ERO’s Akanuku | Assurance Review reports provide information about whether a service meets and maintains regulatory standards. Further information about Akanuku | Assurance Reviews is included at the end of this report.
Regulatory standards |
ERO’s judgement |
|
Curriculum |
Meeting |
|
Premises and facilities |
Meeting |
|
Health and safety |
Meeting |
|
Governance, management and administration |
Meeting |
At the time of the review, ERO found the service was taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.
Woolston Playcentre is a whānau-led early childhood education service governed and administered by
Te Whānau Tupu Ngātahi o Aotearoa – Playcentre Aotearoa. Since the last ERO report, there has been significant restructuring and change at the national level of playcentre. Woolston Playcentre is open four mornings a week for general sessions. Regular support is provided by a Centre Advisor. There is a small number of children enrolled who identify as Māori, and this is similar for children from Pacific heritages.
Woolston Playcentre’s curriculum is based on Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. There are opportunities for children to develop an understanding of the dual heritage of Aotearoa, New Zealand. Children experience a range of activities and experiences, both indoors and outdoors, that support their learning, development and growing social competence. Parents who help to provide the daily learning programme alongside a facilitator, have meaningful, positive interactions with their own and other children.
Parents and facilitators have recently reviewed their local philosophy to reflect the community’s values and beliefs about the provision of early childhood education. A national policy, procedure and process framework guides the operation of the playcentre.
Next steps include:
continuing to make the learning dispositions and outcomes from Te Whāriki more visible in children’s learning documentation.
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini
21 November 2022
|
Early Childhood Centre |
Woolston Playcentre |
|
Profile Number |
70152 |
|
Location |
Christchurch |
|
Service type |
Playcentre |
|
Number licensed for |
25 children, including up to 10 aged under 2 |
|
Service roll |
55 |
|
Review team on site |
September 2022 |
|
Date of this report |
21 November 2022 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Supplementary Review, August 2013; Education Review, August 2012 |
All services are licensed under the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008. The legal requirements for early childhood services also include the Licensing Criteria for Education and Care Services 2008.
Services must meet the standards in the regulations and the requirements of the licensing criteria to gain and maintain a licence to operate.
having its first ERO review – including if it is part of a governing organisation
previously identified as ‘not well placed’ or ‘requiring further development’
that has moved from a provisional to a full licence
that have been re-licenced due to a change of ownership
where an Akanuku | Assurance Review process is determined to be appropriate.
All early childhood services are required to promote children’s health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements. Before the review, the staff and management of a service 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.
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO assesses whether the regulatory standards are being met. In particular, ERO looks at a 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 certification; ratios)
relevant evacuation procedures and practices.
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO also gathers and records evidence through:
discussions with those involved in the service
consideration of relevant documentation, including the implementation of health and safety systems
observations of the environment/premises, curriculum implementation and teaching practice.
A Supplementary Review is undertaken at the discretion of a National Manager, Review Services in the Education Review Office (ERO).
A supplementary review evaluates the extent and effectiveness of actions a centre has taken towards addressing issues specified in a previous education review and/or any additional areas identified since that review.
This supplementary review is based on an evaluation of the performance of the Woolston Playcentre governing body and management in relation to areas identified in the August 2012 ERO report or issues identified since that review. The terms of reference for this review are to investigate:
Woolston Playcentre is one of 46 centres administered by the Canterbury Playcentre Association. The association’s education and centre support teams guide parents to operate the centre. The parents’ cooperative is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the centre. The centre operates for three morning sessions each week for children aged from birth to school age.
At the time of the August 2012 ERO review, the centre had been open for six months, following a period of closure due to the Canterbury earthquakes. The playcentre was in the early stages of re-establishing itself. The centre has increased its roll. The parent group told ERO that a number of families were new to the centre and from a wider geographic area than in the past.
The 2012 ERO review stated that children were provided with interesting activities that engaged them in learning through play. However, it also identified that:
The centre has made good progress in achieving the recommendations from the 2012 ERO review.
The association assisted the centre to develop an action plan that was based on the findings of the 2012 ERO report to guide centre improvements to improve outcomes for children. Some progress has been made in achieving the action plan goals.
A number of parents have completed the Playcentre Association training courses. This has helped them to understand the playcentre philosophy and their role in promoting children’s development and learning. Teams have been established to enable new parents to be supported by those who have undertaken the training.
