Main Road, Ahipara
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Ahipara Sandhoppers Early Childhood is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Ahipara Sandhoppers Early Childhood is a well-established centre situated at Ahipara Primary School. It provides early childhood education and care for 60 children, including up to 20 aged under two years.
The centre provides for children in three separate spaces - infants and toddlers in Ngā Tipu, two and three year olds in Ngā Puāwai, and four year old children in Ngā Pūriri. Children from Ngā Tipu also have a separate outdoor space. All children share a spacious outdoor environment. Most of the children enrolled have Māori heritage.
The centre's philosophy is aligned with the principles of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, and aspects of the Resources for Infant Edu-carers (RIE) approach, a philosophy promoted by Magda Gerber. The philosophy emphasises building strong relationships with children and whānau, and supporting children's sense of mana whenua.
The centre is governed by a management committee. A sense of connectedness with the community includes associations with the school, OSCAR service and community playgroup.
The 2015 ERO report identified a calm, settled and inclusive tone throughout the centre, good support for children to develop positive social relationships, and evidence of tuakana/teina relationships. These positive features continue to be present. Areas for improvement in 2015 included evaluating the effectiveness of teachers’ practices, creating inviting discrete play areas, and strengthening curriculum leadership. There has been some progress in these areas.
Children and whānau are warmly welcomed. Children have many opportunities to explore and learn in the thoughtfully prepared, well-resourced, and carefully considered indoor and outdoor spaces. They play cooperatively with and alongside each other, often in mixed-age groups. They choose their own activities, make decisions, and negotiate with and involve others. Children confidently communicate both verbally and non-verbally with adults and peers.
Teachers prioritise building strong relationships with whānau. They know children well and foster children's sense of belonging and wellbeing. They skilfully support children to develop oral language and social skills. Children's preferences are respected. Teachers are highly responsive to children's cues, interests, dispositions and wonderings. They support children to investigate, explore, play and learn. Teachers working with infants and toddlers promote trust and the formation of secure attachments.
Teachers are inclusive and support all children well, including those with additional learning needs. Teachers incorporate kupu Māori naturally and confidently in conversations. Natural resources are valued and used in the centre.
Parents and whānau spoken with appreciate teacher's involvement with their children's lives and learning. The small parent committee is highly engaged in contributing to improvements at the centre. Families participate in centre activities enthusiastically.
Teaching practices are informed by Te Whāriki and current educational theories, and teachers continue to build their shared knowledge of implementing Te Whāriki (2017). Teachers collaboratively assess children's learning and identify their interests and dispositions.
Teachers agree that they could continue to:
develop their knowledge of children's identities as learners
invite parents to contribute to assessments, strengthen their responses to parent aspirations, and make children's progress more visible.
Teachers enact the centre philosophy well. Leaders and teachers work with staff to set high expectations for practice. Teachers and staff have access to professional learning and development (PLD) opportunities. Recent PLD relating to teachers' appraisal are beginning to strengthen the process. Internal evaluation is documented regularly.
The centre is effectively realising its vision. A strategic plan with an improvement focus has been developed. Leaders and teachers could prioritise supporting strategic goals with appropriate annual action plans. Annual planning, internal evaluation and appraisal goals can then be aligned with the strategic plan to achieve coherence across systems. Policies are reviewed regularly, and some policies must be updated to meet current requirements.
Key next steps include:
further refining assessment and planning practices including how to plan for and extend children's learning
strengthening evaluative practices that focus on improving teaching practice and outcomes for children.
Before the review, the staff and management of Ahipara Sandhoppers Early Childhood 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.
ERO found areas of non-compliance in the service relating to health and safety, governance and management. These include:
updating policies and procedures to meet current requirements for child protection , staff appointments, complaints, and excursions
record keeping related to checks of sleeping children, excursions, illnesses, and administering medication
safety checking of all children’s workers who have access to children in accordance with the Children's Act 2014.
Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008: HS9,17,27,28,31, GMA1,7A; Children's Act 2014.
Steve Tanner
Director Review and Improvement Services Northern
Northern Region
20 June 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 |
Ahipara |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
11530 |
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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 |
60 children, including up to 20 aged under 2 |
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|
Service roll |
74 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 40 Girls 34 |
||
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
43 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% + |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:3 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
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Review team on site |
May 2019 |
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Date of this report |
20 June 2019 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
September 2015 |
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|
Education Review |
March 2011 |
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|
Education Review |
May 2008 |
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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.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Ahipara Sandhoppers Early Childhood has been operating for more than 20 years in spacious buildings in the grounds of Ahipara Primary School. Sandhoppers is governed by the management committee of an incorporated society. It provides early childhood education and care for up to 60 children from surrounding rural, coastal and marae communities. About 40 percent of the children enrolled are of Māori descent. Many of the families and staff whakapapa to Te Rarawa. The centre caters for up to 10 infants and toddlers in Ngā Tipu, 25 two and three year olds in Ngā Puāwai, and 25 four year old children in Ngā Pūriri.
