- ERO evaluates and reports on the education and care of children and young people in early childhood services and schools.
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
A number of useful systems, processes, tools and initiatives are currently in the process of being embedded. The impact of these on teacher practice and children's outcomes is not yet sufficient. Sustainability of these ongoing developments is also a concern for ERO. Significant improvements to teacher practices are still needed in order to meet requirements.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
All About Children - Marton is an all-day early learning service, licensed for 59 children, including 15 aged up to two years. One quarter of the roll is Māori children.
The large repurposed villa is divided for two age groups, each with their own learning spaces, resources and staff. At the time of this review staff were consulting with families in order to refresh their philosophy, in alignment with the recently revised early childhood curriculum Te Whāriki.
The centre, previously known as Karis Kids, was purchased in July 2016 by Kids World Ltd, an Auckland-based company that owns several early learning services in the North Island. A development manager provides professional support and guidance to six early learning services owned and operated by Kids World Ltd.
The April 2014 ERO report identified areas requiring further development. These included: building the teams understanding of Te Whāriki; strengthening teacher practice in te reo Māori and the Samoan language; supporting teachers in reflective practice and evaluation; and strengthening children's voice in assessment. Limited progress is evident.
Since the previous ERO review, there has been significant turnover in staff and leadership within the centre.
Infants and toddlers benefit from warm, intimate relationships with responsive staff. Teachers know these young learners well and are attuned to their interests and cues. Unhurried care routines align with home and are respectful of children’s preferences.
In the older children’s section, leaders have focused on growing teachers’ understanding of current and appropriate practices. Improvements are leading to an increasingly child-led programme. A continued priority in this area is for teachers to maximise opportunities to develop children's independence and self-care skills.
Teacher-child interactions are generally positive, but brief and of limited value. A stronger focus should be placed on teachers engaging in meaningful conversations with children that extend and challenge their thinking and learning.
Consistent and effective strategies to promote children's social competence are not evident. Further work is required in this area to promote a shared understanding of good quality centre-wide practice.
Leaders and teachers acknowledge that meaningful, culturally responsive practices are not yet in place. Significant improvements to teacher understanding and capability are needed, related to:
strong, localised bicultural practices
targeted strategies that promote the educational success of Māori and Pacific children
tailored practices, established in partnership with families, to respond to children from diverse cultural backgrounds.
Improvements in assessment, planning and evaluation documentation are in the early stages. Guiding templates are suitable. As this practice develops, leadership should challenge teachers to more frequently:
use this process to purposefully extend children’s learning dispositions
draw on parent aspirations and cultural information to enrich teaching strategies
clearly show, with evidence, how teachers have improved children’s learning outcomes.
Children with diverse learning needs are supported to engage with the curriculum alongside their peers. Liaison with parents and external agencies occurs as appropriate.
Parents and whānau are consulted about the centre’s priorities and strategic direction. Leaders and ERO agree that the philosophy and associated guiding documents, currently under review, should draw strongly from this information. Leaders are planning to use these documents to promote consistency among the teaching team. ERO's evaluation affirms this direction.
Well-considered tools and systems have recently been introduced to grow teacher capacity. Sustainability and distribution of good practices are promoted through mentoring programmes, guided teacher inquiries and staff leadership opportunities. The impact of these recently introduced systems is yet to be strongly evident in teacher practice and children’s outcomes.
The centre has a clear, collaborative and robust appraisal process that focuses on building teacher practice to benefit children and encourage accountability. Leadership provides robust challenge and critique.
A useful process to guide review has been developed. This supports teachers to look at aspects of their practice and identify areas for ongoing improvement. Teachers should continue to use this process to examine their practice in greater depth over time. This should assist them to determine what is working and what is not.
A good guiding policy framework is in place. ERO's evaluation found these were not consistently enacted in practice. Leaders agree these should be more closely monitored.
The development manager and ERO agree that to better promote positive outcomes for children, significant improvements are required in the following areas:
teacher practice
assessment, planning and evaluation
the bicultural curriculum and culturally responsive practices
consistency of practice with guiding policies.
Before the review, the staff and management of All About Children - Marton 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 identified areas of non-compliance relating to health and safety. To meet requirements the service needs to improve its performance in the following areas:
teachers must be familiar with relevant emergency drills and carry these out with children on an at least three-monthly basis.
[Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, HS8]
To improve practice, leaders and teachers should ensure that practices consistently align with the guiding policy framework. These include:
ERO recommends that the service, in consultation with the Ministry of Education, develops a plan to address the key next steps and actions outlined in this report.
The next ERO review of All About Children - Marton will be within two years.
Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services
Central Region
17 January 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 |
Marton |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
45998 |
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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 |
59 children, including up to 15 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
62 |
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Gender composition |
Girls 34, Boys 28 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
17 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:5 |
Meets minimum requirements |
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Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
November 2018 |
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Date of this report |
17 January 2019 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
April 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:
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.