303 Karamu Road North, Hastings
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 |
| Premises and facilities | Meeting |
| Health and safety | Meeting |
| 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.
Homes in this Tiny Nation service are located in Wellington. The philosophy values strong relationships and well-resourced learning environments. Professional leaders and visiting teachers provide guidance and support to educators, children and families. At the time of the review, a small number of children enrolled were identified as Māori.
Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum underpins the service’s philosophy. The curriculum is informed by assessment and planning that demonstrate an understanding of children’s learning and interests.
Children are provided with a range of experiences and opportunities to enhance and extend their learning. Their preferences are respected, and they are involved in decisions about their learning experiences. Children are responded to as capable and competent learners. Regular opportunities are provided for parents to communicate with educators about their child’s learning.
Management systems and processes provide ongoing guidance for the implementation of the service’s operation.
Next steps include:
Since the onsite visit, the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliance:
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Patricia Davey
Director of Early Childhood Education (ECE)
17 November 2023
| Early Childhood Service Name | Tiny Nation S2 Wellington |
| Profile Number | 46980 |
| Location | Hastings |
| Service type | Home-based service |
| Number licensed for | 80 children, including up to 80 children under 2 |
| Service roll | 31 |
| Review team on site | September 2023 |
| Date of this report | 17 November 2023 |
| Most recent ERO report(s) | Education Review, November 2018 |
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.
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:
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:
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO also gathers and records evidence through:
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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.
The In Home Childcare Company is a licensed all-day, home-based education and care service operating in Lower Hutt. The service is privately owned and licensed for 60 children, including 20 aged up to two. Of the 39 children enrolled, 11 identify as Māori. Educators work in their own homes with up to four children at one time.
The owner and visiting teacher are qualified early childhood teachers. They provide support and guidance to educators to promote responsive education and care to children. Service-wide playgroups operate twice a week to facilitate children's experiences within the local community and natural environment. This includes the E Tipu group that provides a transition-to-school programme for older children within a home-base context.
The In Home Childcare Company is committed to providing high quality education and care for each child and their whānau. The philosophy promotes the exploration of the natural world and access to the wider community. It is underpinned by kaupapa Māori principles of whanaungatanga, ako and maintaining a connection to Papatūānuku.
This is the first ERO evaluation of The In Home Childcare Company.
A strong vision sets the direction for the service. Children have access to a wide range of meaningful learning experiences that fosters their exploration and discovery. The philosophy is evident in practice and is well aligned to Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. A shared understanding of the service's priorities for children's learning continues to be developed to promote consistent practice across the service.
Leaders and educators are building their knowledge and understanding of te ao Māori concepts. Regular excursions within the community provide plentiful opportunities for children to connect with Papatūānuku and visit significant landmarks. Leaders are actively working towards growing their use of te reo Māori across the curriculum. Strategies are in place to support Māori learners and whānau to achieve educational success.
Regular playgroup experiences are well considered and responsive to children's emerging interests, encouraging free play and social interactions. All children's cultures, languages and identities are celebrated and affirmed. The integration of te reo Māori and New Zealand Sign Language within the group story documentation is emerging. A deliberate approach to supporting older children to transition to school is successfully promoted through the "E tipu" programme.
Effective induction processes promotes children's sense of belonging and wellbeing as they transition into the service. Strong relationships between educators, children and their parents are evident. Parents are well informed of the service's operation and encouraged to participate and provide feedback.
Infants and toddlers are well supported to fully participate in the learning programme. Educators are responsive, nurturing and respectful of children's preferences and parents' aspirations.
Leaders advocate for children with diverse learning needs. Visiting teachers work alongside educators and whānau to access support from external agencies when needed. A next step is to strengthen planning to further enhance learning opportunities.
Children's participation and engagement in learning through play is regularly documented. Leaders and educators effectively notice individual children's interests and provide purposeful experiences in response. The use of an online portal supports whānau to contribute to their children's learning. Ongoing development is required in the documentation of assessment and visiting teachers should:
analyse information that is regularly gathered about children to further inform curriculum planning and decision making
identify the learning that is happening and how this has progressed over time
ensure individualised planning supports the child to meet the identified learning outcome.
Policies and procedures set out clear expectations to meet the Licensing Criteria for Home-based Education and Care Services, 2008. Leadership regularly monitors the health and safety of children through regular home visits. The appraisal system for the visiting teachers is yet to be consolidated and requires urgent attention to meet recent changes in legislation. Educators are well supported to build their capability.
Regular self review results in positive change to strengthen systems, policies and procedures and aspects of the curriculum. A next step is monitor, evaluate and report on the extent to which outcomes for children and their families' are improved through systems processes and initiatives. This should include consideration of impact of the curriculum on specific priority groups.
Priorities for this service to strengthen includes:
assessment, planning and evaluation for children’s individual learning
the appraisal process and procedure for endorsing and renewal of teachers practising certificates
evaluating the impact of changes made and how these support positive outcomes for children's learning.
Before the review, the staff and management of The In Home Childcare Company 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.
ERO identified areas of non-compliance relating to governance, management and administration. To meet requirements the service needs to improve its performance in the following areas:
the service provider must implement a formal annual appraisal of the service manager that meets Education Council requirements.
[Licensing Criteria for Home-based Education and Care Services 2008, GMA6]
To improve current practice, the early childhood service management should strengthen the hazard management procedure, this includes:
clearly establishing, and articulating the ratio of adults to children prior to undertaking special excursions when visiting areas where they may have access to water.
Since the onsite stage of the review, the service provider has provided additional evidence of the educator hazard identification and risk assessment - group outings policy that articulates the expected ratio of adults to children and steps in place to minimise any possible risk of accident or injury around water.
The next ERO review of The In Home Childcare Company will be in three years.
Alan Wynyard
Director Review and Improvement Services
Te Tai Pokapū - Central Region
30 November 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 |
Lower Hutt |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
46980 |
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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, including up to 20 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
39 |
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Standard or Quality Funded |
Quality |
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Gender composition |
Girls 22, Boys 17 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
11 |
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Number of qualified coordinators in the network |
2 |
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Required ratios of staff educators to children |
Under 2 |
1:2 |
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Over 2 |
1:4 |
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Review team on site |
October 2018 |
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Date of this report |
30 November 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 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.