4 May Street, Leeston
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Leeston Playcentre is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Leeston Playcentre is a long-established parent co-operative providing four morning sessions per week for up to 25 children aged from birth to school age. The centre's stated philosophy is to provide whole child development within a supportive whānau and tamariki led environment.
The playcentre is part of the Upper South region of the Playcentre Federation. The new region employs a Centre Support Worker (CSW) and Centre Administrator (CA). Sessions are facilitated by two paid coordinators who hold playcentre qualifications. A new governance committee has been recently elected and is undertaking federation training for office holders. The playcentre is an active member of the Ngā Mātāpuna o te Waihora Kāhui Ako I Community of Learning.
Since ERO's 2014 review the playcentre has made good progress in addressing the areas identified for development.
The wellbeing and learning of children are nurtured through the family atmosphere at Leeston Playcentre. Since ERO's 2014 review, there has been a significant change of playcentre families. The centre provides an important support network to new members of its community. New parents have a growing appreciation of the philosophy and learning approach of the centre, increasingly taking a lead in session planning, based on children's current interests. Children and their parents enjoy a strong sense of belonging at the centre and the community's cultural diversity is incorporated into daily practice. The playcentre is well resourced, including interesting outdoor facilities that encourage independence, challenge and creativity for all ages.
Infants and toddlers have a safe and secure area in which to learn and play, with appropriate provision of intellectual stimulation and social support. They are welcomed into the wider programme along with the older children. All children are empowered to take increased responsibility for the wellbeing of themselves and others, demonstrating care of one another across the centre.
Coordinators and parents demonstrate a commitment to growing a bicultural environment and to including te reo and tikanga Māori in daily practice. External support and expertise is sought where necessary, including for children with special needs. Parents benefit from training available through the kāhui ako, local playcentre cluster, the Playcentre Federation and Te Whāriki (2017) The Early Childhood Curriculum resources.
Effective internal evaluation practices help parents to know what is working well, what is improving and what could be done differently. The centre's current self review is focussing on helping parents to be more engaged with their children's learning. Parent and child 'voice' are valued in internal evaluation for decision making and improvement. The governance committee has identified that actions from internal evaluation should be regularly revisited to ensure good practice is sustained.
The next steps are for parents, with the support of the CSW, to:
Before the review, the staff and management of Leeston Playcentre 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 Leeston Playcentre will be in three years.
Alan Wynyard
Director Review and Improvement Services Southern
Southern Region
20 February 2019
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.
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Location |
Leeston |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
70078 |
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Licence type |
Playcentre |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
25 children, including up to 10 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
35 |
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Gender composition |
Boys: 21 Girls: 14 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
3 |
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Percentage of qualified adults (with play-centre qualifications) |
50-79% |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:1 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Over 2 |
1:5 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
November 2018 |
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Date of this report |
20 February 2019 |
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Most recent ERO reports |
Education Review |
November 2014 |
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|
Education Review |
October 2011 |
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Education Review |
May 2008 |
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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:
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 |
Leeston Playcentre is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
This playcentre operates under the guidance of the Canterbury Playcentre Association. The playcentre is a parent cooperative. The parents are encouraged to be involved in all aspects of the programme and centre operation.
Leeston Playcentre has four morning sessions and two afternoon sessions. The Tuesday afternoon session is for mothers with babies. It is ably managed by one of the playcentre’s coordinators.
Since the October 2011 ERO review, the centre has made good progress towards addressing the recommendations in the report. Self review is more purposeful, assessment procedures are more consistent and bicultural practice is improving.
The centre’s involvement in a learning cluster with local early childhood centres, primary schools and the college is helping to strengthen professional relationships and understandings.
This review was part of a cluster of 11 reviews in the Canterbury Playcentre Association.
The children experience positive, caring and nurturing support from adults at the centre. Children lead their learning with positive assistance and guidance from parents. Their ideas for learning are valued. Parents respond appropriately to children’s requests for resources and suggestions.
The programme is planned around children’s emerging interests and strengths. There is regular sharing of children’s successes and developing skills and attitudes. The learning profiles are contributed to by coordinators, parents and children. The positive change made to the way children’s learning is noticed, and is evident in the children’s profiles.
Parents have collaborative and positive relationships with each other and this contributes to a relaxed and enjoyable place for children to explore and learn. The high adult-to-child ratio helps to promote sustained play and appropriate extension of children’s thinking and understanding.
The learning environment is spacious, colourful and well resourced. The displays on the wall and children’s learning records show the broad range of learning opportunities at the centre. Children regularly visit the local primary school for celebrations of learning, sports and cultural events and take trips to areas of interest in the community.
Parents are fully involved in supporting their children and taking an active role in reviewing the centre’s operations and practices. They get useful guidance and ongoing support from the centre coordinators and association training.
The centre has good processes in place to evaluate the effectiveness of centre practices and operations. The reflective practices have led to improvements in planning and self review.
The centre has identified, and ERO agrees, the following improvements will lead to better outcomes for children’s learning. These are:
This is the third cluster review of a number of playcentres that ERO has undertaken in collaboration with the association. Each of the previous cluster reviews have identified emerging strengths from all playcentres reviewed. This process has resulted in key next steps for the association to further support playcentres to improve learning outcomes for children.
The association has made some good progress in addressing the recommendations from the previous two cluster reviews. This includes:
Further work is required to develop a stronger understanding of the government’s focus on priority learners so that the association can better support parent groups to respond to these children.
There continues to be significant change occurring in the structure of governance and management at association and federation levels. This has had a major impact on the association’s positive response to ERO’s recommendation from the previous cluster review, to document future planning.
During this cluster review the association has identified, and ERO agrees, that the next steps for the association include:
Before the review, the staff and management of Leeston Playcentre 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 Leeston Playcentre will be in three years.
Graham Randell
National Manager Review Services Southern Region
10 November 2014
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 |
Leeston, Canterbury |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
70078 |
||
|
Licence type |
Playcentre |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
25 children, including up to 8 aged under two |
||
|
Service roll |
29 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls 12; Boys 17 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori NZ European/Pākehā Filipino Other ethnicities |
9 13 2 5 |
|
|
Reported ratios of adult to children |
Under 2 |
1:1 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:5 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
August 2014 |
||
|
Date of this report |
10 November 2014 |
||
|
Most recent ERO reports |
Education Review |
October 2011 |
|
|
Education Review |
May 2008 |
||
|
Education Review |
June 2004 |
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:
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.