22 Torridge Street, South Oamaru, Oamaru
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
ABC Oamaru is now owned and managed by the BestStart organisation. The centre is licensed to provide education and care for 35 children over the age of two. The centre is flexible about the days and hours children enrol for.
Since the last review there have been significant staff changes. The former head teacher is now the centre manager, and an experienced staff member has been appointed as head teacher. Both are new to their leadership roles but are well supported by BestStart managers. The centre has three fully registered and one provisionally registered teacher, and one in training.
Overall, the centre has made good progress in implementing the recommendations in ERO's 2014 report. While progress has been made there is ongoing work to do in some areas.
Children learn in a settled and calm environment. Teachers are respectful and caring in their interactions with children. They are careful not to take over when interacting with children. Teachers encourage children to make choices about their play, self-manage and be independent.
Children are well supported at important transition times. Significant changes have been made to better support children to be ready for school. This includes a focus on early literacy and mathematics, social competence and self-management.
Children have easy access to a variety of inside activities and resources. The large outdoor area provides interesting opportunities for physical activity and exploration. Centre leaders and ERO identified that teachers need to develop centre-based expectations for planning, assessment and evaluation of children's learning in this area.
Children have some opportunities to hear te reo Māori and learn about aspects of Māori and Tongan cultures. Steps have been taken to build a relationship with the Tongan community and the local marae. Leaders have identified, and ERO agrees, that this is an area to continue to strengthen.
BestStart organisation and managers provide regular and useful support to the new centre leaders and teachers. This includes well-planned, centre-specific professional learning and development (PLD), as well as PLD that aligns with BestStart's priorities for development. Changes, such as the appointment of a new manager and head teacher have been well managed.
The centre benefits from BestStart's sound governance structure and systems. This includes a useful policy and procedure framework to guide what happens in the centre. Findings from internal evaluation, including BestStart's quality assurance process, are constructively used to identify areas for development and/or PLD. These findings feed into well-considered strategic plans. To ensure ongoing improvement, ABC Oamaru needs to develop useful annual plans that clearly state the centre's goals/priorities, and how leaders and other staff will achieve these.
The centre has some useful internal evaluation practices. Leaders regularly seek parent and staff perspectives and act on these. Reviews have led to some well-informed changes that have benefitted children. Internal evaluation will be even more useful when teachers consistently use evaluative questions and evaluate against well-chosen indicators of best practice.
ERO, BestStart managers and centre leaders agree that the next steps are to strengthen:
the quality of, assessment, planning and evaluation of individual and group learning
bicultural practices, including cultural responsiveness to Māori and Pacific children
annual planning for the centre
leaders' and teachers' understanding and practice of internal evaluation
the depth and quality of evidence teachers gather for their appraisal.
Before the review, the staff and management of ABC Oamaru 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.
The next ERO review of ABC Oamaru will be in three years.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern (Te Waipounamu)
24 May 2017
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 |
Oamaru |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
83077 |
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Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
35 children aged over 2 years |
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Service roll |
62 |
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Gender composition |
Boys: 33 Girls: 29 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
7 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
50-79% |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
March 2017 |
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Date of this report |
24 May 2017 |
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Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
February 2014 |
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|
Education Review |
November 2010 |
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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 |
ABC Oamaru is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
ABC Oamaru is now owned and managed by the Kidicorp Ltd. The centre is licensed to provide education and care for 35 children over the age of two. At the time of the review there were 63 children enrolled, close to 100% capacity. Children attend either for a full day, 8.00am to 3.30pm, or for shorter session times.
The centre manager and the head teacher work together with the support of Kidicorp managers to lead the teaching team with a focus on continuous improvement. The stable teaching team includes teachers with considerable experience. They work cohesively to carry out the centre’s philosophy. They encourage each child to have fun while becoming a competent learner.
Teachers use the three inside spaces for a variety of learning activities. The extensive outdoor area has recently been redeveloped, providing a variety of spaces for challenging play and learning.
Leaders and teachers have made good progress in implementing the recommendations from ERO’s 2010 report. Current next steps include further strengthening of self-review practices and building on the leadership potential of staff to continue to improve teaching practices.
The centre manager strongly advocates for children and their families. She places an emphasis on ensuring that parents feel welcome and that children enjoy being in an inclusive and comfortable environment. The manager, head teacher and teachers consider the views of parents in planning how to provide for children, particularly for those children from different cultural backgrounds or with special needs.
The centre manager is a qualified teacher with considerable experience at this centre over many years. She models aspects of good teaching practice. Teachers listen carefully to children, respond to their ideas and choices, and provide a programme that is based around the needs and interests of the children. Children enjoy the focus on active movement, the opportunities to play and learn in the outdoor environment, and the regular inclusion of music in the programme.
Teachers communicate well with each other about children’s care needs and what is needed to support each child’s learning. They use a comprehensive system to record, discuss and plan for children’s learning.
Profiles about each child’s learning that are shared with parents show clear links between the early-childhood curriculum and the primary school curriculum.
Other positive features ERO noted include the way teachers:
foster children’s relationships with each other
encourage children to take responsibility for themselves
acknowledge children’s success
provide opportunities for children to be imaginative
integrate aspects of early literacy and numeracy into the programme.
The centre manager is aware of which children identify as Māori, and those who are from Pacific cultural backgrounds or other parts of the world. Teachers find out about each child’s background and find ways to learn how to respond to the child and the parents in culturally responsive ways. Teachers are continuing to strengthen their ability to include aspects of te reo Māori and tikanga Māori in the programme as a way to better support the tamariki in their care.
Teachers provide a useful programme to support four year olds as they prepare to make the transition to school. The manager and teachers want to find ways to make connections with more of the schools children will move on to.
The centre manager and teachers make good use of the Kidicorp policies, procedures and guidelines to take all reasonable steps to provide a physically and emotionally safe environment for children.
The professional services manager is working with the teaching team to look closely at the centre philosophy statements and determine how teachers ensure the philosophy is evident in action. In this way, and in other ways, all teachers are involved in planning centre direction.
The Kidicorp organisation ensures that the business manager and professional services manager regularly provide useful support for staff at the centre to carry out their roles and responsibilities appropriately.
The two managers maintain a strong focus on continuous improvement. They achieve this focus by:
making purposeful use of a well-developed appraisal system
providing targeted professional learning and development for staff
carrying out a Kidicorp Quality Education and Care Audit to gather useful information about what is going well and what improvements are underway
using other self-review processes to improve some practices.
The professional services manager, the centre manager and the teaching team are in the process of reviewing the strategic plan so that it more meaningfully reflects their priorities.
Centre managers and ERO agree that the next steps are to:
develop clearer, documented indicators about what good-quality teaching should look like in practice, then review teaching practice against these agreed indicators
improve systems to record what parents share about their aspirations for children’s learning
continue to build leadership capacity within the centre
continue to strengthen self review.
Before the review, the staff and management of ABC Oamaru 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.
The next ERO review of ABC Oamaru will be in three years.
Graham Randell
National Manager Review Services Southern Region
20 February 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 |
Oamaru, Central Otago |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
83077 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education and Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
35 children aged two years and over |
||
|
Service roll |
65 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls 36 Boys 29 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori NZ European/Pākehā Tongan Cook Island Māori Other Ethnicities |
7 49 5 1 3 |
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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 |
Not applicable |
|
|
Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
December 2013 |
||
|
Date of this report |
20 February 2014 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report
|
Education Review |
November 2010 |
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.