1-9 Maramara Road, Whenuapai, Auckland
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 New Shoots Children’s Centre - Whenuapai are as follows:
Outcome Indicators(What the service knows about outcomes for learners) | Whakawhanake Sustaining |
Ngā Akatoro Domains | |
Learning ConditionsOrganisational Conditions | Whakawhanake Sustaining Whakawhanake Sustaining |
This service is part of the New Shoots Childrens Centre Group. Children play and learn in one of five rooms, sharing an outdoor playground. A governance team guides centre operations. A centre director leads the large teaching team. Serving a multicultural community, a small number of children identify as Māori and as Pacific.
Children benefit from a highly responsive, localised curriculum that positively promotes and documents their ways of learning and wellbeing. Infants and toddlers experience nurturing, unhurried teaching that supports their emotional wellbeing, oral language, social competency, and sense of security. Tuakana-teina relationships benefit younger children learning alongside others. Transitions into, within and to school flexibly respond to individual and whānau needs. Older children attend weekly bush kindy sessions and visits to the local school. Partnerships with parents and outside agencies enable children with additional needs to learn inclusively alongside their peers. Older children’s increased independence, emergent literacy, and higher thinking skills are enhanced through attentive interactions with experienced teachers. Children demonstrate confidence and a sense of belonging as they lead their own learning.
The service has made steady growth in cultural responsiveness since the last ERO review. Reciprocal partnerships with parents promote participation and sharing of knowledge. Te ao Māori practices are guided by whānau Māori. Children’s first languages and cultural identities are well integrated. Leaders have self-identified that strengthening the reflection of children’s cultural identities within planning and assessments is a next step.
Effective leadership practices support sustained improvement. Evaluation for improvement coherently links to priorities at national, governance and service levels. Information is generated about the effectiveness of the curriculum. Leaders and kaiako recognise and respond to inequities to remove barriers to learning, and support children towards achieving equitable learning outcomes.
Strongly improvement-focused governance and management implement a strategic plan and relevant systems that intentionally guide the organisation. They purposefully allocate resources that clearly align with the identified priorities for children’s learning. Collaborative targeted ongoing professional learning builds leadership and teachers’ capabilities. Successful initiatives support children to access an inclusive curriculum.
New Shoots Children’s Centre - Whenuapai will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:
The New Shoots governance group has indicated it will include the following in its Quality Improvement Planning, to ensure that all services are working at a consistent level.
Before the review, the staff and management of New Shoots Children’s Centre - Whenuapai 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:
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.
Patricia Davey
Director of Early Childhood Education (ECE)
7 March 2024
| Early Childhood Service Name | New Shoots Children’s Centre - Whenuapai |
| Profile Number | 47501 |
| Location | Whenuapai, Auckland |
| Service type | Education and care service |
| Number licensed for | 90 children, including up to 33 aged under 2 |
| Percentage of qualified teachers | 80-99% |
| Service roll | 103 |
| Review team on site | November 2023 |
| Date of this report | 7 March 2024 |
| Most recent ERO report(s) | Akanuku | Assurance Review, February 2021. |
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.
Regulatory standards | ERO’s judgement |
| 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.
New Shoots Centre - Whenuapai is a purpose-built centre with a licence to cater for up to 90 children, including up to 33 under two years of age. The service has five learning areas for different age groups. Children of Māori, Pākehā, Chinese and other ethnic groups attend the centre. This is the first ERO review of this service that opened in August 2018.
Adults providing education and care engage in meaningful, positive interactions to enhance children’s learning and nurture reciprocal relationships. The service curriculum is inclusive, and responsive to children as confident and competent learners.
Children’s preferences are respected, and they are involved in decisions about their learning experiences. The curriculum provides a language-rich environment that supports children’s learning. Children experience a range of opportunities to extend their learning and development, both indoors and outdoors, individually and in groups.
Key next steps are to continue to increase the:
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Steve Tanner
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki
18 February 2021
| Early Childhood Service Name | New Shoots Children's Centre - Whenuapai |
| Profile Number | 47501 |
| Location | Auckland |
| Service type | Education and care service |
| Number licensed for | 90 children, including up to 33 aged under 2. |
| Percentage of qualified teachers | 80%+ |
| Service roll | 93 |
| Ethnic composition | Māori 9 NZ European/Pākehā 53 Chinese 13 other ethnic groups 18 |
| Review team on site | November 2020 |
| Date of this report | 18 February 2021 |
| Most recent ERO report(s) | First ERO review of the service |
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.
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:
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:
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO also gathers and records evidence through: