Balclutha Kindergarten

Education institution number:
5511
Service type:
Free Kindergarten
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
24
Telephone:
Address:

1 Lanark Street, Balclutha

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Balclutha Kindergarten - 10/08/2017

1 Evaluation of Balclutha Kindergarten

How well placed is Balclutha Kindergarten to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Not well placed

Requires further development

Well placed

Very well placed

ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.

Background

Balclutha Kindergarten is one of four kindergartens governed and supported by the South Otago Kindergarten Association (SOKA). The kindergarten provides education and care for 38 children from two years to school age. Some children attend full kindergarten hours and others for mornings only. Children come from a range of cultural backgrounds. A head teacher has responsibility for the day-to-day running of the service.

The teaching staff are fully qualified early childhood teachers and have been together at this service for over six years.

This service has recently joined the Big River Community of Learning | Kāhui Ako (CoL) which includes the high school, primary schools and other early learning organisations in this region. The association senior teacher has advocated strongly for the inclusion and involvement of early childhood services within the CoL.

The recommendations from the 2013 ERO report have been successfully addressed. These include:

  • growing bicultural practices

  • improving planning for individuals and groups

  • using self review to improve outcomes for children.

This review was part of a cluster of four kindergarten reviews in the South Otago Kindergarten Association. 

The Review Findings

Children and their families are warmly welcomed into the service. Their views are sought and responded to by teachers. These partnerships for learning are helping to promote positive outcomes for all children. The service philosophy and agreed Treaty underpin the curriculum and show what learning is valued. Leaders and teachers work in partnership with parents of children with special needs to improve and enhance their learning.

Teachers support children to be confident, competent learners, and to take increased responsibility for themselves and others. Teachers actively model life skills and promote peer interactions to support learning. They effectively foster children’s language development by having genuine conversations. Teachers learn about the languages, cultures and identities of children attending, and seek ways to maintain children’s connections to their cultural identity.

Teachers demonstrate strong bicultural practices. They have an understanding of te ao Māori perspectives across the curriculum. They value Māori children’s identity as Māori. Programmes include Māori concepts, knowledge, skills and attitudes. Te reo Māori is used regularly and in a way that shows it is a living language. Teachers incorporate the skills and expertise of whānau Māori into the service and programmes.

Teachers plan effectively for individuals and groups to promote the development of life skills. This includes a wide variety of activities within which children can practise learning social, physical and emotional competencies. Programmes such as Splashquatics and transition to school are very good examples of this. Teachers have adapted the programme and their practices to make it more interesting and relevant for boys.

Teachers' assessments show a deepening and increasing complexity of children’s learning. Stories show how children are progressing and what their next learning steps might be. Teachers need to strengthen this by more consistently explaining the strategies they might use to help support the learning. Increasingly parents are being given opportunities to contribute to their child's learning. A next step for teachers is to show a greater focus on learning, rather than activities, when documenting how the environment will contribute to children's learning.

The senior teacher and teachers across the association have developed internal evaluation processes since the last ERO review. Planned evaluations would be further strengthened by being more systematic and adding greater depth such as bringing in multiple perspectives, using a review schedule and keeping tightly focused on the evaluative question.

The head teacher provides strong, collaborative professional leadership. Teachers ensure they keep up to date with current theories and practices. They are able to explain their methods and reasons for curriculum decisions to parents. They regularly reflect on their own practices and how these impact on children. This leads to positive outcomes for children. 

The kindergarten is effectively governed by South Otago Kindergarten Association. The association has developed clear strategies to guide the services' futures. The senior teacher is providing very effective leadership, support and guidance to the kindergarten. She shows a strong commitment to ensuring positive outcomes for children. The association implements useful systems to be assured that the kindergarten meets all requirements. The board funds regular appropriate professional development, which contributes to improved teaching practices, leadership skills and bicultural inclusion.

Next steps for the association are to:

  • strengthen the processes of internal evaluation to ensure focused investigations within the association and across kindergartens

  • continue bicultural development within the board and across documentation.

Key Next Steps

The key next steps for the head teacher and teachers are to strengthen:

  • internal evaluation

  • planning, assessment and evaluation to show a greater focus on learning and to more consistently show the planned strategies to support the intended learning.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Balclutha 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:

  • 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; 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. 

Next ERO Review

When is ERO likely to review the service again?

The next ERO review of Balclutha Kindergarten will be in three years.

Dr Lesley Patterson

Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern (Te Waipounamu)

10 August 2017 

The Purpose of ERO Reports

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. 

