BestStart Cranford Street

1 Evaluation of Early Years Cranford Street

How well placed is Early Years Cranford Street to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Early Years Cranford Street is very well placed to promote positive outcomes for children.

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

Background

Early Years Cranford Street is a new purpose built centre with a rapidly growing roll. It serves a diverse community and is situated next to a local school.

The centre operates under the BestStart Educare Ltd management structure. It is licensed for 100 children, including up to 24 children under two years old. A BestStart Professional Services Manager and Business Manger visit regularly and provide effective support for the service. Most of the staff are qualified early childhood teachers.

A clearly developed philosophy guides centre practices. It sets out the learning priorities and valued outcomes based on reciprocal relationships, empowering each child as unique individuals, promoting values of respect, empathy, compassion and independence for all children. The centre provides high quality education and care for all children including those children with diverse and specific learning needs.

The Review Findings

Early Years Cranford Street is well led by a highly effective leadership team. In the short time the centre has been open, leaders and teachers have established a culture that focuses on children's wellbeing and learning needs. Systems and processes are well embedded to support families/whānau to be actively involved in their children's learning and care.

Children benefit from leaders' and teachers' caring, respectful relationships between each other and with children and their families. They reflect the centre's commitment to whanaungatanga. Leaders and teachers know their children and families/whānau very well. Children are valued and celebrated for who they are and what they bring to their learning.

Leaders and teachers respond to the diverse groups of children, supporting them to achieve success in their own language, culture and identity. Children's learning is highly valued and celebrated. Staffing of the centre is reflective of diverse cultures and their individual expertise is shared to support children and their families/whānau.

Children enjoy a rich responsive curriculum closely aligned with Te Whāriki and Tātaiako that provides a stimulating and challenging learning environment. Teachers plan using authentic contexts for learning and use children's interests to engage them in the programme. Children learn and play in environments that promote creativity, exploration, choice and challenge.

Under two's experience a warm, caring and nurturing environment. They are cared for in flexible learning spaces that allow for quiet areas. Teachers maintain a calm, slow pace in which the younger children have space and time to lead their learning. They have easy access to areas that are well resourced and encourage exploration.

Children are well supported in their transitions into, through and out of the centre. Time is provided to develop relationships, to explore, and to develop a sense of belonging. These transition practices are promoting positive outcomes for children.

Leaders and teachers implement highly effective planning, assessment and evaluation processes that enable children to become confident and competent learners. Children have a wide choice in their learning. Well-established routines provide children with a sense of security and wellbeing. Close links with local schools and the wider community enrich learning opportunities for all children.

A high level of commitment to valuing and respecting New Zealand's bicultural heritage is evident. The language, culture and identity of Māori children and those of other cultures is an integrated and valued part of life within the centre. Leaders and teachers seek to integrate te reo and tikanga Māori in the daily programme in meaningful ways. They now need to incorporate existing bicultural practices in documentation so it reflects what is happening in classrooms.

A useful strategic plan clearly identifies long term goals and priorities for the centre. A short term plan guides centre operations and is clearly aligned to the planned priorities, goals and actions.

There is a strong focus on continuous improvement. The centre has developed and embedded strong internal evaluation, self-review and appraisal processes at all levels. These processes inform decision making and professional development. The impact of change is focused on improving positive learning outcomes for children. Teachers systematically evaluate their own teaching practice.

The centre benefits from a supportive management structure. BestStart processes and personnel provide high quality expertise and guidance. There are appropriate systems for empowering teachers' and leaders' capability and professional growth.

Key Next Steps

ERO and the centre leaders agree that the centre's next steps are to:

• deepen internal evaluation to better monitor the impact of teaching strategies on learning outcomes for children.
• strengthen existing bicultural perspectives and practices in documentation so it better reflects what is happening in classrooms.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Early Years Cranford Street 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 Early Years Cranford Street will be in four years.

Dr Lesley Patterson

Deputy Chief Review Officer

Te Waipounamu - Southern Region

12 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

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.