192 A Wellington Road, Wainuiomata, Lower Hutt
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Arakura Kindergarten provides all-day education and care for up to 33 children, aged over two years. Sessions run daily from 8:45am to 2:45pm. At the time of this ERO review, nine of the children enrolled identify as Māori.
The service is part of the Enviroschools programme that promotes environmental sustainability. Its philosophy focuses on encouraging tamariki to have a sense of wonder and explore their theories of the natural world by respecting Papatūānuku.
Since the September 2015 ERO report, a new head teacher has been appointed. All teachers are fully qualified.
Arakura Kindergarten is one of 19 in the Lower Hutt region, governed and managed by Hutt City Kindergarten Association (the association). Since the previous ERO review, a new senior leadership team has been appointed. This includes a general manager and two senior teachers, guided by a team leader. The governance board has also undergone significant changes.
The 2015 ERO report identified key next steps for this kindergarten. These included: alignment of curriculum processes and teaching practice; enhancing aspects of planning for learning; and strengthening evaluation practice. These have been addressed.
Practices requiring development were also identified for the association. These included: strategic planning; cultural responsiveness to Māori and Pacific families; evaluation; and the appraisal process. Good progress has been made in these areas.
This review was one of nine in the Hutt City Kindergarten Association.
Children participate in play-based programme. The learning spaces are set up well to promote their exploration, interaction, experimentation and fun. The outdoor space reflects the kindergarten’s focus on environmental sustainability. Planting and harvesting fruit and vegetables are an important part of the programme. Positive engagement between peers and with teachers is evident.
Children with additional learning needs are well supported in their learning and wellbeing. Teachers work in partnership with the families, whānau and outside agencies to plan and monitor their progress.
Teachers are currently undertaking a review of the kindergarten's philosophy. As part of this process leaders and teachers are consulting with all parents to gather their voices about what educational success looks like for them and their children.
Teachers effectively notice individual children's interests, recognise opportunities for learning and respond through purposeful experiences. Well-considered partnerships with parents and whānau enable them to co-construct meaningful goals for each child. Teachers are continuing to strengthen the reflection of celebrating and promoting children’s cultures, languages and identities in assessment.
Kaupapa Māori practices are highly valued and well promoted. Community expertise is used to enrich the programme through weekly waiata Māori sessions. Te reo Māori and children's home language are used, shared and celebrated in centre displays. Teachers are currently investigating how they can develop a place-based curriculum in the learning programme. ERO's findings confirm this is a next step.
A well-considered internal evaluation framework is in place to support decision making. Leaders and teachers are very reflective and improvement focused. They are using evaluation to determine how well the curriculum is impacting on children’s learning.
A comprehensive, well-considered appraisal process is in place. Teachers challenge themselves to continually improve their practice through strategic goal-setting and professional learning. Plans are in place to further strengthen teacher development by implementing an inquiry-based approach to appraisal. This should support teachers to better measure the success of improved practices in promoting outcomes for specific children and priority groups.
The association's senior teaching team are reflective and highly improvement focused. Robust, linked systems and processes have been skilfully developed to guide and grow teacher capability and positively impact on children’s learning. Leaders successfully foster a collective sense of responsibility for the vision, values and mission of the association.
The governance board includes community representatives with a wide range of useful skills. The board and senior leadership team work well together, with a shared commitment to meeting strategic goals and objectives for the benefit of children, whānau and community. Resource allocation clearly aligns with this focus. Equitable and inclusive ways to eliminate barriers to children’s learning and wellbeing are actively sought.
ERO and kindergarten teachers agree that their key next steps are to:
better reflect children's cultures, languages and identities in their learning stories
develop a place-based curriculum.
ERO, the governance board and senior leaders agree that they should continue to build their effectiveness by:
measuring the extent to which children's and their families’ outcomes are improved though association initiatives and systems. This should include analysing their impact on specific priority groups
increasing opportunities for whānau to actively contribute to the association’s operation and strategic direction.
Before the review, the staff and management of Arakura 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:
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 Arakura Kindergarten will be in four years.
Alan Wynyard
Director Review and Improvement Services
Southern Region
18 December 2018
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 |
Wainuiomata |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
5325 |
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Licence type |
Free Kindergarten |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
33 children over two |
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Service roll |
40 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 23, Girls 17 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
9 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% + |
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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 |
September 2018 |
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Date of this report |
18 December 2018 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
September 2015 |
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|
Education Review |
September 2012 |
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Education Review |
February 2009 |
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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 |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Arakura Kindergarten is located in Wainuiomata and provides education and care for children from two to five years of age. Older children attend six hour sessions three days a week and two morning sessions are available for the younger children. Whānau placements are also available. The kindergarten is licensed for 33 children. Teachers are fully qualified and the programme is further assisted by support staff.
