- 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 |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Back 2 Basics Early Childhood Centre is located in Maungatāpere, Northland. It provides full day and sessional education and care for a maximum of 40 children up to five years of age. Separate areas cater for infants and toddlers, and for children over two years of age.
The centre opened in March 2013 and serves the local rural community. It is a well performing centre that has made significant progress since it opened. Increasingly parents and families view the centre as a meeting place where connections can be made with others. The centre owner has a strong vision of supporting families as first teachers and providing children with a natural learning environment. Sustainability is a key principle that is evident in children’s gardening and care of animals.
The centre has high ratios of qualified staff that ensures required adult-to-child ratios are met. The centre owner and teachers work collaboratively to cater for children’s different interests and strengths, and there are shared understandings of how people contribute to successful centre operations.
Children are settled and confident. They access resources to support their play and request help when needed from adults and other children. A feature of this centre is the way that children create opportunities for each other’s play. Children respond well to opportunities to take responsibility for their wellbeing and social interactions.
Teachers are respectful of children and their families. They build on children’s capabilities and appreciate family input into the life of the centre. Parents report that children are happy and well supported by staff. Adults respond to children’s emerging interests by providing an ever-changing environment. The centre owner and staff have identified that they could now develop teaching strategies that extend children’s thinking.
Teachers are committed to the centre philosophy. Centre documents and displays demonstrate the good range of learning activities provided for children. Learning experiences that promote all aspects of children’s early learning and development are well integrated into play and routines. Plentiful and varied resources support children’s cooperative play. Teachers are now improving how well they formally document children’s learning in order to recognise and respond to emerging interests. Such improvements should help parents to know more about the programme and would also support more in-depth evaluation by teachers.
Good practices that reflect the bicultural expectations of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, are evident. All children hear, see and participate in meaningful examples of te reo me ōna tikanga Māori. Teachers are committed to integrating Te Ao Māori into the curriculum by celebrating events such as Matariki, and using te reo Māori, waiata and karakia. The centre manager has identified that continuing to strengthen relationships with local Māori should help to increase the integration of Te Ao Māori in the curriculum.
The centre manager is very experienced in early childhood education and provides strong leadership. Good systems and practices have been established to support ongoing improvement. Centre self review is developing. Most review has focused on improving routines, centre operations and the learning environment.
The centre has identified that enhancing teaching and learning practices should be the focus of future reviews. This focus would contribute to the centre’s next steps of strengthening teachers’ leadership of children’s learning and of providing more challenging and complex play for children.
Before the review, the staff and management of Back 2 Basics 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.
During the course of the review ERO identified an area of non-compliance. In order to address this, the manager must ensure that a system of regular appraisal is implemented.
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, (47) (e);
Criteria Licensing for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, (GMA7).
The next ERO review of Back 2 Basics will be in three years.
Dale Bailey
National Manager Review Services
Northern Region
3 December 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.
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Location |
Maungatāpere, Whangarei |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
46109 |
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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 |
40 children, including up to 10 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
71 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 46 Girls 25 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori NZ European/Pākehā Pakistani Japanese Samoan other |
18 48 2 1 1 1 |
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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 |
1:5 |
Meets minimum requirements |
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Over 2 |
1:6 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
October 2014 |
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Date of this report |
3 December 2014 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
No previous ERO reports |
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.