Little Explorers Early Learning Centre

Education institution number:
47332
Service type:
Education and Care Service
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
33
Telephone:
Address:

3 Rukuhia Road, Rukuhia, Hamilton

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Little Explorers Early Learning Centre

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 Little Explorers Early Learning Centre are as follows:

Outcome Indicators

(What the service knows about outcomes for learners)


Whakaū Embedding

Ngā Akatoro Domains

 

Learning Conditions
Organisational Conditions

Whāngai Establishing
Whāngai Establishing

2 Context of the Service

Little Explorers Early Learning Centre is a privately-owned education and care service. The owners manage the centre, with support from team leaders and teachers in two aged-based rooms. The service’s philosophy prioritises play-based exploration. The community is ethnically diverse. Approximately a quarter of children who attend are Māori.

3 Summary of findings

Aspects of the service’s philosophy are enacted to support children’s learning. Positive relationships between teachers and parents enable connections between their home and the service. Children with additional learning needs are supported to participate in the programme through partnerships between teachers, parents and external agencies. Learning environments are well resourced. Children have access to a range of experiences both indoors and out, to promote their understandings of the world around them.

The curriculum in some ways responds to children’s interests, needs and cultures. Infants and toddlers experience care that is calm and slow paced. Children have regular opportunities to hear and use te reo Māori and tikanga Māori. Assessment information reflects progress in learning over time and the cultural contexts in which some children live. More work is required to build a shared understanding about positive guidance and teaching to support children’s social competence.

Leaders’ effectiveness to bring about improvement is variable. Processes and professional guidance to support ongoing teacher improvement are not yet effectively implemented. The use of an evaluation framework supports the service to consider aspects of the curriculum in relation to children’s experiences. There is some evidence of change. However, teachers and leaders are not yet identifying whether these changes are promoting improved learning outcomes for children.

4 Improvement actions

Little Explorers Early Learning Centre will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:

  • Access professional learning to ensure shared understanding of positive interactions with children and the ways children learn.

  • Strengthen leaders’ strategies to identify, implement and monitor actions targeted to improve teacher practice in areas identified for growth.

  • Improve the extent to which information documented about children in planning and assessment reflects their cultural identities.

5 Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Little Explorers Early Learning Centre completed an ERO 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; safety checking; teacher registration; ratios)

  • relevant evacuation procedures and practices.

All early childhood services are required to promote children's health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.

Patricia Davey
Director of Early Childhood Education (ECE)

26 July 2023

6 About the Early Childhood Service

Early Childhood Service Name

Little Explorers Early Learning Centre

Profile Number

47332

Location

Rukuhia, Hamilton

Service type

Education and care service

Number licensed for

40 children, including up to 15 aged under 2

Percentage of qualified teachers (delete if not applicable)

80-99%

Service roll

47

Review team on site

May, 2023

Date of this report

26 July 2023

Most recent ERO report(s)

Akanuku | Assurance Review, July 2019.

Little Explorers Early Learning Centre - 17/07/2019

ERO’s judgement

Regulatory standards

Curriculum

Meeting

Premises and facilities

Meeting

Health and safety

Meeting

Governance, management and administration

Meeting

At the time of the review, ERO found the service was taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.

Background

Little Explorers Early Learning Centre opened in 2017 and this is the first ERO review of the service. The owners manage the centre, with support from team leaders and teachers in the two aged-based rooms. The community is ethnically diverse, many attending from the local rural area and some from further afield.

Summary of review findings

Adults providing education and care engage in meaningful, positive interactions to enhance children’s learning and nurture reciprocal relationships. They demonstrate an understanding of child development, relevant theories and practice. The curriculum is inclusive and responsive to children as confident and competent learners. A sufficient quality and variety of furniture, equipment and materials is provided that is appropriate for the learning and abilities of the children attending. An ongoing process of internal evaluation helps the service maintain and improve the quality of education and care. Suitable human resource management practices are implemented. An annual plan guides the operation of the services.

Next ERO Review

The next ERO review is likely to be an Education Review.

Phillip Cowie

Director Review and Improvement Services 

Central Region

17 July 2019

Information about the service

Early Childhood Service Name

Little Explorers Early Learning Centre

Profile Number

47332

Location

Rukuhia, Hamilton

Service type

Education and care service

Number licensed for

40 children, including up to 15 aged under 2

Percentage of qualified teachers

80% +

Reported ratios of staff to children

Under 2

1:5 Meets regulatory standards

Over 2

1:8 Better than regulatory standards

Service roll

52

Gender composition

Female 28 Male 24

Ethnic composition

Māori 9
NZ European/Pākehā 30
Other 13

Review team on site

June 2019

Date of this report

17 July 2019

Most recent ERO report(s)

First ERO review of the service

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:

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 Assurance Review process in any 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 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 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 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.