The Playcentre Association has held regular meetings with the parent group and provided useful reports to guide the management and development of the centre. This included relevant information to help newly appointed office bearers understand the nature of their position.
The centre’s parent surveys show the parent committee need to develop ways to ensure all parents feel included and have a shared understanding of the way the centre operates.
The centre’s action plan needs to be revisited to ensure that:
These developments, with ongoing support from the Association, will help parents to extend positive learning outcomes for all children. ERO has requested that the parent group provide a revised action plan.
ERO is confident that the service is being managed in the interest of the children. Therefore ERO will review the service again as part of the regular review cycle.
Graham Randell
National Manager Review Services
Southern Region
12 August 2013
|
Location |
Christchurch |
|
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
70152 |
|
|
Licence type |
Playcentre (Sessional) |
|
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
|
|
Number licensed for |
20 children, including up to 10 aged under 2 |
|
|
Service roll |
28 |
|
|
Gender composition |
Boys 16 Girls 12 |
|
|
Ethnic composition |
New Zealand European/Pākehā Māori Samoan Asian Other Ethnicities |
12 4 1 5 6 |
|
Review team on site |
May 2013 |
|
|
Date of this report |
12 August 2013 |
|
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review Education Review Education Review |
August 2012 June 2008 June 2004 |
Woolston Playcentre is one of 46 centres administered by the Canterbury Playcentre Association. The association’s education and centre support teams provide support for the centre. The parent cooperative is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the playcentre. This playcentre operates four morning sessions for children aged from birth to school age.
This playcentre has been significantly affected by the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes. The centre was closed for nine months due to damage to the outdoor environment. It reopened in November 2011. During this time, many families left the centre. This included a significant number of parents with useful knowledge and experience in how to run a playcentre. Some of the parents kept in contact with each other by attending another playcentre. Woolston Playcentre is now in the early stages of re-establishing itself as a parent cooperative. A small group of families are highly focused on rebuilding a successful centre.
Positive features of this playcentre include:
The association has appointed a temporary centre mentor to help the parents learn more about contributing to the programme and managing the playcentre. The coordinators and centre mentor have appropriately identified the next steps for the playcentre. This includes helping new parents understand the playcentre philosophy and their roles and responsibilities as members of a cooperative parent group.
ERO has identified that more specific planning for the development of the playcentre should allow the centre to benefit more fully from the valuable input of the centre mentor. An evaluation of the effectiveness of this planning and support would provide the association with better information to guide future support.
ERO intends to return to the centre within a year to evaluate the progress made in response to the recommendations in this report.
Before the review, the management of Woolston Playcentre was invited to consider its priorities for review using guidelines and resources provided by ERO. ERO also used documentation provided by the centre to contribute to the scope of the review.
The detailed priorities for review were then determined following a discussion between the ERO review team and the management and staff. This discussion focused on existing information held by the centre (including self-review information) and the extent to which potential issues for review contributed to positive outcomes for children atWoolston Playcentre.
All ERO education reviews in early childhood focus on the quality of education. For ERO this includes the quality of:
ERO’s findings in these areas are set out below.
Playcentre philosophy highlights the belief that children reach their full potential when parents understand their development and take part in the learning process. This centre’s philosophy promotes a self-choice programme where children learn through play. The playcentre is seen as an environment where all whānau are supported, welcomed and included. This review was conducted five months after the centre reopened.
A small group of parents is highly focused on re-establishing the playcentre. These parents, with the support of the association, have developed useful plans to grow the centre roll. This has been successful in increasing the number of families attending the playcentre.
The coordinators are making good use of the knowledge they are gaining through playcentre education courses to enhance the programme.
Children benefit from easy access to a wide range of well-maintained play equipment. Adults regularly plan interesting activities that engage children in learning through play. This includes making good use of people and organisations in the community to extend children’s experiences. The play spaces are bright and inviting. Māori content in the programme reflects the centre’s commitment to New Zealand’s bicultural heritage.
There is an increasing focus on productive communication among parents. This includes:
The association appointed a centre mentor to support the parents in operating the centre in the aftermath of the earthquakes. She is successfully helping the coordinators and new parents learn more about the philosophy of playcentre and what this looks like in practice. This includes modelling effective ways of relating to children that help to extend their learning.
