Kimihia Early Learning Centre

1 Evaluation of Kimihia Early Learning Centre

How well placed is Kimihia Early Learning Centre to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Kimihia Early Learning Centre is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.

Background

This service, located in Woolston, Christchurch, is licensed to provide all-day education and care for 50 children, 25 of whom can be under two years of age. Children learn in three classrooms: the nursery, the toddler room and the preschool for children over three. Each classroom has its own outside learning area. There is a separate kitchen and dining area.

The Kimihia Early Learning Trust, a not-for-profit organisation, administers the service. A centre director, who is closely involved with the centre, represents the trust. A centre manager leads day-to-day operations and is supported by two team leaders. The team leader role has recently been introduced. Most teachers are qualified and registered early childhood educators.

Most enrolled children are from families within the local community. Some young parents from the adjacent Kimihia Parents' College, who are continuing their secondary education, also make use of the centre for their children. The Kimihia Parents' College is due to be relocated as part of the Christchurch rebuild of the local college. The trust is working through any implications associated with this change. Children attending the centre come from a diverse range of cultures, with nearly 50% being Māori.

The centre's philosophy is based on Te Whāriki, the NZ Early Childhood Curriculum (2017). The philosophy recognises Māori kaupapa and places value on whakamana, kotahitanga, ngā hononga and whanaungatanga. The philosophy interprets this as seeking to empower children as confident learners by providing a caring, holistic approach to teaching, learning and curriculum provision, and developing positive relationships with families and the wider community.

Since the 2016 ERO review, the service has made considerable progress in making Māori perspectives more evident in centre documentation, programmes and some practices. Use of internal evaluation has also been significantly strengthened. The centre continues to develop and embed appraisal processes and aspects of assessment, planning and evaluation of children's learning.

The service is a member of the Tamai Kāhui Ako|Community of Learning (CoL).

The Review Findings

Interactions with children reflect a culture of care. Leaders and teachers provide a welcoming learning environment and foster positive, respectful relationships with children and whānau. Learning programmes are inclusive of children with a range of diverse needs. Teachers of infants and toddlers under two, are sensitive to children’s home life and routines. Children across the centre are unhurried and supported to learn and explore at their own pace.

Respect is shown for te ao Māori, with growing use of te reo Māori in day-to-day learning contexts. There is strong commitment to developing culturally responsive practices and enhancing the capacity of teachers as treaty partners. Whānau Māori expertise and contributions to the curriculum are valued. Children of Pacific heritage can see their culture represented in the learning programme. Teachers actively promote kaitiakitanga, with children regularly engaged in learning about and caring for the environment.

Children’s ideas are respected and valued. Teachers effectively notice children's emerging interests and recognise the learning that is happening. They have useful systems in place to capture children's interests, strengths and needs and use this to help inform learning programmes. Teachers use a number of learner-centred teaching strategies to develop children’s interests and empower them to lead their learning.

Children are provided with learning experiences that offer a level of challenge to extend their learning. They are well supported to problem solve and think critically. As they move through the centre they are exposed to increasing opportunities to explore science-based concepts. Children learn in well-organised environments with a range of resources.

Children's wellbeing and parents' views are central to decision making throughout transition processes within the centre. Transitions are flexible and well managed to respond to children's needs and support their sense of belonging.

Governance and leadership demonstrate strong commitment to children’s learning and wellbeing. Useful professional learning and development is building leaders' and teachers' capability and reflective practice. The collaboratively-developed strategic plan and philosophy are well known by staff and are well aligned to centre operations and practices. There is considerable capacity amongst leaders and teachers to do and use internal evaluation effectively. The content of many internal evaluations is meaningful and leads to ongoing improvement. These practices contribute towards promoting positive outcomes for children.

Key Next Steps

Aspects of assessment, planning and evaluation for individuals need further development. Centre leaders and teachers need to ensure documented records consistently include:

• parents' aspirations for their children that are fully integrated into assessment, planning and evaluation, and ensure that the connections between these are made explicit
• learning goals that are specifically unpacked and the achievement of these clearly evaluated
• greater clarity about the selection of intentional teaching strategies to support children in achieving their goals, and the evaluation of these strategies for effectiveness
• a greater prominence of children's cultures and languages.

Processes need to be developed that enable clear reporting to the board about the quality of children's learning outcomes and the consistency of teaching and learning practices across the centre.

Leaders need to ensure formal observations of teaching practice are fully embedded into the appraisal process.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Kimihia Early Learning Centre 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.

Alan Wynyard

Director Review and Improvement Services

Southern Region

30 May 2019

The Purpose of ERO Reports

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.

2 Information about the Early Childhood Service

3 General Information about Early Childhood Reviews

ERO’s Evaluation Framework

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:

Pou Whakahaere – how the service determines its vision, philosophy and direction to ensure positive outcomes for children

Pou Ārahi – how leadership is enacted to enhance positive outcomes for children

Mātauranga – whose knowledge is valued and how the curriculum is designed to achieve positive outcomes for children

Tikanga whakaako – how approaches to teaching and learning respond to diversity and support positive outcomes for children.

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.

ERO’s Overall Judgement

The overall judgement that ERO makes will depend on how well the service promotes positive learning outcomes for children. The categories are:

• Very well placed

• Well placed

• Requires further development

• Not well placed

ERO has developed criteria for each category. These are available on ERO’s website.

Review Coverage

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.