239 Porchester Road, Takanini, 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 |
|
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.
Blossoms Educare Takanini is one of 12 services in the Blossoms organisation. A qualified centre manager leads a team of 22 staff that includes 12 qualified teachers. Children attending are from diverse cultural backgrounds. Blossoms organisational leaders provide professional guidance and support to their services.
Children experience a curriculum that is consistent with Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. Adults providing education and care engage in meaningful, positive interactions to enhance children’s learning and nurture reciprocal relationships. The service curriculum is inclusive, and responsive to children as confident and competent learners.
Children are provided with a range of experiences and opportunities to enhance and extend their learning and development. The design and layout of the premises support the provision of different types of indoor and outdoor experiences. Children’s preferences are respected, and they are involved in decisions about their learning experiences.
Service leaders need to monitor that health and safety requirements are implemented and maintained.
Key next steps include:
strengthening assessment, planning and evaluation to better align with the learning outcomes of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum
increasing teaching strategies that intentionally support children’s developing social competence and understanding of appropriate behaviour.
The service has provided ERO with evidence to show the following non-compliances have been addressed:
Having a centre specific emergency plan, and evidence of review of the plan, on at least an annual basis and implementation of improved practices as required (HS7).
Having evidence of evaluation of emergency drills and how this informs the emergency plan (HS8).
Ensuring when children leave the premises on an excursion an assessment and management of the risks is undertaken and is fully completed (HS17).
Maintaining a record of all medicine (prescription and non-prescription) given to children attending the service. Records include name and amount of medicine given; date and time medicine was administered and by whom (HS28).
Having a record of training and/or information provided to adults who administer medicine to children (other than their own) while at the service (HS29).
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Patricia Davey
Director of Early Childhood Education (ECE)
4 October 2023
|
Early Childhood Service Name |
Blossoms Educare Takanini |
| Profile Number |
46661 |
| Location |
Takanini, Auckland |
|
Service type |
Education and care service |
|
Number licensed for |
150 children, including up to 20 aged under 2 |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
|
Service roll |
145 |
|
Review team on site |
July 2023 |
|
Date of this report |
4 October 2023 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, March 2017 |
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.
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 Akanuku | Assurance Review process is determined to be appropriate.
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 Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO assesses whether the regulatory 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; safety checking; teacher certification; ratios)
relevant evacuation procedures and practices.
As part of an Akanuku | 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.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Blossoms Educare Takanini is one of eight Blossoms services. The owner aspires to providing a service that is strongly community focused. The vision statement and philosophy of the organisation were developed in collaboration with staff, and express an intention to provide quality, inclusive and accessible childcare for all children. This is ERO's first review of the centre.
Blossoms Educare Takanini is licensed to provide education and care for up to 120 children including 20 under two years of age. The centre is a purpose-built facility that caters for children in three age-related groups. Children play together in mixed age-groups in the two outdoor areas, and those under two years also have a separate deck area.
The roll includes children from a variety of different cultural backgrounds including Pākehā, Māori, Indian and Pacific. Staff reflect the ethnic diversity of the community. The owner follows a social justice model by providing affordable services.
Staff are well supported by members of a support team, who visit frequently to foster improvements in the quality of teaching and learning. The team helps with resource development and centre operations. They are building the capability of staff to operate more independently with centre specific procedures that are aligned to the group's policies and goals.
The owner, two support team leaders and nine staff members in the centre are registered teachers. Staff have an external appraiser and mentor who supports their ongoing development. Teachers also participate in professional development that is focused on enhancing the quality of teaching and learning, and the development of bicultural practices.
This review was part of a cluster of four reviews in the Blossoms Educare group of centres.
Children are warmly welcomed by teachers. Friendships between children develop as they group together to investigate the activities provided for them. There is a good flow to the children's day, with opportunities to play both indoors and outside. Attractive and inviting resources, particularly outdoors, encourage their participation in play. The support team has made a deliberate effort to provide natural environments for children's play.
Infants and toddlers are settled and content in the care of their teachers. Teachers prompt them to be independent in choosing their play. High levels of encouraging and responsive talk is a strength of teachers' provision for these younger children. Children engage enthusiastically when teachers talk to them. Teachers recognise individual children's strengths and next steps for learning, and celebrate their achievements and successes.
Older children are grouped in two rooms with easy access to the outdoor area. Teachers provide a range of activities and experiences and work closely with children. It would be useful for teachers to evaluate how closely the programme aligns with individual children's interests and strengths, and provides for problem-solving and conversations that help to extend their thinking.
Teachers have made a particular point of developing and sustaining relationships with families. They know the children well through their conversations with parents/whānau and more formal meetings to discuss children's progress. Teachers collect information about parent satisfaction at these meetings and receive very positive feedback. Children's transitions into, through and out of the centre are well managed by teachers.
Centre leaders are aware that teachers have varying levels of professional knowledge and skills. Leaders have developed specific strategies to build the capabilities of teachers, including robust appraisal processes and generous provision for professional development. They should now prioritise a whole-centre focus on strengthening assessment, planning and evaluation practices.
Teachers are developing their understanding and inclusion of bicultural practices in the centre. Their confidence in using and including te reo and tikanga Māori is becoming evident in the programme. Teachers intend to further develop these aspects of the programme. It would be useful for them now to evaluate the extent to which they are supporting Māori children's success as Māori.
Children and their families enjoy reading and sharing the individual portfolios that teachers create. Teachers provide opportunities for parents to share photographs and news from home. Children's cultural backgrounds are reflected in learning stories. A further step in documenting learning would be for teachers to comment more clearly about children's progress over time.
Children and their families benefit from the inclusive nature of the centre. The support team encourages teachers to follow the intentions of the vision and philosophy in their work. The thoughtful appointment of teachers who share a cultural backgrounds with centre families has been successful. Children and their families are well supported to feel part of the centre community.
The support team has established good systems for monitoring health and safety provisions and property management. The centre manager and her assistant are new in their positions but are keen to learn and progress teachers' professional learning and development.
The Blossoms management team is committed to the ongoing development of all centres in the organisation. The team leaders have begun developing an action plan to address the key next steps identified in the current cluster of centre reviews. They are taking responsibility for mentoring and guiding staff while strengthening their expectation that centre managers and teachers will continue to review programme planning, learning extension, internal evaluation and bicultural practices. The management team has plans to further develop its strategic plans and to provide an appropriate appraisal process for the centres' owner.
The support team recognises the need to continue to provide support for increasing quality outcomes in the centre. These provisions will include:
whole-centre professional development to further develop programme planning
deliberate strategies to encourage children to initiate and sustain meaningful conversations
continuing to develop self-review as a tool for internal evaluation
Before the review, the staff and management of Blossoms Educare Takanini 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.
The next ERO review of Blossoms Educare Takanini will be in three years.
Graham Randell
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern
1 March 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 |
Takanini, Auckland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
46661 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
120 children, including up to 20 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
129 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls 65 Boys 64 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Indian Cook Islands Māori Samoan other |
25% 32% 28% 6% 3% 6% |
|
|
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 |
1:7 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
November 2016 |
||
|
Date of this report |
1 March 2017 |
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|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
No previous ERO reports |
||
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.
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.