The small group of parents has been appropriately focused on increasing centre numbers. As the number of families attending the centre increases, the centre mentor and coordinators have identified, and ERO agrees, that they will need to:
In order to ensure the playcentre continues to develop, the association, coordinators and parent group need to develop an action plan to guide centre improvements. This would include:
identifying priorities and associated timeframes and responsibilities to complete these
making clearer for parents the role of the centre mentor and the outcomes expected from her work so that these can be monitored and reported on.
This should allow the centre to benefit more fully from the valuable input of the centre mentor and provide the association with better information to use in planning and ongoing support.
Before the review, the staff of Woolston Playcentre completed an ERO CentreAssurance Statement andSelf-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 documentation, including policies, procedures and records of recent use of procedures. ERO also checked elements of the following areas that have a potentially high impact on outcomes for children:
During the course of the review ERO identified one area of non-compliance. The systems for identifying and managing hazards had not been implemented.
Since the onsite stage of the review the parent group provided evidence to ERO that this has now been addressed.
ERO intends to return to the centre within a year to evaluate the progress made in response to the recommendations in this report.
Graham Randell
National Manager Review Services
Southern Region
|
Type |
Sessional Playcentre |
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
|
Number licensed for |
20 children, including up to 10 aged under two |
|
Roll number |
17 |
|
Gender composition |
Girls 10 Boys 7 |
|
Ethnic composition |
New Zealand European/Pākehā 13; Māori 2; Asian 2 |
|
Review team on site |
May 2012 |
|
Date of this report |
7 August 2012 |
|
Previous three ERO reports |
Education Review June 2008 Education Review June 2004 Discretionary Review February 2000 |
7 August 2012
To the Parents and Community of Woolston Playcentre
These are the findings of the Education Review Office’s latest report on Woolston Playcentre.
Woolston Playcentre is one of 46 centres administered by the Canterbury Playcentre Association. The association’s education and centre support teams provide support for the centre. The parent cooperative is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the playcentre. This playcentre operates four morning sessions for children aged from birth to school age.
This playcentre has been significantly affected by the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes. The centre was closed for nine months due to damage to the outdoor environment. It reopened in November 2011. During this time, many families left the centre. This included a significant number of parents with useful knowledge and experience in how to run a playcentre. Some of the parents kept in contact with each other by attending another playcentre. Woolston Playcentre is now in the early stages of re-establishing itself as a parent cooperative. A small group of families are highly focused on rebuilding a successful centre.
Positive features of this playcentre include:
The association has appointed a temporary centre mentor to help the parents learn more about contributing to the programme and managing the playcentre. The coordinators and centre mentor have appropriately identified the next steps for the playcentre. This includes helping new parents understand the playcentre philosophy and their roles and responsibilities as members of a cooperative parent group.
ERO has identified that more specific planning for the development of the playcentre should allow the centre to benefit more fully from the valuable input of the centre mentor. An evaluation of the effectiveness of this planning and support would provide the association with better information to guide future support.
ERO intends to return to the centre within a year to evaluate the progress made in response to the recommendations in this report.
When ERO has reviewed an early childhood centre we encourage management to inform their community of any follow up action they plan to take. You should talk to the management or contact person if you have any questions about this evaluation, the full ERO report or their future intentions.
If you would like a copy of the full report, please contact the centre or see the ERO website, http://www.ero.govt.nz.
Graham Randell
National Manager Review Services
Southern Region
ERO is an independent, external evaluation agency that undertakes reviews of schools and early childhood services throughout New Zealand.
ERO follows a set of standard procedures to conduct reviews. The purpose of each review is to:
Reviews are intended to focus on outcomes for children and build on each centre’s self review.
ERO’s framework for reviewing and reporting is based on four review strands.
Quality of Education – including the quality of the programme provided for children, the quality of the learning environment and the quality of the interactions between staff and children and how these impact on outcomes for children.
Additional Review Priorities – other aspects of the operation of a centre, may be included in the review. ERO will not include this strand in all reviews.
Compliance with Legal Requirements – assurance that this centre has taken all reasonable steps to meet legal requirements.
ERO reviews do not cover every aspect of centre performance and each ERO report may cover different issues. The aim is to provide information on aspects that are central to positive outcomes for children and useful to this centre.
Most ERO reports include recommendations for improvement. A recommendation on a particular issue does not necessarily mean that a centre is performing poorly in relation to that issue. There is no direct link between the number of recommendations in this report and the overall performance of this centre.