High Street, Southbridge
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Southbridge Playcentre is well placed but requires additional support to address the next steps identified in this report.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Southbridge Playcentre operates as a parent cooperative under the governance and management of the Playcentre Federation, Upper South Island Region. This centre is licensed for 24 children, including 10 under two years of age. The centre operates three sessions a week and is the only early childhood service in the Southbridge community.
The playcentre employs a centre coordinator who has been in this position for a number of years. Parents are rostered to help at each session. A number of new parents have recently joined Southbridge Playcentre and are becoming familiar with how the parent cooperative operates. The Upper South Island Region employs a centre support person and an administrator who regularly visit the playcentre to support the parents and coordinator in their roles.
The Southbridge Playcentre philosophy emphasises the important role of parents in their children's learning and wellbeing, and children and adults learning together through play. The playcentre's mission statement prioritises strong connections with the community so that parents can support and learn from each other.
The parent cooperative need to further improve the recommendations identified in the 2014 ERO report. Learning assessment and planning, bicultural inclusion, and increasing participation in the playcentre parent education programme remain as areas for further development.
This review was part of a cluster of six reviews in the Playcentre Federation, Upper South Island Region.
Children enjoy learning and playing in an inclusive, friendly environment. Relationships between children and adults are respectful and positive. New families and children are warmly welcomed into the centre. Adults take the necessary time to respond to children's learning interests and needs, and support children to develop a sense of belonging and wellbeing.
Children are encouraged to be active explorers and problem solvers. They confidently make their own choices from the wide variety of activities and learning experiences in the programme. Parents use a range of useful strategies to extend children's interests, encourage exploration, creativity and support children to lead their own learning.
Children participate in a well-established local curriculum. This includes strong connections with their community and primary school. Adults ensure there are opportunities for children to have regular excursions and involvement with the local community. This helps children make use of these experiences to build their knowledge, extend their play and make sense of the world.
Children under-two-years of age are well supported. Parents and children have often participated in the 'Babies can play' programme. This helps them transition easily into the play centre programme. Older children play well with and alongside younger children and show interest in what they are doing. Tuakana-teina relationships are clearly evident as children of mixed ages play together.
The playcentre's strategic plan needs to be strengthened and refined to provide clearer direction-setting for the centre. Internal evaluation processes are becoming established. Along with building leadership capability, the playcentre needs to continue and embed this development.
Te reo and tikanga Māori are in the early stages of development in programmes and practices. The centre now needs to further develop and embed bicultural practices across centre operations and documentation.
The centre parents and coordinator reported to ERO that they are well supported by the Upper South Island Regional Hub.
The parent cooperative and ERO agree that the key next steps include:
ERO recommends that the Upper South Island Regional Hub support the centre to address the key areas for improvement identified in this report.
ERO will maintain an ongoing relationship with the playcentre to monitor and evaluate progress against these key areas for improvement.
There continues to be significant change occurring with the playcentre's governance and management at regional and federation levels.
Before the review, the staff and management of Southbridge 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:
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
Southern Region
21 May 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 |
Christchurch |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
70122 |
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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 |
24 children, including up to 10 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
27 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 16 ; Girls 11 |
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Ethnic composition |
NZ European/Pākehā |
22 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
80% + |
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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 |
February 2019 |
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Date of this report |
21 May 2019 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
November 2014 |
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Education Review |
December 2011 |
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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:
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.
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.
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.
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Southbridge 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.
Southbridge Playcentre has three morning sessions a week.
Since the 2011 ERO report, the centre’s parents have established some useful self-review processes and are building their knowledge and confidence in te reo and tikanga Māori.
This review was part of a cluster of 11 playcentre reviews in the Canterbury Playcentre Association.
Children are active contributors to the programme and their learning. The coordinator and parents regularly consult with children about what they are learning and the ways that adults can best support their learning.
The coordinator and parents use a range of effective approaches to help children express their ideas, and develop their thinking and problem-solving skills. Children’s work is displayed in ways that show the pride that children and adults take in the learning that is occurring for children.
The centre provides a welcoming and supportive environment for children and parents. Parents have a good knowledge of each child and the ways that they can support their learning and wellbeing. The parents also make considerable use of the wider community to extend children’s interests.
The coordinator and parents are making good progress in building their bicultural knowledge and confidence. They have established relationships with members of the local marae and regularly ask them for help to increase their knowledge of tikanga Māori.
Mathematics and literacy are well integrated into the programme. The parents recently completed reviews in these curriculum areas. As part of the mathematics review, they identified how each parent activity supports mathematics. To help parents more effectively build children’s mathematical knowledge and skills, a chart of mathematical terms was collated and displayed.
Children of all ages play well together. Older children are well supported as they transition to school. The supervision team takes an active interest in infants and toddlers by providing additional activities and support for this young age group.
The centre has many good examples of child assessment that identify children’s learning, and include children’s views and the role of the adult in supporting learning. This is providing the coordinator and parents with useful information to extend children’s learning.
Self review is well used by the parents to improve the programme and centre operations.
The parents work effectively as a parent cooperative. The parents have well-established systems and practices for the daily operation of the playcentre. They have been well supported by the Canterbury Playcentre Association to establish these systems and procedures.
The coordinator has been at the centre for a number of years. She knows the families and the community well and makes good use of this information to guide and support parents.
The centre parents and ERO agree, that the next steps for the centre include:
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 has identified emerging strengths from all the 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 Southbridge 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 Southbridge Playcentre will be in three years.
Graham Randell
National Manager Review Services
Southern Region
12 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 |
Southbridge, Canterbury |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
70122 |
||
|
Licence type |
Playcentre |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
24 children, including up to 10 aged under two |
||
|
Service roll |
32 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls 19 Boys 13 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori NZ European/Pākehā |
5 27 |
|
|
Reported ratios of adult to children |
Under 2 |
1:1 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:5 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
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Review team on site |
August 2014 |
||
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Date of this report |
12 November 2014 |
||
|
Most recent ERO reports |
Education Review |
December 2011 |
|
|
Education Review |
April 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:
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.
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.