17 Herbert Street, Blenheim
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
ABC Mayfield operates under the BestStart Educare Ltd management structure. BestStart is a large national organisation that owns early childhood centres across New Zealand.
The centre provides education and care for children over two years of age and up to school age. It is licensed for 40 children.
A centre manager oversees the day-to-day operation of the centre. A head teacher leads the development of teaching and learning, and the curriculum. A BestStart business manager (BM) and professional services manager (PSM) support the service through regular visits and communication. In the last 12 months there has been a change in the BestStart support structure and PSM. At the time of this review, BestStart was in the process of appointing a new centre manager. Most staff are trained early childhood teachers.
Since the last ERO review in 2015:
Areas identified for improvement in the 2015 ERO report have been worked on. However many of the improvements need to be embedded into centre practice.
Teachers and leaders place an emphasis on children and their whānau having a strong sense of belonging to the centre, and supporting children's social competency development.
The centre has made effective use of teacher strengths to support improvements in the centre systems and practices, including internal evaluation.
Internal evaluation has focused on lifting teacher practices to be more responsive to the wellbeing and learning needs of groups of learners. Evaluations have identified appropriate and useful next steps and encouraged teachers to reflect on their practice.
The outcomes of these internal evaluations have leaders and teachers better placed to:
Well established BestStart systems support ongoing improvements and monitor how well the organisation's expectations are being met. The centre is receiving appropriate support through the PSM's and BM's responsiveness to identified needs of the centre.
The centre leaders acknowledge the need to consolidate recent developments to make practices more consistent and evident centre-wide. To support the consolidation leaders need to:
This work needs to be underpinned by a greater shared awareness and use of Te Whāriki 2017.
Before the review, the staff and management of ABC Mayfield 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:
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.
The next ERO review of ABC Mayfield will be in three years.
Alan Wynyard
Director Review & Improvement Services Southern
Te Waipounamu - Southern Region
18 September 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 |
Blenheim |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
65620 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
40 children, including up to 0 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
39 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys: 21 Girls: 18 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori |
13 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% + |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
Review team on site |
July 2018 |
||
|
Date of this report |
18 September 2018 |
||
|
Most recent ERO reports |
Education Reviews |
August 2015 |
|
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:
Very well placed – The next ERO review in four years
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.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
ABC Mayfield is owned by and operated under the BestStart Educare Ltd management structure. BestStart (previously known as Kidicorp Ltd) is a large, national organisation that owns early childhood centres across New Zealand.
ABC Mayfield is a purpose-built centre providing education and care for children from birth to school age. Forty children may attend the centre at any one time, including up to ten under two years of age. The centre operates across two rooms, each with a separate outdoor play space.
The centre manager oversees the day-to-day operation of the centre. BestStart provides advice and support through regular visits and contact from an area manager. Most of the staff are qualified early childhood teachers.
There have been historical changes of ownership since the centre opened and a number of new centre managers since the last ERO review in 2012. There is now a permanent centre manager and recently an assistant centre manager was appointed. The centre is continuing to address the recommendations in the ERO report that include professional development provided in self review, child assessment and programme planning.
Children have good opportunities to make decisions about their play. There are many opportunities within the programme for older and younger children to play together and share their knowledge and skills.
Children experience a variety of activities in the indoor and outdoor areas. The older children have many opportunities for active and quiet play in their newly upgraded outdoor area.
Children enjoy having caring, positive relationships with their teachers. They recognise and value children’s cultural identities and support all children to broaden their play and ideas.
Relationships with parents and whānau are well established. Leaders and teachers regularly ask parents to contribute to centre decision making. The centre makes good use of community and specialist resources to support children and their families.
Leaders make good use of the appraisal process to confirm teachers’ good practice, give relevant feedback and identify areas for the ongoing support.
Recent professional development, provided by centre leaders and external groups, has had positive impacts on teaching practices. Staff are developing a shared understanding of self review, assessment and planning.
BestStart has many systems to help centres improve learning outcomes for children. These include:
The area manager, centre manager and teachers now need to develop clearer understandings of, and make better use of, BestStart’s systems for monitoring the quality of education at the centre. This includes developing strategic planning that is useful for prioritising and guiding centre improvement, and making use of some BestStart tools such as the Be School Ready indicators.
The centre has identified, and ERO confirms, the key next steps for development should include:
Before the review, the staff and management of ABC Mayfield 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 ABC Mayfield will be in three years.
Chris Rowe
Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern (Acting)
5 August 2015
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 |
Blenheim |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
65620 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
40 children, including up to 10 aged under two |
||
|
Service roll |
47 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys 24; Girls 23 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Samoan Tongan Latin American Other ethnicity |
16 23 5 1 1 1 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
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 |
June 2015 |
||
|
Date of this report |
5 August 2015 |
||
|
Most recent ERO reports |
Education Review |
March 2012 |
|
|
Education Review |
October 2008 |
||
|
Education Review |
November 2004 |
||
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.