191 Angelsea Street, Hamilton Central, Hamilton
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 Rainbow Kids Childcare are as follows:
Outcome Indicators(What the service knows about outcomes for learners) |
Whāngai Establishing |
Ngā Akatoro Domains |
|
Learning ConditionsOrganisational Conditions |
Whāngai Establishing Whakaū Embedding |
Rainbow Kids Childcare is located in the central business district and provides care and education for children from wide ranging parts of Hamilton and beyond. Thirty-four children on the roll identify as Māori. Other children attending come from a diverse range of ethnic groups including a cohort of Indian learners, and a small number of Pacific children. The philosophy prioritises relationships and respectful practices across five aged‑based rooms.
Children are well supported to develop social competence and problem-solving skills. Older children engage in self-determined play and learning, with teachers fostering an interest in early literacy and other foundation skills. Care is enacted as a key part of the curriculum for children under two. Children with diverse learning needs are active participants in centre life. All children are supported to take responsibility for themselves and their wellbeing.
Planned events recognise the wide range of ethnicities in the centre. The physical environment reflects children’s cultures. However, consideration of individual children’s culture, identity and language is not visible in assessment or in some teacher practice, particularly for Māori and Pacific learners. The centre has yet to embed culturally responsive practices that inform priorities for individual children’s learning.
Relationships between children, teachers, and families are reciprocal and positively support children’s learning. Continuity of care is purposefully maintained as children transition through the centre. Some assessment practices capture children’s learning over time. Teachers and leaders are yet to fully explore and use the documented learning outcomes in Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, to fully inform planning, assessment and evaluation processes.
Effective operation of the service by leaders positively supports children’s experiences. A clear system for improvement practices through review and inquiry is in place and has some impact on teacher practice and outcomes for children. Children’s learning is yet to be significantly enriched by leaders and teachers’ cohesive knowledge of the centre’s priorities for learning.
Rainbow Kids Childcare will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:
develop the centre’s localised curriculum to explore what learning matters most for the centre and community, and identify key priorities for learning
deepen teacher’s cultural responsiveness through all aspects of curriculum and assessment, so that any shifts in practice are reflective of individual children’s identity and culture, particularly for Māori and Pacific learners
forefront the learning outcomes from Te Whāriki in planning, assessment and evaluation of children’s learning to demonstrate progression of learning against these over time.
Before the review, the staff and management of Rainbow 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
22 August 2022
| Early Childhood Service Name: | Rainbow Kids Childcare |
| Profile Number: | 47182 |
| Location: | Hamilton |
|
Service type |
Education and care service |
|
Number licensed for |
124 children, including up to 45 aged under 2 |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
|
Service roll |
121 |
|
Review team on site |
June 2022 |
|
Date of this report |
22 August 2022 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review, October 2018 |
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Rainbow Kids Childcare is a purpose built, all-day care and education centre, which opened in March 2017. It caters for children from birth to school age and is licensed for 115 children, including up to 45 who are under two years old. The centre is located near Hamilton’s central business district. The roll of 120 includes 28 Māori children. It also includes 37 children from other culturally diverse backgrounds.
The centre is privately owned. The business manager, who is one of the owners, employs the centre manager to oversee staff performance and the centre-wide programme for children. The centre manager oversees three head teachers and two room leaders who each have responsibility for designated age-based groups of children and their teachers. Over 80% of staff are qualified with three teachers working towards full teacher registration.
The centre’s philosophy focuses on providing a professional learning community where children, teachers and parents/whānau feel a strong attachment to a “home away from home”. There are emphases on respectful teaching practices and loving, trusting and responsive relationships within a safe environment. Teachers believe that children learn through play and exploration and recognise parents as first teachers. The philosophy aims to embrace te reo and tikanga Māori and incorporate the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi within the daily programme.
This is the centre’s first ERO report.
Very effective teaching practices and positive, respectful relationships between children and adults are evident for all age groups. Teachers extend children's thinking through open questioning and warmly affirm their ideas and learning. The development of oral language, early literacy, te reo Māori, mathematics and science skills are responsively integrated within planned and incidental interactions and activities. Teachers provide many opportunities for tuakana teina support between siblings and children of different ages. Children with additional needs are inclusively catered for in consultation with parents and external agencies. Children sustain engagement in their activities of choice for significant periods of time and are becoming competent and confident learners.
Infants and toddlers benefit from a positive culture of nurture and care. Formal and informal communication with parents ensures that children’s individual rhythms and routines are recognised and respected. Care times are positive and respectful learning experiences. Teachers respond readily to very young children’s verbal and non-verbal cues. Environments for learning and play are calm, uncluttered and settled.
Indoor and outdoor learning and play areas are attractive, spacious and very well resourced. There is a wide range of well-considered equipment to promote learning, creativity, dramatic play and physical challenges. Wall displays make learning visible, promote a sense of belonging and contribute to the centre's welcoming home-like atmosphere.
The curriculum is effectively child-led with an appropriate balance of teacher direction. It emphasises learning through play, exploration and risk-taking. Practices that reflect tikanga Māori are well established. Transitions within the centre and to school are facilitated to cater for individual families. Children benefit from a curriculum that extends their interests and provides a broad range of learning opportunities.
Individual planning and assessment is responsive to children's strengths and needs. Teachers are committed to noticing, recognising, responding, and revisiting valued learning and identifying possible next steps for each child. Parents share aspirations for their children and are involved in identifying learning goals, which are regularly evaluated. Assessment records in individual portfolios are shared digitally and in hardcopy. They increasingly show a progression of learning over time.
Leaders work collaboratively with teachers and parents to promote positive outcomes for all children. The centre manager is knowledgeable and experienced in early childhood education leadership and teaching practice. Managers are promoting an emphasis on shared leadership along with generous provision of centre-wide and personalised professional learning and development. The appraisal process builds and sustains effective teaching practice. Staff relationships are supportive, trusting and reciprocal. Centre managers have developed a positive, professional centre-wide learning culture for teachers, parents and children.
Governance systems and practices are effective. The centre-wide philosophy has been developed with input from parents and staff. Strategic and annual plans have been developed with assistance from an external adviser. Internal evaluation involves regular consultation with staff and parents and leads to improved practices. Staff, parents and children benefit from governance and management processes that provide clear direction for centre activities and operations.
Key next steps are to ensure that:
Before the review, the staff and management of Rainbow 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:
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.
The next ERO review of Rainbow Kids Childcare will be in three years.
Adrienne Fowler
Director Review and Improvement Services
Te Tai Miringa - Waikato / Bay of Plenty Region
15 October 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.
|
Location |
Hamilton |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
47182 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
115 children, including up to 45 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
120 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls 53% |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori |
25% |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% + |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:4 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:8 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
August 2018 |
||
|
Date of this report |
15 October 2018 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
This is the centre's first ERO external evaluation |
||
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.