Fairlie Early Learners

Education institution number:
46577
Service type:
Education and Care Service
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
41
Telephone:
Address:

19 Hamilton Street, Fairlie

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Fairlie Early Learners

1 ERO’s Judgements

Akarangi | Quality Evaluation evaluates the extent to which this early childhood service has the learning and organisational conditions to support equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners. Te Ara Poutama- indicators of quality for early childhood education: what matters most are the basis for making judgements about the effectiveness of the service in achieving equity and excellence for all learners. The Akarangi Quality Evaluation Judgement Rubric derived from the indicators, is used to inform the ERO’s judgements about this service’s performance in promoting equity and excellence.  

ERO’s judgements for Fairlie Early Learners are as follows:

Outcome Indicators

ERO’s judgement

What the service knows about outcomes for learners

Whāngai Establishing

Ngā Akatoro Domains

ERO’s judgement

He Whāriki Motuhake

The learner and their learning

Whakaū Embedding

Whakangungu Ngaio

Collaborative professional learning builds knowledge and capability

Whakawhanake Sustaining

Ngā Aronga Whai Hua

Evaluation for improvement

Whakawhanake Sustaining

Kaihautū

Leaders foster collaboration and improvement

Whakaū Embedding

Te Whakaruruhau

Stewardship through effective governance and management

Whakaū Embedding

2 Context of the Service

Fairlie Early Learners is a privately-owned centre in a small rural community. It provides full-day education and care in two separate areas for children from birth up to school age. The owners support the centre manager who leads the team of mostly qualified kaiako.  Good progress has been made on the April 2017 ERO report findings.

3 Summary of findings

Leaders and kaiako build responsive and reciprocal relationships with children, their parents and whānau. They work positively with external agencies and the wider community to promote the wellbeing, learning and development of children who may need additional support. Kaiako who work with infants and toddlers are nurturing and maintain a calm and unhurried pace that gives younger children time and space to lead their own learning. Transitions into, within and out of the service are individualised for each child and their whānau and help build children’s sense of belonging and confidence as learners.

Kaiako deliberately use their professional knowledge to skilfully support children’s learning and development in order to assist all children to participate fully in the curriculum. They promote tuakana-teina relationships as an intentional teaching strategy which draws on children’s leadership and fosters their social skills. Leaders and kaiako integrate aspects of te reo me ngā tikanga Māori into the curriculum so that children can learn about and respect the dual heritage of Aotearoa.

Kaiako work in partnership with parents and children to assess children’s learning and respond to their interests and strengths. This supports children to be confident and competent in making decisions about their learning. Kaiako should build on their partnerships with children, parents and whānau to unpack the strands, goals and learning outcomes of the early childhood curriculum, Te Whāriki, interpret these and set priorities to guide the service. Assessment of and for learning should also consistently show how the service responds to children’s diverse languages, cultures and identities.

Leaders promote relational trust within the teaching team in order to build collaboration and collective responsibility for the wellbeing and learning of all children. The owners provide conditions that are conducive to building and sustaining quality adult-child relationships.

The service has a useful process and regularly carries out internal evaluation for improvement. Internal evaluation will be enhanced by having a greater focus on knowing how well improvement actions have impacted on outcomes for children.

4 Improvement actions

Fairlie Early Learners will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:

  • in partnership with parents, and with input from children, unpack the strands, goals and learning outcomes in Te Whāriki to develop learning priorities and use these to guide all aspects of operation, including teaching and learning and internal evaluation
  • further develop assessment and planning processes to show how the curriculum responds to children’s, parents’ and whānau identities, language and cultures
  • deliberately build leaders’ and kaiako cultural competency
  • develop regular evaluative reporting to inform the owners on the impacts of decisions made on outcomes for children.  

5 Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Fairlie Early Learners 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.

6 Actions for Compliance

ERO found areas of non-compliance in the service relating to:

  • rooms used by children are kept a comfortable temperature no lower than 16 degrees (at 500mm above the floor) while children are attending.

Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Services 2008, HS24.

