The Children's Garden

Education institution number:
46999
Service type:
Education and Care Service
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
37
Telephone:
Address:

390 Main Road, Stoke, Nelson

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The Children's Garden

ERO’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.

ERO’s Judgement

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.

Background

The Children’s Garden is a privately-owned early childhood centre located in Stoke. The owners manage service operations and have teaching roles. They are supported by a curriculum leader, team of teachers and a chef. The philosophy is aligned to the teachings of Emmi Pikler and also emphasises the importance of children engaging with nature.

Summary of Review Findings

Teachers work collaboratively to develop and implement a curriculum which reflects understanding of children’s interests, whānau and life contexts, and relevant theories and practice in early childhood education.  Children experience meaningful and positive interactions with teachers. Their preferences are respected, and they are involved in decisions about their participation and learning. Positive steps are taken to acknowledge the aspirations held by parents and whānau for their children. Implementation of a range of learning experiences is supported both indoors and outside.  Improved monitoring of aspects of health and safety practices, and governance and management, is required.

Actions for Compliance

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

  • adding adhesive film to cover a mirror, which is accessible to children, to hold the glass in place in the event of it being broken
  • including all required elements in the daily hazard checking
  • documenting all required aspects of assessment and management of risk for some excursions
  • requiring parents’ acknowledgement that medication has been given, and signatures for some long-term medication
  • extending the child protection policy to meet all the requirements of the Children’s Act 2014, in relation to provision for the identification of child abuse
  • making available to parents information about the amount and details of the expenditure of any Ministry of Education funding received by the service
  • implementing a staff appointment process that meets all the requirements of the Children’s Act 2014
  • an annual budget that guides expenditure.

Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008 PF7, HS12, HS17, HS28, HS31, GMA3, GMA7A, GMA9.

Next ERO Review

The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.

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

7 October 2021 

Information About the Service

Early Childhood Service Name The Children’s Garden
Profile Number 46999
Location Stoke

Service type

Education and care service

Number licensed for

30 children, including up to 12 aged under 2.

Percentage of qualified teachers

80-99%

Service roll

42

Ethnic composition

Māori 7, NZ European/Pākehā 26, Other ethnic groups 9

Review team on site

July 2021

Date of this report

7 October 2021

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review, February 2018

General Information about Assurance Reviews

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.

ERO undertakes an Akanuku | Assurance Review process in any centre-based service:

  • 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.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

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 regulated 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; police vetting; teacher certification; ratios)
  • evacuation procedures and practices for fire and earthquake.

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.

The Children's Garden - 20/02/2018

1 Evaluation of The Children's Garden

How well placed is The Children's Garden 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

The Children's Garden is a small family oriented, mixed-age service that provides full day care and education for up to 30 children aged from birth to school age. Infants, toddlers and young children play and learn together in a thoughtfully renovated family home and in spacious outdoor areas.

The owners are fully involved as managers and teachers in this new service. They are supported by a curriculum leader, a team of teachers and a centre cook. Most of the staff are qualified early childhood teachers. The service philosophy is founded on the teachings of Emmi Pikler and the Respect in Education approach to early childhood education.

This service opened in April 2016 and this is its first education review.

The Review Findings

The owners have a clear vision and well-considered desired outcomes for children's learning that guide all aspects of the programme and practices in the centre. These key factors support the service to achieve positive outcomes for children.

Children and their families benefit from respectful, caring, relationships with their teachers. Each child is assigned a designated caregiver who develops close connections with the child and their family and works in partnership with them to best support the child's learning and development.

Teachers know the children well and are responsive to their needs and preferences. Infants and toddlers benefit from an unhurried and individualised approach. Teachers have meaningful conversations with children as they join them in their play.

Children confidently play and learn in calm and peaceful indoor and outdoor areas. These areas have encouraged children's engagement with nature. Teachers provide uninterrupted time and space for children to explore, create and imagine. Older children are encouraged to be considerate of younger children as they play and learn together.

Teachers provide a child-led programme where children develop:

  • peaceful relationships with those around them

  • skills of problem solving and collaboration

  • physical and creative abilities

  • respect for and connections to nature, including a sense of awe and wonder.

Māori concepts and values are embedded in aspects of policy and the programme and contribute to Māori children feeling their culture is valued. The owner identified, and ERO agrees, that teachers could extend the inclusion of te reo Māori and bicultural perspectives in the day-to-day programme.

Children with additional needs are well supported in their learning. Teachers make good use of information from home to plan meaningful experiences and strategies to support and extend their learning in particular areas.

The owners have established useful systems and practices to ensure the smooth running of this new service. They have built constructive links with other services locally and nationally to share and build best practice.

In this new and developing centre the owners and staff are highly responsive and improvement focused. The owners have high expectations for themselves, children and teachers. They have clear priorities for the direction of the service. The next step is to formalise these by developing long and short term planning to guide the direction and ongoing improvements of the service.

Internal evaluation practices are still at the developing stages. Over time, the owners will need to ensure that all teachers develop a shared understanding of effective internal evaluation. They should then extend the scope of evaluation to be assured about how well the service's philosophy and desired outcomes for learning are met.

Leaders and teachers also need to ensure that planning for individuals and groups of children clearly states the intended learning, and the strategies teachers will use to support this learning. They should also show how they respond to parents' wishes for their children's learning.

Key Next Steps

The owners, teachers and ERO have identified that the next steps are to continue to:

  • strengthen systems for assessment, planning and evaluation to foreground learning and how teachers support this learning

  • continue to implement a bicultural curriculum

  • develop long and short-term planning to guide the service priorities

  • develop effective internal-evaluation practices and extend the scope of internal evaluation.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of The Children's Garden 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 The Children's Garden will be in three years.

Dr Lesley Patterson

Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern

Te Waipounamu - Southern Region

20 February 2018

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

Stoke, Nelson

Ministry of Education profile number

46999

Licence type

Education & Care Service

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

30 children, including up to 12 aged under 2

Service roll

41

Gender composition

Girls: 22

Boys: 19

Ethnic composition

Māori
Pākehā
Other

6
30
5

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

1:6

Better than minimum requirements

Review team on site

December 2017

Date of this report

20 February 2018

Most recent ERO report(s)

No previous 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.