28 Colombo Street, Newtown, Wellington
View on mapAkarangi | 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 are the basis for making judgements about the effectiveness of the service in achieving equity and excellence for all learners. Judgements are made in relation to the Outcomes Indicators, Learning and Organisational Conditions. The Evaluation Judgement Rubric derived from the indicators, is used to inform ERO’s judgements about this service’s performance in promoting equity and excellence.
ERO’s judgements for Adelaide Early Childhood Centre are as follows:
Outcome Indicators(What the service knows about outcomes for learners) |
Whāngai Establishing |
Ngā Akatoro Domains |
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Learning ConditionsOrganisational Conditions |
Whāngai Establishing Whakatō Emerging |
Adelaide Early Childhood Centre is a community-based early childhood service. A newly appointed head teacher manages daily operations. A parent cooperative is responsible for governance. There is diversity in the roll. A small number of Māori learners and children of Pacific heritages attend the centre. There is limited evidence of progress in relation to the key next steps identified in the previous two ERO reports in relation to systems for internal evaluation and teacher appraisal.
Children are confident and competent learners and are well supported by teachers who use a range of effective strategies to promote their developing social and emotional competence. There are regular opportunities for children to explore their thinking and share ideas with their peers and teachers. This supports them to appreciate and recognise their own ability to learn.
The service philosophy which promotes having fun is highly evident in practice. The learning environment clearly reflects the cultures, languages, and identities of children and their families. The use of reo Māori and aspects of tikanga Māori are woven through the curriculum, however the service is yet to explore a local curriculum from a mana whenua perspective.
Teachers recognise children's learning within their assessment documentation. Evaluation of children’s learning is shared with whānau. Teachers are yet to collect, document, and respond to parent and whānau aspirations and cultural information in planning. The learning outcomes from Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum have not been used to clearly show children’s learning and progress.
Leaders are at an early stage of developing documented systems, processes, and practices that support assessment, planning, appraisal, internal evaluation, and compliance. A professional growth cycle has been established; but this is not yet consistently implemented. Reviews of policies have been undertaken, however, the framework for internal evaluation needs to be fully developed to better know what is and what is not working, and for whom. The completion of evaluations in a timely manner is also required. Stronger monitoring of compliance practices including documentation is required.
Adelaide Early Childhood Centre will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:
build teacher understanding and consistent use of the learning outcomes from Te Whāriki, to inform assessment and planning, and evaluation of children’s learning and progress over time
develop an internal evaluation framework that includes measurable quality indicators and has a focus on outcomes for learners
develop a localised bicultural curriculum that reflects the unique place of mana whenua
fully implement and embed teachers and leaders’ professional growth cycle.
Before the review, the staff and management of Adelaide Early Childhood Centre completed an ERO 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; safety checking; teacher registration; ratios)
relevant evacuation procedures and practices.
All early childhood services are required to promote children's health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.
Since the onsite visit, the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:
the signature of the person responsible is obtained prior to going on excursions
written authority from parents is consistently obtained prior to administering medication and individual health plans are in place for administration of category iii medicines
risk assessments for safety checking are documented for all children’s workers.
[Early childhood Education and Care Licensing Criteria, 2008, HS17, HS28, GMA7A].
Patricia Davey
Director of Early Childhood Education (ECE)
11 May 2023
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Early Childhood Service Name |
Adelaide Early Childhood Centre |
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Profile Number |
60241 |
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Location: |
Wellington |
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Service type |
Education and care service |
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Number licensed for |
35 children |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
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Service roll |
54 |
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Review team on site |
February 2023 |
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Date of this report |
11 May 2023 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, June 2020; Education Review, February 2017 |
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Adelaide Early Childhood Centre is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Adelaide Early Childhood Centre is a community-based service in Newtown, Wellington. It provides all-day education and care for a maximum of 35 children over two years old, within a mixed-aged environment.
