21 Coopers Drive, Mangonui
View on mapBusy Bees Coopers Beach
Seashells Early Childhood Centre - 09/10/2019
ERO’s Judgement
Regulatory standards |
ERO’s judgement |
Curriculum |
Meeting |
Premises and facilities |
Meeting |
Health and safety |
Meeting |
Governance, management and administration |
Meeting |
At the time of the review, ERO found the service was taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.
Background
Seashells Early Childhood Centre has operated at Coopers Beach since May 2014. It is part of the nationwide Provincial Education Group. The centre is licensed to provide for up to 56 children, including up to 16 aged under two years. Seven of the 13 staff, including the manager, are qualified teachers. Two-thirds of the children enrolled have Māori heritage.
Summary of Review Findings
Children learn in a language-rich environment with teachers who engage them in positive, meaningful interactions. Teachers plan and implement a curriculum that is inclusive and responsive to children as confident and competent learners. Teaching practices are underpinned by a good understanding of children’s learning and development and relevant early childhood education theories. The curriculum acknowledges and reflects the unique place of Māori as tangata whenua.
The service is managed effectively. Human resource management practices are suitable. An ongoing process of review keeps the service focused on improving outcomes for children. The premises support easy access to resources and the provision of different types of indoor and outdoor experiences. Health and safety practices are appropriately documented and monitored.
Key Next Steps
Next steps include:
- showing continuity of learning more clearly over time in teachers’ assessment and planning
- increasing the rigour of internal evaluation.
Next ERO Review
The next ERO review is likely to be an Education Review.
Steve Tanner
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki
9 October 2019
Information About the Service
Early Childhood Service Name |
Seashells Early Childhood Centre |
Profile Number |
46403 |
Location |
Mangonui, Northland |
Service type |
Education and care service |
Number licensed for |
56 children, including up to 16 aged under 2 |
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80%+ |
Reported ratio of staff to children under 2 |
1-4 - Better than regulatory standards |
Reported ratio of staff to children over 2 |
1-8 - Better than regulatory standards |
Service roll |
70 |
Gender composition |
Girls 41 Boys 29 |
Ethnic composition |
Māori 47 |
Review team on site |
August 2019 |
Date of this report |
9 October 2019 |
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review January 2016 |
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 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 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 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 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.
Seashells Early Childhood Centre - 15/01/2016
1 Evaluation of Seashells Early Childhood Centre
How well placed is Seashells Early Childhood Centre to promote positive learning outcomes for children?
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Background
Seashells Early Childhood Centre has operated at Coopers Beach, Mangonui since May 2014. Originally providing full day education and care for children over two years, the centre was extended in September 2015 to cater for a small number of children under two years old. Most of the 50 children on the roll are Māori and staff represent a diverse range of cultures. This is the first review of the centre.
The owner has a strong commitment to serving the community well. This has resulted in her providing a largely free service for all children which includes food as well as transport to and from the centre for many children. The owner has established trusting relationships with parents and whānau through daily communication and regular consultation.
During the early stages of development the owner has been the only fully registered teacher. She is supporting four teachers through to full registration and encourages whole team participation in professional development opportunities. While programmes are underpinned by Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, the owner aspires to provide a service that also reflects Reggio Emilia philosophy and practices. She continues to build teachers’ knowledge and skills with a view to achieving this goal.
The Review Findings
Children are happy and settled in the centre. They have positive relationships and show a sense of belonging in an environment that promotes their care and wellbeing. Children make choices about their play confidently and often work cooperatively with their friends. They benefit from opportunities to explore their interests through ongoing projects and adults’ expectation that they will develop self-management skills. Children are capable communicators who readily initiate conversations with adults and interact well with each other to support their play.
Babies and toddlers are relaxed and contented in the spacious new area. The high ratio of adults enables close individual support for these children. They enjoy easy access to the outdoor environment and are warmly encouraged as they investigate resources and practise new skills.
Teachers support children to engage with resources. They frequently ask questions to encourage children's thinking and to make links with children's interests and previous experiences. As a multicultural team the staff understand the importance of valuing languages, culture and identity. The team working with babies is a good model for other staff as they develop their knowledge of te reo and tikanga Māori.
Teachers are continuing to develop their systems for planning, assessment and evaluation. Currently teachers are not formally documenting programme plans to guide teaching strategies or to ensure they integrate learning across key curriculum areas. While they are making good progress in assessing children's learning an increased focus on evaluating the quality of learning outcomes could help teachers improve the depth and complexity of children's learning experiences. Strengthening their skills and knowledge in these areas would provide a sound foundation for teachers to then develop aspects of their philosophy.
Teachers have adopted the Reggio Emilia philosophy of regarding the learning environment as the ‘third teacher’ (after parents and staff). They should now reflect on the extent to which play areas support this approach. Teachers need to help children to maintain tidy and inviting play areas if they expect the environment to provoke children's imagination and challenge them to explore.
Parents who were interviewed expressed enthusiasm for the centre. They appreciate the extent of the service provided and the relationships their children share with teachers. They value the quality of communication they have with the owner and staff, and opportunities to share their aspirations. Parents are pleased to receive booklets of their child’s learning stories every few months. They view the multicultural activities and opportunities for children to experience te reo and tikanga Māori as strengths of the centre programme.
The centre owner is a compassionate leader who seeks to support and empower her staff. She is developing appropriate management systems and provides generous non-contact and meeting time for teachers’ administrative tasks and shared reflections. They have undertaken several reviews of their practices, but could now formalise the records of these inquiries. During initial centre development the owner has focused on managing the centre. It is timely now for her to enhance her role as mentor and coach to staff as they work towards full teacher registration.
Key Next Steps
The owner agrees that key next steps for centre development could include:
- establishing a long term strategic plan and an annual action plan to implement strategic goals
- providing teachers with curriculum leadership roles to strengthen their ownership of the programme
- continuing to develop effective systems for planning, assessment and evaluation to enhance the depth of children's learning
- further refining self-review processes to improve documentation and establish a regular review cycle
- improving the appraisal process to enhance performance management, clarify alignment with the Practising Teacher Criteria and initiate appraisal for herself.
Management Assurance on Legal Requirements
Before the review, the staff and management of Seashells Early Childhood 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.
In order to clarify guidance for staff, the owner and teachers should review personnel, and health and safety policies and procedures.
Next ERO Review
When is ERO likely to review the service again?
The next ERO review of Seashells Early Childhood Centre will be in three years.
Graham Randell
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern
15 January 2016
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
Location |
Mangonui, Northland |
||
Ministry of Education profile number |
46403 |
||
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
Number licensed for |
48 children, including up to 12 aged under 2 |
||
Service roll |
50 |
||
Gender composition |
Girls 26 Boys 24 |
||
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā other |
38 8 4 |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80% Based on funding rates |
80% |
||
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:4 |
Better than minimum requirements |
Over 2 |
1:8 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Review team on site |
November 2015 |
||
Date of this report |
15 January 2016 |
||
Most recent ERO report(s) |
No previous ERO reports |
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 and Next Review
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:
- Very well placed – The next ERO review in four years
- Well placed – The next ERO review in three years
- Requires further development – The next ERO review within two years
- Not well placed - The next ERO review in consultation with the Ministry of Education
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.