2 Information about the Early Childhood Service 

Location

Balclutha

Ministry of Education profile number

5511

Licence type

Free Kindergarten

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

40 children aged over 2 years

Service roll

38

Gender composition

Boys: 25

Girls: 13

Ethnic composition

Māori
Pākehā
Other

8
23
7

Percentage of qualified teachers

0-49% 50-79% 80%+

Based on funding rates

80% +

Reported ratios of staff to children

Over 2

1:10

Meets minimum requirements

Review team on site

May 2017

Date of this report

10 August 2017

Most recent ERO report(s)

 

Education Review

May 2013

Education Review

June 2010

Education Review

March 2007

3 General Information about Early Childhood Reviews

ERO’s Evaluation Framework

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.

ERO’s Overall Judgement and Next Review

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:

  • Very well placed – The next ERO review in four years
  • Well placed – The next ERO review in three years
  • Requires further development – The next ERO review within two years
  • Not well placed - The next ERO review in consultation with the Ministry of Education

ERO has developed criteria for each category. These are available on ERO’s website.

Review Coverage

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.

Balclutha Kindergarten - 27/05/2013

1 Evaluation of the Service

How well placed is the service to promote positive outcomes for children?

Balclutha Kindergarten is well placed to promote positive outcomes for children.

Context

Balclutha Kindergarten is one of four services operated by the South Otago Free Kindergarten Association (SOFKA). It provides school-day and part-day sessions for up to 35 children aged two-to-five years from Balclutha and the surrounding districts. The teaching team has worked together for some time.

Since the June 2010 ERO review, the teachers have significantly improved self-review and planning and assessment practices. Teachers need to continue to build their knowledge and understanding of how they might include Māori perspectives.

This review was conducted as part of a cluster approach to reviews in four early childhood education services within the SOFKA umbrella organisation.

Review Findings

Children benefit from positive and supportive relationships with their teachers. Families and whānau are very comfortable to stay and settle their children. Teachers know the children well. Teachers actively support parents and share ideas about how to support their children’s learning and behaviour.

Children are very settled as they play and learn. They have good friendships with each other. They are well supported by clear routines and expectations. There is a centre treaty for children to follow to reinforce the expectations for behaviour. Children are able to become peer mediators to solve problems.

The very well-resourced indoor and outdoor environments encourage children’s creativity and exploration, construction and dramatic play. There is effective integration of early literacy and mathematics into the curriculum. Teachers support and extend children’s interests, and talk with them about their learning.

There has been a SOFKA focus on improving individual and group planning. As a result teachers have developed some useful systems for planning and evaluating programmes for individual and groups of children. The teachers are trialling new ways to make clearer to parents what their children are learning at kindergarten.

Teachers use each other's strengths and work well together.

The senior teacher provides very good support and guidance. The head teachers of the four services meet regularly to develop their leadership skills and provide support for each other. This has resulted in best teaching practices being shared across the four services.

SOFKA has developed a strategic plan to guide its operations. There is useful alignment of the SOFKA goals and how these are implemented at Balclutha Kindergarten.

As an association, they are developing a shared understanding of self review. The senior teacher has initiated a transition-to-school group for local services and primary schools. This is to help children move with ease as they move on to school.

Key Next Steps

The senior teacher and teachers agree that the next steps are to continue to:

  • build bicultural practices
  • review the group and individual planning so that the focus is on creating challenging learning goals and then later evaluating the effectiveness of these in promoting learning
  • use self review to monitor and show ongoing improvement of all processes and practices.

2 Legal Requirements

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Balclutha 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:

  • 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; 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.

3 Next Review

When is ERO likely to review the early childhood service again?

ERO is likely to carry out the next review in three years.

Graham Randell

National Manager Review Services

Southern Region

27 May 2013

Information about the Early Childhood Service

Location

Balclutha, South Otago

Ministry of Education profile number

5511

Licence type

Free Kindergarten - All Day

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

35 children aged over 2 years old

Service roll

58

Gender composition

Girls 33

Boys 25

Ethnic composition

NZ European/Pākehā

Māori

Others

39

14

5

Percentage of qualified teachers

100%

Reported ratios of staff to children

Under 2

N/A

N/A

 

Over 2

1:10

Meets minimum requirements

Review team on site

March 2013

Date of this report

27 May 2013

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review

Education Review

Education Review

June 2010

March 2007

February 2004

General Information about Early Childhood Reviews

About ERO Reviews

The Education Review Office (ERO) is the New Zealand government department that reviews schools and early childhood services throughout New Zealand.

Review focus

ERO's education reviews in early childhood services focus on the factors that contribute to positive learning outcomes for children. ERO evaluates how well placed the service is to make and sustain improvements for the benefit of all children at the service. To reach these findings ERO considers:

  • 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 self review and partnerships with parents and whānau.

Review Coverage

ERO reviews do not cover every aspect of service performance and each ERO report may cover different issues. The aim is to provide information on aspects that are central to positive outcomes for children and useful to the service.