The centre is governed by a parent cooperative as an incorporated society. The key governance roles are undertaken by a core group of parents who work closely with the head teacher. The day-to-day operation and running of the centre is the responsibility of the head teacher, assistant head teacher and an office manager.
The leadership and teaching teams have remained consistent and include experienced early childhood teachers. Some of the newer staff are undertaking centre-based training.
The recently reviewed philosophy is evident within the programme. It gives emphasis to positive respectful connections and relationships; providing engaging and interesting learning experiences for children; nurturing children’s positive sense of self and sense of belonging; encouraging and supporting active exploration and risk taking. The positive impact that ‘fun’ has on learning is emphasised.
Since the February 2017 ERO review, progress has been made in most of the areas identified for further development. In particular there has been improvement in: governance and leadership structures; assessment of and for children’s learning and documentation reflecting children’s home language, culture and identity.
Leaders and teachers provide a welcoming, caring and supportive environment that strongly encourages positive relationships between teachers, children and their families. There is collective understanding of ways of working with children to actively promote their learning, social competence and wellbeing. Children are well supported to take responsibility for themselves and to be caring and empathic towards others. Inclusive practices ensure that diversity is valued and celebrated by both adults and children.
Children learn in a child-led, rich, interesting and fun learning curriculum. Teachers are responsive to the individual interests, strengths and capabilities of children, with an emphasis on developing children’s positive sense of self and sense of belonging. There is a focus on active exploration, expression and discovery. Aspects of literacy, mathematics, science, arts and sensory learning are integrated within the programme in authentic ways. Children have many opportunities to learn about sustainable practices and the natural world.
Teachers prioritise knowing the learner in the context of their family and community. The languages, cultures and identities of children and families are valued and celebrated. Bicultural practices and perspectives are integrated in ways that are meaningful for children and respectful of Māori culture. Te ao Māori values are embedded in daily practices.
Strong connections to local community enrich children’s learning. Purposeful links to local schools helps to support positive transitions.
Leaders and teachers work closely with parents and whānau to foster reciprocal supportive parent partnerships. Parents are well informed about centre operation and programmes and their children’s learning. Well-written learning records capture children as curious and competent learners.
The experienced teaching team is developing reflective practices and focusing on continuous improvements to teaching and learning that promote positive outcomes for children. At the time of this review leaders were in the early stages of developing and implementing a new performance management system.
A useful process for spontaneous self-review results in improvement. A better framework for in-depth evaluation would help to formalise practices and understandings of internal evaluation across the centre.
A review of the governance structure has improved understandings of roles and responsibilities. Leaders are promoting distributed leadership and building capacity across the teaching team. Good use is made of individual teacher strengths to build teacher capacity.
Centre leaders and ERO agree that the key priorities are to continue to further develop:
strategic and annual planning, including monitoring evaluating and reporting on key priorities
a framework and process for undertaking in-depth internal evaluation for improvement of centre practices that aligns to annual and strategic planning
appraisal and inquiry processes and practices, including updating the procedure to clearly reflect and align to Teaching Council requirements for appraisal and attestation
assessment planning and evaluation to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching practices on outcomes for children and clearly incorporating parent aspirations for children’s learning.
Before the review, the staff and management of Adelaide Early Childhood Centre 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.
During the review, ERO identified areas of non-compliance relating to health and safety in the following areas:
sleeping children are checked for warmth, breathing and general wellbeing at least every 5-10 minutes, or more frequently according to individual needs
parental acknowledgement that medication has been given.
Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, HS9, HS28
Since the onsite phase of the review, the service leaders and managers have proactively taken steps to address these areas.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region - Te Tai Tini
23 June 2020
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 |
Wellington |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
60241 |
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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 |
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Service roll |
51 |
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Gender composition |
Female 28, Male 23 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
4 |
|
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% + |
||
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Over 2 |
1:8 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
December 2019 |
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Date of this report |
23 June 2020 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
ducation Review |
February 2017 |
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Education Review |
March 2014 |
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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.