Dunedin Rudolf Steiner Kindergarten

1 ERO’s Judgements

Akarangi | Quality Evaluation evaluates the extent to which this early childhood service has the learning and organisational conditions to support equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners. Te Ara Poutama- indicators of quality for early childhood education: what matters most (PDF 3.01MB) are the basis for making judgements about the effectiveness of the service in achieving equity and excellence for all learners. The Akarangi Quality Evaluation Judgement Rubric (PDF 91.30KB) derived from the indicators, is used to inform the ERO’s judgements about this service’s performance in promoting equity and excellence.

ERO’s judgements for Dunedin Rudolf Steiner Kindergarten are as follows:

2 Context of the Service

Dunedin Rudolf Steiner Kindergarten provides education and care for children from two-to-six years. Children learn in three mixed-age rooms and share a large outdoor area. The kindergarten is governed by a trust and overseen by a head teacher. Most teachers are qualified, including Steiner trained.

3 Summary of findings

Children learn in an environment that strongly reflects the Steiner philosophy and is consistent with
Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. The centre is peaceful and unhurried. Adults are mindful of children’s holistic wellbeing. The programme values daily and seasonal rituals and rhythms, natural resources, art, and self-directed play. Children are settled and highly engaged in their play.

Children benefit from a broad, responsive curriculum. A well-resourced environment supports choice, rich imaginative play and real-life experiences. Teachers deliberately extend children’s oral language, model positive social interactions and support self-management. Some te ao and te reo Māori are interwoven into each day.  Children are confident and capable learners.

Teachers know the children and their families very well. This creates strong kindergarten-home links and supports children’s wellbeing. Increasingly, parents share their aspirations for their child’s learning

Assessment and planning for learning processes need further work. A recently developed system shows children’s progress against valued Steiner outcomes. This system is in the early stages of being able to show progress against the learning outcomes in Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. In learning records, teachers do not consistently show how they:

• have responded to parents’ aspirations
• acknowledge children's identity, language and culture
• document children’s progress towards their goals.

Group planning leads to engaging experiences but could better foreground the intended learning. Teachers work collaboratively and deliberately model desired behaviours for children. They frequently meet to discuss their practice and child studies. Professional learning, such as Steiner education and te reo Māori, align with the kindergarten’s strategic priorities.

Aspects of management need strengthening. This includes more comprehensive reporting to the trust and better monitoring of health and safety practices.  Internal evaluation of teaching and learning is collaborative and results in reflection and change. Further work is needed to deepen leaders’ and teachers’ understanding of some steps in the evaluative process to ensure well-informed decision making.

4 Improvement actions

Dunedin Rudolf Steiner Kindergarten will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning. These are to:

• continue to deepen teachers’ confidence in te reo Māori and knowledge of te ao Māori so that these are more evident in day-to-day learning
• embed and monitor the quality of assessment, planning and evaluation processes, ensuring that these:

• acknowledge children’s cultures
• foreground parents’ aspirations for their children’s learning and how teachers have responded to these
• highlight children’s progress over time against the learning outcomes in Te Whāriki
• strengthen management practices, to include more comprehensive reporting to the trust and better monitoring of health and safety practices
• deepen leaders’ and teachers’ understanding of internal evaluation to ensure collaborative sense making focuses on equity and excellence for all children.

5 Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Dunedin Rudolf Steiner Kindergarten 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.

 6 Actions for Compliance

ERO found areas of non-compliance in the service relating to:

• Adults providing education and care are familiar with relevant emergency drills and carry these out with children on an at least three-monthly basis.

Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education & Care Services 2008, HS8.

7 Recommendation to Ministry of Education

ERO recommends the Ministry follows up with the service provider to ensure non-compliances identified in this report are addressed.

Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini

25 February 2022 

8 About the Early Childhood Service