160 Grey Street, Palmerston North CBD, Palmerston North
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Barnardos Early Learning Home Based Manawatu is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Barnardos Early Learning Home Based Manawatu is a home-based education and care network operating under the umbrella of Barnardos NZ. Of the 70 children currently enrolled, 13 are Māori.
Two visiting teachers work alongside educators. Their role is to assist educators to implement care and learning programmes for children. Visiting teachers are supported by a regional operations manager and a teaching and learning leader.
Since the October 2016 ERO report, the organisation has rebranded to Barnardos Early Learning. National management changes include Pedagogy and Quality Assurance Advisers who work alongside the Regional Operations Manager and visiting teachers in supporting the homebased network with professional practice.
The Barnardos Early Learning vision is 'An Aotearoa New Zealand where every child shines bright'. A philosophy to guide teaching and learning focuses on 'Creating strong foundations for the future' and promotes Te Tiriti o Waitangi through 'Mahi Totika - Do the Right Things Well; Ata Whakarongo - Hear with Intent; Kotahitanga - Unity; Kaikokiritanga - Progress with Purpose and Maiatanga - Realise Potential'.
The 2016 ERO report identified that improvement was required in relation to: internal evaluation; curriculum; learning partnerships; promoting educational success for Māori and Pacific children; and improving assessment, planning and evaluation of children's learning. Progress has been made in addressing some of these areas.
Children experience individual learning programmes responsive to their interests, preferences and needs. There are ongoing opportunities to engage with and play alongside others within home environments and local settings. Children are keen explorers within their communities. Programmes promote the living world through the principles of Te Whāriki concepts of whakamana, kotahitanga, whanaungatanga and ngā hononga.
Educators and visiting teachers know children well. Positive, respectful relationships underpin interactions. Infants and toddlers experience caring and warm relationships with educators. Tuakana teina relationships are valued and promoted.
Communication processes between children's families and their home-based service are effectively supported by a range of tools and strategies. Where necessary educators, visiting teachers and parents work in partnership with external agencies to support children's learning needs.
Toku Pukapuka, children's individual journals, record educator observations and narratives of each child's learning. In-home programmes are responsive to children's and parent's voice. These journals highlight children's progression and provide a sense of self as a learner. Close liaison with parents positively supports Māori children's success as Māori and learners' culture, language and identity. Managers and leaders recognise the need to build their capabilities and those of educators, to enhance the response to Māori and other cultures. ERO's evaluation affirms this direction.
Regular playgroups offer ongoing opportunities for children to gather together. Evaluation of these sessions requires further development to assist in knowing the benefits of these for children's learning.
Educators are well supported through visiting teacher input and guidance. Ongoing mentoring, and participation in professional learning programmes build their capability, knowledge and understanding of early childhood education.
Visiting teachers focus on improving the quality of education and care. Managers of teaching, learning and operations oversee these processes. Appraisal of visiting teachers includes core elements of Standards for the Teaching Profession to support and build teachers capability. Goals align to individual and service priorities and inform professional learning opportunities.
The organisation's vision, strategic priorities and Nga Pou e Wha plan, embrace te ao Māori values and beliefs that are woven throughout the programme.
Internal evaluation for accountability and improvement is in place. Review for improvement leads to positive change. A next step is to further strengthen internal evaluation to more clearly identify the impact of actions on outcomes for children.
Governance and management systems are in place to monitor daily operation and provide oversight of processes.
Teachers should:
have more child-outcome focused internal evaluation, including for playgroups
build knowledge and understanding of te ao Māori to promote positive outcomes for children.
Organisation managers should continue to:
strengthen internal evaluation at all levels of the organisation
build Te Tiriti o Waitangi based practice in systems and processes.
Before the review, the staff and management of Barnardos Early Learning Home Based Manawatu completed an ERO Home-based Education and Care 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.
To meet requirements the service needs to improve its performance in the following areas and ensure:
a record of the emergency drills is recorded after they occur
parents consistently give prior written approval of their child's participation in an excursion.
[Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Services 2008, HS7, HS14]
Darcy Te Hau
Acting Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region - Te Tai Pūtahi Nui
5 March 2020
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 |
Palmerston North |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
52503 |
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Institution type |
Homebased Network |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
80 children, including up to 80 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
70 |
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Standard or Quality Funded |
Standard |
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Gender composition |
Male 37, Female 33 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
13 |
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Number of qualified coordinators in the network |
2 |
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Required ratios of staff educators to children |
Under 2 |
1:2 |
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Over 2 |
1:4 |
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Review team on site |
December 2019 |
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Date of this report |
5 March 2020 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
November 2016 |
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|
Education Review |
February 2015 |
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Education Review |
December 2012 |
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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 the draft methodology for ERO reviews in Home-based Education and Care Services: July 2014
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.
Barnardos KidStart Childcare Manawatu East Home-based Service is located in Palmerston North. It covers areas in and around Palmerston North, Levin and Whanganui. It is licensed for a maximum of 80 children, including 80 aged up to two years. At the time of this review 87 children were enrolled, and eight were Māori. Since the February 2015 ERO evaluation there have been changes to visiting teachers.
Two visiting teachers oversee and are responsible for the services. They are overseen by a team leader and are supported with their teaching and learning practice by a regional practice leader and manager. A business team provides administrative support. Barnardos New Zealand has developed a range of resources and documents to assist staff and educators in their work.
Education and care for children is provided in the educators' homes. The visiting teacher supports educators to provide suitable learning programmes for children and monitors their health and safety practices. All educators are required to have a current Barnardos Practising certificate.
