have been informed (HS27).
Authority to give the medication as well as evidence of parental acknowledgement that the medication has been given HS28).
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Filivaifale Jason Swann
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki
5 July 2022
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Early Childhood Service Name |
Mini Miracles Educare Western Heights |
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Profile Number |
46352 |
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Location |
Henderson, Auckland |
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Service type |
Education and care service |
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Number licensed for |
60 children, including up to 20 aged under 2 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
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Service roll |
47 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori 8, NZ European/Pākehā 5, Indian 12, Pacific 6, African 4, Chinese 4, Filipino 4, other ethnic groups 4 |
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Review team on site |
May 2022 |
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Date of this report |
5 July 2022 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, August 2018 |
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.
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.https://www.ero.govt.nz/assets/Centre-Assurance-Statement-Master-January-2017.pdf In these documents they attested that they have taken all reasonable steps to meet their legal obligations related to:
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:
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO also gathers and records evidence through:
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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.
Mini Miracles Educare Western Heights is one of four privately owned centres. It provides early childhood education and care for children from birth to school age in two age-based rooms. The centre is licensed for 31 children, including up to 10 aged under two years.
New owners recently purchased the centre. The owner/director is supported by a recently appointed centre manager, and a recently appointed regional manager for the four centres. There have been significant changes to staffing, and developments to the environment and organisation. The cultural diversity of the community is reflected in the teaching team.
The centre philosophy values the unique place of Māori as tangata whenua. The philosophy recognises the importance of building strong and reciprocal, trusting relationships with children and families. The centre's vision promotes a play-based learning environment where children, in close contact with parents and community, gain social, emotional and creative ability that allows them to be lifelong learners.
This is the first ERO review of this centre.
Teachers warmly welcome children and whānau into the calm centre environment. They are inclusive and support children to develop their interactive and social skills. Leaders and teachers know their children well. Children are settled and talk positively with their friends and teachers.
Teachers provide respectful care for infants and toddlers, developing a sense of trust with them and their parents. Teachers are skilled at picking up on verbal and nonverbal cues. They respond well to the needs of individual children and ensure their wellbeing is prioritised.
Leaders and teachers are highly committed to upholding the values of te Tiriti o Waitangi and weave bicultural experiences throughout the programme. They include waiata and karakia at group and meal times. Teachers have made te reo Māori visible in wall displays. These practices support teachers' use and confidence with te reo Māori and share the bicultural heritage of New Zealand Aotearoa with families.
Staff celebrate the diversity of cultures represented in the centre. Teachers encourage parents and grandparents to actively contribute to the programme by sharing their languages and cultures. Their contributions to the centre are valued.
Teachers document children's involvement in group programmes and activities. A greater focus on planning to extend children's individual interests and learning dispositions should support more challenge and complexity in child-led play. Leaders have identified the need to further develop the teachers' role as facilitators of children's play, including greater recognition and response to teachable moments.
Teachers have begun to use on-line portfolios to share children's learning with whānau. Some parents use this opportunity to interact with teachers about their child's learning. Leaders agree that individual portfolios need to be more reflective of each child's learning journey.
The regional manager and centre manager have established an initial strategic direction for the service. They have begun to review and refine systems, including teacher appraisal and internal evaluation.
Key next steps for ongoing development include the leadership team:
refining assessment, planning and evaluation, and building teacher capacity with the revised Te Whāriki implementation
reviewing teacher practice, to better respond to children's emergent interests, strengths and skills
continuing to build leadership capability and capacity through shared professional learning
developing an effective appraisal system that includes inquiring into teachers' practice and building their leadership skills
focusing on the quality and robustness of internal evaluation processes that inform ongoing centre improvement.
That the centre leaders engage in external professional development focused on change management processes to effectively lead the centre through this time of establishment and development.
Before the review, the staff and management of Mini Miracles Educare Western Heights 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 Mini Miracles Educare Western Heights will be in three years.
Julie Foley
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)
Te Tai Raki - Northern Region
16 August 2018
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 |
Henderson, Auckland |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
46352 |
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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 |
31 children, including up to 10 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
40 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 23 Girls 17 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
12 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% + |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:5 |
Meets minimum requirements |
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Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
July 2018 |
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Date of this report |
16 August 2018 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
No previous ERO reports |
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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:
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.