Since the onsite visit the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliance:

  • items intended for children to sleep on are securely covered with non-porous material (PF30)

7 Recommendation to Ministry of Education

ERO recommends the Ministry follows up with the service provider to ensure non-compliances identified in this report are addressed.

Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini

18 February 2021 

About the Early Childhood Service

Early Childhood Service Name Fairlie Early Learners
Profile Number 46577
Location Fairlie

Service type

Education and care service

Number licensed for

40 children, including up to 10 aged under 2.

Percentage of qualified teachers

80%+

Service roll

44

Ethnic composition

Māori 1, NZ European/Pākehā 32, Other ethnicities 11.

Review team on site

November 2020

Date of this report

18 February 2021

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review, April 2017.

Fairlie Early Learners - 20/04/2017

1 Evaluation of Fairlie Early Learners

How well placed is Fairlie Early Learners 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

Fairlie Early Learning centre provides full-day education and care for children up to school age. The service is located in Fairlie, a small rural community in Canterbury. This is the service's first education review. The centre is privately owned and managed, and has been open for two years. The owners work with a curriculum leader who is responsible for the daily programme. Together they have worked to establish the service and grow the roll. The purpose-built facility includes a separate area for infants and toddlers to work and play safely. Children have access to a spacious outdoor area with natural features.

The Review Findings

Children and their families are welcomed into a calm and settled environment. The owners have taken a collaborative approach to developing the centre culture. The teachers and leaders are caring and respectful. Teachers work together and with families to ensure positive professional relationships. The philosophy is well understood and guides teacher practice.

Teachers have clear roles and responsibilities and work well as a team. They are focused on learning, and are flexible and responsive to children’s individual needs. They value input from parents and work with them to support development and extend children's learning. Teachers plan to the specific strengths and interests of each child with an emphasis on supporting children to develop friendships and social skills.

Children show curiosity and enthusiasm for learning. They enjoy participating in a variety of interesting activities and experiences across the curriculum. Some teachers integrate te reo and waiata Māori into the programme with ease and children, including the very young, are becoming familiar with the practices.

Infants and toddlers benefit from good quality care and a high level of respect from teachers. They play and learn in an environment equipped to support their physical and emotional wellbeing. The teachers are attuned to infants' verbal and non-verbal cues. They engage with children in ways that encourage the development of their language and social confidence.

The owners promote and value professional learning and build teacher capability. Teachers are guided by an effective system for assessment and planning that ensures they continuously reflect and evaluate their work.

The owners and curriculum leader have established useful systems and processes that clearly state their expectations and guide centre practice. They effectively monitor the quality of learning assessment and documentation and there is a robust appraisal process in place. These systems are continually being refined and improved.

Other practices that support the service to provide for children's learning include:

  • comprehensive health and safety practices

  • policies and procedures that are regularly reviewed

  • a useful strategic plan with appropriate goals

  • a process to internally evaluate the quality of important aspects of the service.

Key Next Steps

Areas for development include further developing:

  • a plan to implement the goals of the strategic plan over time

  • the evaluative aspect of the internal evaluation system to widen the scope of evaluations

  • the centre's plan for ongoing service-wide bicultural development/integration of Māori perspectives, and make visible the commitment to celebrating culture and its diversity.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Fairlie Early Learners 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.

Next ERO Review

When is ERO likely to review the service again?

The next ERO review of Fairlie Early Learners will be in three years.

Dr Lesley Patterson

Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern (Te Waipounamu)

20 April 2017 

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

Fairlie

Ministry of Education profile number

46577

Licence type

Education & Care Service

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

40 children, including up to 10 aged under 2

Service roll

44

Gender composition

Girls: 29

Boys: 16

Ethnic composition

Māori

Pākehā

African

British

3

37

2

2

Percentage of qualified teachers

0-49% 50-79% 80%+

Based on funding rates

80% +

Reported ratios of staff to children

Under 2

1:4

Meets minimum requirements

Over 2

1:8

Better than minimum requirements

Review team on site

February 2017

Date of this report

20 April 2017

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.