Paeroa Early Learning Collective

1 Evaluation of Wee Wisdom Montessori Paeroa

How well placed is Wee Wisdom Montessori Paeroa to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

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

Background

Wee Wisdom Montessori Paeroa opened in February 2015 in a redeveloped commercial building in the main street of Paeroa. It provides full day education and care for children from birth to six years old in two, separate, age-based classrooms. The centre is licensed to cater for 80 children, including 10 children up to the age of two years. At the time of this review there were 46 children, including 36 Māori on the roll. This is the first ERO review of the service.

The centre is one of four privately owned centres under the governance and management of the Wee Wisdom Montessori organisation. Two sister centres are located in Drury and Weymouth, South Auckland. The centre leadership team consists of a general manager, with overall responsibility for the professional leadership and shared management of four centres, with the licencee/owner. In addition there is an onsite centre manager and a head teacher for each classroom. Teaching staff includes a mixture of Montessori trained teachers and teachers with New Zealand early childhood qualifications.

The service's philosophy aims to provide a safe, secure, child-oriented learning environment where the whole child can be nurtured. A particular strength of the philosophy is the commitment and outreach to the community resulting in increased participation of families.

The centre operates under the curriculum principles of Montessori and Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum.

The Review Findings

Children learn and play in a welcoming, calm and carefully presented environment. They have established trusting relationships with their teachers and meaningful friendships with their peers. They are settled and confident and enjoy making choices from specialised Montessori materials, which are readily available to them.

Families and whānau are warmly welcomed into the centre and work in positive partnership with teachers in the care and education of children. Families from different nationalities, including aiga from the Pacific Islands, make a significant contribution to the curriculum as they share information about their cultures with others. They are kept well informed about centre activities, events and children's learning through effective communication systems and regular reporting. Whānau and families are able to participate in centre-based parent focus groups to enhance their learning about Montessori education. Children and families demonstrate a strong sense of belonging and wellbeing at the centre.

Māori children and whānau benefit from the presence of teachers with iwi connections in the community. There is respect and inclusion of tikanga Māori practices and cultural celebrations. The Montessori curriculum has a specific focus on cultures of the world. These aspects are supporting success for Māori children as Māori. Teachers recognise the need to continue to build their knowledge and understanding of ways to integrate local tribal history, places of significance to Māori and te reo into the daily life of the centre.

Teachers model respectful and unhurried interactions. They know children well and quickly respond to non-verbal cues and body language. Teachers engage in conversations that support children's oral language development. Flexible routines provide young children with opportunities to eat and sleep according to their individual needs and preferences. Children are affirmed as individuals and valued for who they are and the contribution they make.

The Teina classroom provides children up to the age of three years with a spacious area for exploration and learning. Teachers through internal evaluation practice need to continue to develop agreed expectations and approaches to the teaching and learning of children in the Teina classroom, particularly in relation to planning, assessment and evaluation within a Montessori philosophy.

Tuakana classroom caters for children from three to six years old. Teachers plan, assess and evaluate a curriculum that places an emphasis on:

• the five key areas of a Montessori programme

• the integration of literacy, mathematical and natural science concepts and experiences

• the celebration of cultural diversity and regular events

• a commitment to New Zealand's bicultural heritage

• assessment and planning practices that document children's achievements and progress in learning.

Teachers skilfully model and present the appropriate use of materials. This approach guides and empowers children to confidently manage learning at their own pace and to experience success. Leaders and teachers work positively with specialist agencies to implement appropriate programmes for children with diverse needs.

It is now important for teachers to review and improve their planning to provide further opportunities for children to:

• add challenge and complexity to their learning in the outdoor area

• freely express themselves through the creative arts.

The centre manager takes responsibility for the effective day-to-day organisation of the centre. She is well known in the community and actively supports the Wee Wisdom Montessori Paeroa philosophical commitment to reducing barriers to participation in early childhood education for all families. The head teacher in the Tuakana classroom is providing informed professional leadership for Montessori early childhood education. The head teacher in the Teina room is a qualified early childhood practitioner. She is leading a team that are dedicated to gaining Montessori qualifications to increase their knowledge of this pedagogical approach. This leadership is well supported by the manager and has resulted in a collaborative team that is focused on positive outcomes for children and their families.

As a result of professional learning and development related to internal evaluation, centre leaders have established effective systems and processes across centre operations. There is a strategic approach to regular, documented review resulting in ongoing centre development and improvement and positive outcomes for children and their families.

In a relatively short time the Wee Wisdom Montessori Paeroa organisation has established effective governance in the following areas:

• a clear and documented vision and philosophy

• strategic and annual plans that provide clear direction for centre development

• budget and property management

• policy and compliance frameworks

• aspects of human resource management.

The organisation employs a manager with Montessori qualifications and experience to oversee professional practice in all four centres.

Key Next Steps

Centre owners and leaders need to give attention to further developing aspects of the services operation. This review should include a focus on:

• professional leadership and building teacher capability through ongoing professional learning and development
• personnel management including appraisal
• enriching the provision of learning environments to further support children to explore, experiment, add complexity, and challenge to their learning.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Wee Wisdom Montessori Paeroa 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 Wee Wisdom Montessori Paeroa will be in three years, with an action plan to guide improvements.

Lynda Pura-Watson

Deputy Chief Review Officer Waikato/Bay of Plenty

26 June 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

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.