Caring Kids Childcare

Education institution number:
47042
Service type:
Education and Care Service
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
30
Telephone:
Address:

9 Newton Street, Ngaruawahia

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Caring Kids Childcare

1 ERO’s Judgements

Akarangi | 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 Caring Kids Childcare are as follows:

Outcome Indicators

(What the service knows about outcomes for learners)

Whakaū Embedding

Ngā Akatoro Domains

 

Learning Conditions
Organisational Conditions

Whakawhanake Sustaining
Whakaū Embedding

2 Context of the Service

Caring Kids Childcare is a mixed-age, privately-owned service. The centre manager is responsible for governance and pedagogy and leads a team of four qualified teachers. They aim to promote kaitiakitanga, manaakitanga and whanaungatanga within a home-like environment. Of the children enrolled at the time of this review, a high proportion are Māori, some are of Pacific heritage and the remainder are from a range of ethnicities. The service philosophy prioritises nature-based learning.

3 Summary of findings

Tamariki Māori and whānau experience a highly responsive and rich curriculum as:

  • te reo is correctly pronounced and heard throughout daily experiences

  • tikanga and Te Ao Māori is meaningfully integrated  

  • connections with people, places and things are promoted

  • kaiako who work with toddlers engage in culturally appropriate practises

  • tuakana-teina relationships promote child led learning

  • assessments are mana enhancing.

Children’s ways of learning and understanding of the world around them are well supported. Connections to the local area are promoted through regular ‘bush kindy’ excursions. Whānau have ongoing opportunities to be involved in children’s learning. Community connections are enhancing the development of a localised curriculum.

Children experience an equitable and inclusive learning environment as:

  • toddlers’ participation and oral language is scaffolded

  • there is some responsiveness to Pacific and Indian cultures

  • kaiako seek and respond to parent aspirations

  • partnership with whānau supports children with additional needs

  • freedom of access to outdoors is maintained

  • resourcing is appropriate to children’s age and stage.

Governance prioritises the learning and wellbeing of children in decision making. Group size and ratios support quality relationships between kaiako, children and whānau. The service philosophy is highly enacted in relation to responsiveness to tamariki and whānau Māori. Strategic planning prioritises outcomes for children. Systems are being embedded to ensure effective planning, assessment, and evaluation of the curriculum. The service is working towards monitoring the impact of improvement actions against the learning outcomes from Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum.

4 Improvement actions

Caring Kids Childcare will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:

  • continue to develop the localised curriculum to further grow kaiako cultural responsiveness to all children’s culture, language, and identity

  • strengthen monitoring of outcomes for children by building kaiako evaluative capability through professional growth cycles and internal evaluations.

5 Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Caring Kids Childcare 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.

Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui

15 July 2022 

6 About the Early Childhood Service

Early Childhood Service Name

Caring Kids Childcare

Profile Number

47042

Location

Ngaruawahia

Service type

Education and care service

Number licensed for

30 children, including up to 10 aged under 2

Percentage of qualified teachers

80-99%

Service roll

36

Review team on site

May 2022

Date of this report

15 July 2022

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review, June 2018.

Caring Kids Childcare - 11/06/2018

1 Evaluation of Caring Kids Childcare

How well placed is Caring Kids Childcare to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Not well placed

Requires further development

Well placed

Very well placed

Well placed with an action plan.

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

Background

Caring Kids Childcare is located in the township of Ngaruawahia and opened in August 2016. The centre is privately owned. The centre manager and the administrator are company directors and the centre manager takes responsibility for overall governance support and professional leadership.

The service is licensed for 30 children, including 10 up to the age of two years. It provides all-day education and care in a mixed-age setting. At the time of this ERO review there were 30 children enrolled, including 24 who identify as Māori. There have been several changes to the teaching team in recent times. The teaching team consists of two qualified registered teachers and one newly-graduated teacher.

Leaders and teachers are participating in relevant and ongoing professional development related to curriculum design, positive guidance and building their knowledge of the revised Te Whāriki document. The centre's philosophy places priority on promoting whanaungatanga, manaakitanga and kaitiakitanga in a home-like environment. There is an emphasis on whānau involvement and children as tuakana of their younger siblings and peers. The centre aims to provide opportunities for children to explore and respect the natural world.

