294 Dee Street, Avenal, Invercargill
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Just Four Kids Ltd is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Just Four Kids Ltd is a privately-owned, home-based education and care service within the Invercargill and Gore areas. This report refers to one of two networks owned and operated by the same service. Infants, toddlers and young children experience education and care within educators' homes.
The director oversees the day-to-day management of the networks. Three qualified visiting teachers support educators to deliver the teaching and learning programme. They provide regular whānau playgroups and excursions for educators, children and their whānau.
The service philosophy is focused on children learning through play and respectful relationships in small mixed-age groups within the home. It places emphases on the importance of partnerships with parents and quality early childhood education and care that is underpinned by Te Whāriki, the Early childhood curriculum.
Since the June 2017 ERO review report there have been some changes within the visiting teacher team. The service has made good progress in addressing most of the recommendations from that report. Internal evaluation practices and aspects of planning for children's learning still require further development.
The philosophy guides visiting teachers in their work with educators to promote the wellbeing, health, safety and learning and development of children. The director provides ongoing professional learning to build the skills and capability of visiting teachers.
Visiting teachers effectively support educators to recognise and value the importance of children's learning through play in home-based settings. They support educators to provide meaningful experiences for children around the home and in the community. Children experience the depth and breadth of an authentic curriculum in the homes where every-day experiences promote curiosity, exploration and ongoing learning.
Children and their whānau benefit from the small group size in the home settings and close relationships they have with the educators. The home settings are well suited to children with additional learning needs and very young children. Visiting teachers support educators to work closely with children to participate and be successful in their learning. Visiting teachers work collaboratively with educators, parents and specialist services to promote positive and equitable outcomes for all children.
Visiting teachers are supporting educators to increasingly include te reo me ngā tikanga Māori practices in the home-based learning programmes. This is helping all children to learn about the bicultural heritage of Aotearoa New Zealand and for Māori children to know that their language and culture are valued. A next step is to give greater prominence to te reo me ngā tikanga Māori in key guiding documentation.
Visiting teachers' coach and mentor educators to provide whānau with well written learning records that reflect children's interests, strengths and capabilities. A next step for visiting teachers is to coach educators to strengthen assessment documentation to identify progress, learning and next learning steps and show the difference these have made to children's success as learners over time.
Leadership uses internal evaluation to know about and improve effectiveness of aspects of the operation of the business. The scope of internal evaluation now needs to be extended to have a greater focus on the curriculum and teaching and learning and show how this has led to improved outcomes for children. The director and visiting teachers should continue to grow their understanding and use of effective internal evaluation for improvement.
The director and visiting teachers provide a systematic approach to the effective operation of the service. Long-term and annual planning guides the direction of the service; however, planning needs to place more emphasis on key objectives that will make the most difference to outcomes for children.
Visiting teachers regularly monitor and oversee the education, care, safety and wellbeing of children in educator's homes and provide assurance to the director that all requirements are met. Policies, procedures and processes are regularly and collaboratively reviewed and updated to reflect current legislative requirements for health, safety and the curriculum. There are sound systems for the recruitment and induction and ongoing support of educators in their role.
The director, visiting teachers and ERO agree that the key next steps are to:
Before the review, the staff and management of Just Four Kids Ltd completed an ERO Home-based Education and Care 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.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services
Southern Region
4 March 2021
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 |
Invercargill |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
46453 |
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Institution type |
Homebased Network |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
60 children aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
50 |
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Standard or Quality Funded |
Quality |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
6 |
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Number of qualified coordinators in the network |
3 |
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Required ratios of educators to children |
Under 2 |
1:2 |
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Over 2 |
1:4 |
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Review team on site |
November 2020 |
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Date of this report |
4 March 2021 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) These are available at www.ero.govt.nz |
Education Review |
June 2017 |
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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 the draft methodology for ERO reviews in Home-based Education and Care Services: July 2014
The overall judgement that ERO makes will depend on how well the service promotes 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.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Just Four Kids Ltd is well placed to provide positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Just Four Kids Ltd is a family-owned, home-based early childhood care and education service. The directors are fully involved in the day-to-day operation of the service. This report refers to one of two networks owned and operated by the same service. This network caters for the care and education of infants, toddlers and young children in home-care environments within the Invercargill and Gore areas.
