437 Hauraki Road, Turua
View on mapAkarangi | 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. Judgements are made in relation to the Outcomes Indicators, Learning and Organisational Conditions. The Evaluation Judgement Rubric derived from the indicators, is used to inform ERO’s judgements about this service’s performance in promoting equity and excellence.
ERO’s judgements for Milly’s Educare Limited are as follows:
Outcome Indicators(What the service knows about outcomes for learners) |
Whakaū Embedding |
Ngā Akatoro Domains |
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Learning Conditions Organisational Conditions |
Whakaū Embedding Whakaū Embedding |
Milly’s Educare Limited is a privately-owned, all-day education and care service. The service is governed by the owner and a newly appointed centre manager. They lead and support the teaching team, and centre operation. The philosophy promotes trusting relationships and free play within an evolving curriculum.
Children benefit from a responsive programme consistent with Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. Natural and well-resourced learning spaces, encourage exploration and participation within a calm and settled environment. Opportunities to learn about the wider community are promoted. Some te reo and tikanga Māori are integrated into daily teaching practices. Leaders acknowledge the need for the service to further strengthen teachers’ shared understanding of cultural practices for Māori and children of other cultures who attend the centre. Children’s learning is enhanced by a curriculum that responds to their interests and individual choice.
Strong and reciprocal relationships between teachers, children and their families reflect the centre’s philosophy. Assessment for learning practices draw from a range of information sources. These practices recognise children’s efforts, challenges, and successes over time. Culturally responsive assessment practices are not yet consistently implemented. Children with additional learning needs benefit from parents working alongside teachers. The youngest learners are supported to develop their language and social and emotional competence.
Collaboration and relational trust effectively support leaders and teachers to grow their practice to implement a child-centered programme. Leader’s mentor and guide teachers and facilitate an ongoing, shared understanding of the service’s goals and priorities for children’s learning. Children’s learning is enhanced from teachers accessing relevant professional learning that promotes improvement over time.
Embedded internal evaluation identifies what is and what is not working to support children’s learning and development. The voices of parents and the wider community are yet to be intentionally integrated through this process to support positive outcomes for all children.
Milly’s Educare Limited will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:
Before the review, the staff and management of Milly’s Educare Limited 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:
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.
Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui
3 May 2022
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Early Childhood Service Name |
Milly’s Educare Limited |
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Profile Number |
46937 |
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Location |
Turua |
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Service type |
Education and care service |
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Number licensed for |
28 children aged over two years |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
100% |
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Service roll |
46 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori 9, NZ European/Pākehā 35, Other ethnic groups 2 |
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Review team on site |
February 2022 |
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Date of this report |
3 May 2022 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, May 2018 |
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Milly's Educare Ltd. is a privately owned full-day centre providing early childhood education and care for children from approximately one year to school age in a mixed-age setting. The service opened in April 2016 and is located in a converted church and extensive grounds in the township of Turua on the Hauraki Plains. The centre is licensed for a maximum of 25 children, including five under the age of two years. The current roll is 35 and seven children identify as Māori.
The owners retain overall responsibility for governance matters such as strategic planning, financial and property management, employment and a policy framework to ensure the service meets legislative requirements. One of the owners, who is a registered and qualified early childhood educator, has responsibility for day-to-day centre management. She is supported by a head teacher who has the role of curriculum leader. The service employs a high proportion of qualified teachers.
The centre's philosophy and values underpins all aspects of practice and operations. They emphasise the building of respectful, trusting and loving relationships within the service and empowering children through a responsive curriculum based on real-life experiences. Children are to learn through play and experience wonder, creativity, exploration and fun.
This is the first ERO review for this service.
Children are settled, engaged and happy. Their love of learning through play is fostered by nurturing and respectful relationships with caring adults. Children are able to initiate and lead their own learning. Teacher conversations are based on rich language and questioning to support and extend learning and allow children to develop working theories. Teachers' know children and their families very well. Care rituals and routines are consistently respectful and children are able to engage in uninterrupted sustained play. Transitions into and from the centre are personalised, flexible and responsive. Older children are involved in useful regular visits to the local school in the months before they are due to start. Children are benefitting from a healthy, peaceful and sustainable environment, where they learn through play.
Very young children experience close attachments to familiar and caring teachers. Teachers' are highly responsive to children's non-verbal communication and support their acquisition of oral language. Routines are flexible and responsive to infant and toddler's individual physical and emotional needs. These children can explore and make sense of the world within a safe and calm environment. The highly inclusive environment encourages children of all ages to mix and interact naturally.
Teachers work in close partnership with the families of children identified as having additional needs to ensure appropriate support and guidance is provided.
The curriculum strongly reflects the centre's philosophy and values, and includes an emphasis on providing contexts for authentic learning. The indoor environment is home-like, welcoming and well-resourced with quality equipment available to children. The extensive, attractive and natural outdoor environment is a feature of the service. There are many opportunities for children to safely take risks, challenge themselves, and to interact with nature through gardens and animals. These environments invite children’s engagement and exploration, supported by ongoing access to open-ended resources and natural materials. Children have extensive opportunities for creative, imaginative and constructive play. They experience a curriculum that successfully promotes their confidence and competence as capable learners.
Teachers prepare good quality individual assessment journals for all children. They use effective practices to record children’s interests and identify their learning pathways. Teachers are at an early stage of gathering and acting on parent aspirations for their children. Literacy and mathematics are integrated through the programme, though more intentionally in the indoor areas. A next step is to strengthen the intentional planning for children's learning in all curriculum areas.
Leaders set and model high expectations for teachers. They have established high levels of mutual trust and respect amongst the teaching team, and effectively promoted a collaborative and reflective culture. The manager and head teacher closely mentor, guide and support teachers to enhance their practice that is closely aligned with the service's philosophy. Professional learning and development for staff is actively sourced and promoted. Leaders have strengthened a systematic approach to self-review with a greater focus on change and improvement. Appraisal of all staff is closely aligned to the current requirements of the Education Council and incorporates teaching as inquiry and observations of practice. The team have created an inclusive and supportive culture which promotes a sense of belonging and wellbeing for all children.
The manager and head teacher have successfully established the service in its first two years, and are building a shared community with parents. Effective communication helps parents to feel well informed and able to be positively involved in the education of their child.
Leaders and teachers have an ongoing commitment to further develop the service's bicultural curriculum.
This includes:
Desired outcomes for the success of Māori children should be clearly identified and evaluated. Strengthening the local curriculum is likely to enhance all children's awareness of the bicultural heritage of Aotearoa New Zealand.
There is also a need to prioritise and strategically plan for the next stage of the service's growth and development.-
Before the review, the staff and management of Milly's Educare Limited 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:
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 Milly's Educare Limited will be in three years.
Lynda Pura-Watson
Deputy Chief Review Officer
Te Tai Miringa - Waikato / Bay of Plenty Region
28 May 2018
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 |
Turua, Hauraki Plains |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
46937 |
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Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
25 children, including up to 5 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
35 |
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Gender composition |
Girls 18 Boys 17 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
7 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
80% + |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:2 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Over 2 |
1:7 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
April 2018 |
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Date of this report |
28 May 2018 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
No previous ERO reports |
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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:
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.