This is the first ERO review for this centre.

The Review Findings

A strength of the centre is its culturally responsive curriculum. Children participate with teachers in sharing karakia, waiata, haka and pakiwaitara that reflect Māori culture and values. Sharing kai with the community is promoting manaakitanga for children, teachers and whānau. Māori children and their whānau benefit from teachers who maintain strong relationships and connections in the community. Some teachers confidently use te reo Māori in meaningful contexts. Close connections are maintained with Tainui and Turangawaewae Marae for visits, hui, kapahaka and celebrations. This is contributing to a strong sense of belonging and emerging awareness of Māori children's language, culture and identity and that of others.

Other features of the centre's curriculum include:

  • participation in local school events and celebrations that supports children's transition to school

  • an attractive and spacious home-like setting that supports children's sense of wellbeing and belonging

  • native trees, fruit trees and vegetable gardening that provide real-life learning opportunities.

The educational and care needs for infants and toddlers are well managed. They have ready access to an environment that is appropriately resourced and which encourages their exploration. Infants and toddlers benefit from nurturing and caring relationships from their teachers. Children up to two years of age are settled and confident.

Teachers have developed a useful framework for planning. There are some good examples of teachers documenting parent aspirations for their children and responding to these in planning and evaluation. Teachers need to fully embed this process and ensure that it is consistently implemented for all children. Children have access to their learning journals where aspects of their participation in the programme are documented. Teachers should now consider ways to regularly share this information with whānau to further celebrate success and learning.

There are some good models of teaching practices which promote positive learning outcomes for children. Teachers make consistent use of strategies that positively guide children’s behaviour. They demonstrate a good understanding of the cultural advantage that whānau and children bring to the centre. Some teachers are fostering and affirming children’s dispositional learning. Teachers willingly participate in relevant and ongoing professional development to meet centre strategic and individual goals. These positive practices are promoting children's social competencies and establishing a strong culture of caring amongst teachers, children and their whānau.

The centre manager works in a professional partnership with the other directors and teachers. She has a good understanding of the purpose of internal evaluation, and has put useful frameworks in place to guide this process. Her leadership has resulted in sustaining a collegial and collaborative teaching team through a time of change. The centre manager has accessed appropriate, centre-wide, ongoing professional learning and development for teachers. She respectfully integrates te ao Māori in the centre and has created a culture where Māori whānau feel confident to voice their views and participate in the life of the centre. Governance and leadership practices have established useful systems and processes that support sustainable practices for this new service.

Key Next Steps

Leaders and teachers should review and improve the programme for older children. This review should include developing and implementing clear expectations for intentional teaching practices that:

  • further integrate literacy and mathematics in meaningful contexts

  • add complexity and challenge, including physical challenge, for older children

  • give older children independent access to a wider range of open-ended materials

  • promote and empower children's ownership and engagement in sustained and meaningful play.

In addition centre leaders need to review and refine:

  • strategic planning by setting clear goals linked to positive outcomes for children and aligned to agreed criteria

  • appraisal systems and processes to align with Education Council guidelines and expectations, strategic goals and centre internal evaluation.

Attention to these should better enable the service to meet the intent of its philosophy.

Recommendation

ERO recommends the service develops an action plan to support the implementation of the key next steps for ongoing improvement and development.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Caring Kids Childcare 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 Caring Kids Childcare will be in three years.

Lynda Pura-Watson

Deputy Chief Review Officer

Te Tai Miringa - Waikato / Bay of Plenty Region

11 June 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

Ngaruawahia

Ministry of Education profile number

47042

Licence type

Education & Care Service

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

30 children, including up to 10 aged under 2

Service roll

30

Gender composition

Boys 17 Girls 13

Ethnic composition

Māori
Pākehā
Other

24
4
2

Percentage of qualified teachers

0-49% 50-79% 80%+

Based on funding rates

80% +

Reported ratios of staff to children

Under 2

1:5

Meets minimum requirements

Over 2

1:10

Meets minimum requirements

Review team on site

March 2018

Date of this report

11 June 2018

Most recent ERO report(s)

No previous ERO 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.