The two visiting teachers who provide a range of support, are qualified and registered early childhood teachers who were appointed in Term 1 2017. They work closely with the visiting teachers in the other network. Together they provide a weekly whānau playgroup and regular excursions for educators and children.
The director has developed some useful links with other early childhood professionals and agencies that provide professional learning opportunities.
This is the first ERO review for this service.
The director and visiting teachers foster positive and respectful relationships with educators and families to promote children’s sense of wellbeing. Children and parents are well supported to make a successful transition into the care arrangement.
The visiting teacher from the service’s second network is providing high level support, along with the director, to induct new visiting teachers and promote a reflective team culture. Educator appraisal is well used to inform service priorities. There is a very well planned approach to good quality, regular professional learning and development (PLD) for educators, visiting teachers, parents and directors.
The director and visiting teachers have a number of systems to support educators to share learning. Visiting teachers work collaboratively and value the educators' views and ideas, and are responsive to their needs. Their well-written reports are detailed and help to build educators' assessment capability. Visiting teachers provide useful feedback to educators to improve their teaching and ways to extend children's learning. Useful communication systems have increased parents', and whānau contributions to children’s learning.
Visiting teachers and educators understand and value the home setting. Importance is placed on children learning through play and enjoying meaningful everyday experiences around the home and in the community. An appropriate focus on science and mathematics is evident.
The visiting teacher and educators place importance on providing nurturing care for infants and toddlers and the provision of routines that align to parent preferences.
The children's culture, language and identity is acknowledged and valued. Leaders are committed to culturally responsive practices. They successfully promote te reo Māori and celebrate Pacific languages within the service and learning community.
Leaders are focused on ongoing improvement and positive outcomes for children. They have high expectations and work to remove barriers to learning, including quickly responding to individual needs and any concerns. Leaders are introducing and strengthening a number of internal systems to support sustainable practice and the growth of the service. Educators are well supported to be effective in providing education and safe learning environments for children.
The service leaders recognise that a number of systems and practices are at an early stage. They have high expectations. Internal evaluation is beginning to be used to support sustainable practice and the provision of an effective learning environment. Service leaders and ERO agree that priority should now be given to:
increasing understanding of in-depth internal evaluation and developing a framework to guide practice
further developing appraisal and attestation processes to align to the Education Council requirements for registered teachers
developing a programme for provisionally registered teachers
ensuring consistency of the quality of assessment, including explicit goal setting and progress of learning over time
continuing to develop leadership capability for newly-appointed visiting teachers.
Before the review, the staff and management of Just Four Kids Ltd completed an ERO Home-based Education and Care 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 service has a range of formal and informal systems for managing health and safety requirements. In order to improve current practice the service provider should ensure:
that the service is fully compliant with all aspects of the Vulnerable Children's Act for personnel and child protection, including the direct reporting of any suspected child abuse.
Since the on-site stage of the review the service provider has improved this centre's provisions for ensuring that all educators hold a current first-aid certificate prior to caring for children.
The next ERO review of Just Four Kids Ltd will be in three years.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern (Te Waipounamu)
30 June 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 |
Invercargill |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
46453 |
||
|
Institution type |
Homebased Network |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
80 children, including up to 80 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
61 |
||
|
Standard or Quality Funded |
Standard |
||
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Gender composition |
Girls 35: Boys 26 |
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Ethnic composition |
Pākehā |
43 |
|
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Number of qualified coordinators in the network |
2 |
||
|
Required ratios of staff educators to children |
Under 2 |
1:2 |
|
|
Over 2 |
1:4 |
||
|
Review team on site |
April 2017 |
||
|
Date of this report |
30 June 2017 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
First ERO report |
||
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 the draft methodology for ERO reviews in Home-based Education and Care Services: July 2014
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.