The kindergarten has a positive reporting history with ERO.
The August 2012 ERO report identified areas requiring further development. These include the kindergarten reviewing their practice in numeracy and literacy, strengthening assessment, planning and evaluation, self review and appraisal. Improvements to many of these areas for development are evident and teachers remain committed to ongoing learning.
The kindergarten is governed by the Hutt City Kindergarten Association (the association). Two professional practice managers (PPMs) are employed by the association to provide professional support and guidance to teachers. Since the previous ERO report there have been several changes of General Manager.
This review was part of a cluster of nine kindergartens reviews in the Hutt City Kindergarten Association.
Children play and learn alongside their peers. They work in a sustained and focused way and participate in a play-based, child-led curriculum. Teachers support and extend their learning. They use rich descriptive language and open- ended questions, which support children’s language development and thinking. Independent skills are valued and promoted through flexible routines that provide a framework for the day. Music is actively promoted and celebrated in the programme.
Literacy is identified as a priority learning area and is well integrated throughout the curriculum. The kindergarten is a member of the Enviroschools programme. Sustainable practices are a key learning area. Children are well supported to be responsible for caring for their environment. They actively participate in reducing waste, reusing materials and recycling.
Positive and warm relationships are evident between children, teachers and whānau. Members of the kindergarten community show a strong sense of belonging. Many parents choose to spend time at the kindergarten playing alongside their children and participating in kindergarten events. Teachers identify a next step is to liaise with parents to find out about the aspirations they have for their children. This information should be used to inform the learning programme. External agencies, whānau and teachers work together to support children with diverse learning needs.
Teachers work collaboratively with parents to support children’s successful transition to school. A range of useful resources and strategies guide this individualised process. The bicultural programme is well developed. The practice of tuakana teina is promoted by teachers. Samoan language is also used to enrich children’s language development. Meeting with the kindergarten's Māori and Pacific communities to establish a shared understanding of what success looks like in this context, has been identified by teachers as a key next step. ERO agrees with this approach.
Assessment documents require strengthening. Profile information currently highlights the range of learning experiences that children engage in. A next step is for teachers to show how they plan to add depth and complexity to children’s learning to better show children’s progression in their learning over time.
A useful framework guides review and evaluation in the kindergarten leading to improvements. Teachers should continue to strengthen analysis of the evidence gathered and build their evaluative capacity.
Strong leadership gives a shared sense of direction for the kindergarten. The vision, philosophy, quality indicators and kindergarten priorities provide guidance for teaching and learning. Stronger alignment of these documents should give clearer direction for teachers’ professional practice and ongoing evaluation.
The association is part way through the implementation of a new approach to appraisal. Once fully established this should assist leaders to provide a robust, supportive and developmental process. The PPMs should then regularly monitor how well appraisal is being implemented in each kindergarten.
The board receives a range of useful information. A key next step is for leaders to undertake more evaluative reporting to assist in decision making and ongoing resourcing. The strategic plan provides a vision and shared direction to guide development. Establishing clearer measures of success should strengthen evaluation of progress towards goals. In addition, strategies that promote cultural responsiveness to Māori and Pacific families should be highlighted in strategic documents.
The PPMs provide half-yearly written reports. These show how the kindergarten is meeting legislative requirements, and at times, make recommendations. These reports should be strengthened by providing critical feedback on the quality of teaching and the effectiveness of the curriculum in improving outcomes for children.
The association provides guidance and support to teachers for continuous improvement of teaching and learning. This includes:
At the time of this review the association was involved in a process of a formal review to determine the future direction of Hutt City Kindergartens. ERO identified that within the current operating model the capacity of senior staff to provide targeted support that promotes ongoing improvement to teaching and learning is limited.
ERO identified that priorities for improvement should include:
The association should:
Before the review, the staff and management of Arakura 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:
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 Arakura Kindergarten will be in three years.
Joyce Gebbie
Deputy Chief Review Officer
Central
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 |
Wainuiomata |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
5325 |
||
|
Licence type |
Free Kindergarten |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
33 children, over two years of age |
||
|
Service roll |
48 |
||
|
Gender composition |
26 Boys, 22 Girls |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Asian Pacific |
18 24 4 2 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% + |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
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 |
August 2012 |
|
|
Education Review |
February 2009 |
||
|
Education Review |
February 2006 |
||
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.