There are generational family connections amongst several staff and whānau. The longstanding, dedicated manager and the staff have a strong commitment to supporting and serving whānau and the community. This commitment and an ethic of care underpin all aspects of centre operations. The sense of stability and community connectedness includes the school, as well as the community playgroup and after-school care group that also operate under the umbrella of the governing board. The manager continues to encourage whānau to be involved in the board.
In 2013 a fire destroyed the Ngā Pūriri building and storage sheds. The rebuild and transition period was very well managed. Resulting improvements include extended play areas with new furniture and equipment, kitchen workspace and bathroom facilities.
The three head teachers and well qualified teaching teams are supported by staff who are in training, an administrator and the centre manager. Teams are collaborative and responsive to the needs of whānau and children. Flexible staffing means that ratios of adults to children are often better than required.
Strengths recognised in ERO’s 2011 report included relationships with whānau, bicultural practices and an inclusive environment. The manager and staff have sustained and continue to build on these features. Good progress has been made in areas where ERO recommended improvement, such as self review, quality interactions with children and the use of computers to support children’s learning.
Children benefit from, and whānau appreciate, the secure sense of belonging and wellbeing in the centre. Children are confident with adults, readily share their ideas and have a feeling of ownership of the centre environment. They enjoy the freedom to explore independently. There is a calm, settled and inclusive tone throughout the centre. The sense of extended whānau and community ensures that transitions into the centre, between rooms and on to the school are seamless and very well supported by the manager and staff.
Children are well supported to develop skills for positive social relationships. Positive tuakana/teina relationships are a feature. Ngā Puāwai and Ngā Tipu children share the outdoor area with Ngā Pūriri, and can also join activities in each others’ rooms. Children often work in small groups, and their discussions are led by older children.
Children are familiar with centre routines and expectations. They say karakia together and sing waiata confidently. Meal times are social occasions. Centre-wide caring relationships are a particular feature of Ngā Tipu, where provision for infants is flexible and responsive. Toddlers can experience greater challenge when they join Ngā Puāwai activities and explore in the outdoors.
The centre’s outdoor area is attractively landscaped, with a variety of inviting play spaces. Teachers work closely with small groups and use group games well to promote mathematics, literacy and thinking skills as well as cooperative interactions. Teachers support children’s oral language development well. They listen carefully to children and purposefully model and promote genuine conversational interaction.
Aroha, whanaungatanga and manaaki underpin centre practices. The natural integration of te reo me ōna tikanga Māori is a strength. These features are visible in displays and interactions throughout the centre. Several staff members are fluent speakers of te reo and provide leadership and support for others. These good practices could now be featured more clearly in the centre’s philosophy statements. A current project to recognise whakapapa connections highlights Māori identity and that of all families. It is helping to build staff understanding of te reo and tikanga, and incorporates the sense of place that underpins this community.
Teachers value their relationships with whānau, and there is a good sense of partnership in supporting children’s learning. Monitoring systems enable teachers to ensure all children’s assessments are up to date. A new online tool is increasing whānau access to stories about their children’s learning and development. Teachers are currently reviewing the effectiveness of this tool and its potential for supporting their professional learning and development. They could also consider ways to better document their programme planning and evaluation.
Self-review processes are systematic and useful, and teachers regularly reflect on aspects of their work. The manager’s strategic plan is regularly updated. It provides a good foundation for review and increased transparency across the board and staff. The manager has aligned the centre’s policy framework with the regulations. She recognises that policies could be further refined and is working towards establishing more purposeful and robust teacher performance appraisal.
The manager and experienced teachers actively support new staff to achieve teaching qualifications. A high level of qualified teachers is maintained and teacher strengths are valued. The manager is working towards spreading leadership roles across the staff to better support the long-term sustainability of the service.
The manager and teachers are enthusiastic about the potential for enriching their practices and the programmes that they provide for children. They could now extend their self review to:
Before the review, the staff and management of Ahipara Sandhoppers Early Childhood 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 Ahipara Sandhoppers Early Childhood will be in three years.
Graham Randell
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)
14 September 2015
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 |
Ahipara, Northland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
11530 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
60 children, including up to 20 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
66 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys 37 Girls 29 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Asian Pacific |
31 26 5 4 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80% Based on funding rates |
80% |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:5 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
July 2015 |
||
|
Date of this report |
14 September 2015 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
March 2011 |
|
|
Education Review |
May 2008 |
||
|
Education Review |
June 2005 |
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.