Bell Block 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 Bell Block Childcare are as follows:

2 Context of the Service

Bell Block Childcare (trading as Bell Block Community Nest) provides mixed-age education and care. Approximately a quarter of children who attend are Māori and a small number are of Pacific heritage. A committee of recently elected parent volunteers provides governance support. A new centre manager and head teacher have been appointed since the 2021 ERO review.

3 Summary of findings

Children’s independence is well supported within the play-based curriculum. Their interests, social competencies and developing friendships are promoted. Teachers are collectively growing their assessment for learning practices. Children’s progress over time is increasingly visible in documentation. Older learners are encouraged to include younger learners in their play. There are some opportunities, particularly for older children, to experience interactions with teachers that are focused on extending their thinking and learning. Children aged up to three years require more frequent opportunities to experience sustained learning-focused interactions with their teachers. 

Children experience aspects of a bicultural curriculum that incorporates some te reo Māori words, concepts and celebrations. Parents and whānau are invited to share information about their child’s culture, language and identity and contribute to their child’s learning. Teachers have begun building their shared understanding and practices to implement a culturally responsive curriculum.

Leaders model professional accountability and collective responsibility for improvement within the service. Improvements are focused on the wellbeing and learning of children. Professional growth cycles for teachers have been recently implemented. External expertise has been used to strengthen leaders and teachers’ capability to do and use effective internal evaluation for improvement. 

The centre manager has worked collaboratively with the governance committee to develop a strategic plan and associated improvement actions that are focused on priorities for learning. Regular reporting is provided to the committee that details a range of curriculum and operational actions undertaken. The committee is yet to monitor progress towards its strategic priorities.

4 Improvement actions

Bell Block Childcare will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:

• Build teachers’ capability to engage in interactions focused on extending children’s learning, with a particular focus on children up to the age of 3 years.
• Further strengthen teacher capabilities to deliver a culturally responsive curriculum.
• Implement a full cycle of the revised internal evaluation process to better monitor and understand what worked well (or not) and for which learners in relation to desired learning priorities. 
• Report internal evaluation findings to the governance committee to enable them to monitor progress towards strategic priorities.

5 Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Bell Block Childcare 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.

6 Action for Compliance

Since the onsite visit, the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliance:

• Equipment, premises and facilities are checked on every day of operation for hazards to children and include consideration of hazards present in kitchen or laundry facilities, poisonous plants and bodies of water. [Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, HS12]

Patricia Davey
Director of Early Childhood Education (ECE)

3 April 2024

7 About the Early Childhood Service