Barnardos is a national organisation offering a combination of early childhood education and child and family services. The early childhood education services operate under the brand of Barnardos KidStart Childcare, which includes Barnardos KidStart Childcare Home-based services. A number of significant organisational and leadership changes at Barnardos national level have taken place recently.
The February 2015 ERO report identified that the service required further development to ensure positive outcomes for all children were promoted. Improvements required included developing and embedding good systems and processes that build service capability and sustainable practice at all levels. Next steps for governance and management identified the need to: develop a vision and philosophy for the service; define educational success for Māori and Pacific children; build leadership; provide a responsive curriculum for children aged up-to-two years; and strengthen appraisal and quality assurance systems.
In addition, at service level next steps included: defining roles and responsibilities for visiting teachers; building a sense of team within the service; strengthening assessment and planning; build evaluation capacity; and developing learning partnerships with parents.
The service received targeted support through a Ministry of Education (the Ministry) funded programme, Strengthening Early Learning Opportunities (SELO). Barnardos developed a plan to address the key areas requiring improvement. The Ministry and ERO have monitored progress against this development plan since the previous 2015 ERO evaluation. The service has made good progress in addressing these areas.
Children experience a curriculum that is based on their observed interests. In the home environment educators work positively to extend children's learning through many experiences. Regular opportunities to go out in the community and to play with other children are provided. Educators are well supported by the visiting teachers to implement the in home curriculum.
The philosophy has been recently reviewed. This forms a framework to underpin the programme, learning environment and day-to-day practice. It includes links to Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, Tātaiako: Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners andTe Tiriti o Waitangi.
Infants and toddlers play and learn alongside older children and experience a sense of belonging. The service has identified that further work is needed to develop a responsive curriculum for children under two years.
Purposeful conversations occur between educators and the visiting teachers during the regular home visits. These are focused on recording children's learning and making links to Te Whāriki. Children's learning is recorded in a variety of ways. Educators use photographs to show what children do and learn. The integration of literacy and mathematics is promoted in meaningful ways through everyday experiences.
The visiting teachers support educators to develop positive, trusting, responsive and reciprocal relationships with children. In turn, children's social competencies are promoted.
Barnardos KidStart has provided regular workshops for educators to strengthen their assessment, planning and evaluation practice. Visiting teachers provide constructive feedback to educators about how they can extend their practice. Leaders and teachers have identified the need to continue to strengthen educators' assessment, planning and evaluation practice to better show children's progression and next steps for their learning. ERO's external evaluation affirms this direction as a key next step.
Improving learning partnerships with parents and whānau has been identified by Barnardos as a next step. Some parents provide educators with their aspirations for their children. These can guide educators in their responsiveness to children's learning needs. Enabling further opportunities for parents and whānau to share their aspirations and values for their children should better inform decisions about the curriculum.
The visiting teachers guide educators to develop confidence to actively promote educational success for Māori and Pacific children. Barnardos has developed useful te reo me ngā tikanga Māori resources to support practice. Leaders acknowledge that more work is required to develop visiting teachers' and educators' understanding of what educational success looks like for Māori and Pacific children and their families. The service is currently working with an external provider to help build their capabilities to use culturally responsive practices.
There is a clear improvement focus across the network. Quality assurance audits undertaken by managers and leaders, provide useful information about how well the service implements processes, systems and practices. The audits also inform the organisation about ongoing compliance with regulatory requirements.
Leaders have provided ongoing support and guidance to establish a sense of team. Collaborative ways of working are promoted and fostered with everyone involved in the service.
Barnardos KidStart has recently developed an internal evaluation framework. This should be useful to measure the effectiveness of practices and their impact on children's outcomes. A key next step is for leaders and teachers to build internal evaluation capability to evaluate the impact of strengthened systems and processes on children's learning. This should assist the service to embed internal evaluation and to measure their effectiveness.
Barnardos KidStart has a sound appraisal system in place to support visiting teachers. It has a specific focus on growth and development as well as personal and professional goals. The system includes the Practising Teacher Criteria. Using the Education Council's Practising Teacher Criteria Self-Assessment Tool should further strengthen this process and provide a clearer rationale about how each criteria is met.
Key next steps for the Barnardos KidStart Service Manawatu East are to:
develop a more responsive curriculum that supports infants' and toddlers' learning
build educator capability to further develop assessment, planning and evaluation of children's learning
continue to strengthen learning partnerships with parents and whānau
continue to support visiting teachers' and educators' capacity to promote educational success for Māori and Pacific children
support understanding and use of internal evaluation at visiting teacher and educator level to evaluate the impact of strengthened systems and processes on improving children's learning.
Before the review, the staff and management of Barnardos KidStart Childcare Manawatu East Home-based Service completed an ERO Home-based Education and Care 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 Barnardos KidStart Childcare Manawatu East Home-based Service will be in three years.
Joyce Gebbie
Deputy Chief Review Officer Central
28 November 2016
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 |
Palmerston North |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
52503 |
||
|
Institution type |
Homebased Network |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
80 children, including up to 80 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
87 |
||
|
Standard or Quality Funded |
Standard |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls 47, Boys 40 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Asian Cook Island Samoan Other ethnic groups |
8 68 5 4 1 1 |
|
|
Number of qualified coordinators in the network |
2 |
||
|
Required ratios of educators to children |
Under 2 |
1:2 |
|
|
Over 2 |
1:4 |
||
|
Review team on site |
October 2016 |
||
|
Date of this report |
28 November 2016 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
February 2015 |
|
|
Education Review |
December 2012 |
||
|
Education Review |
September 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 the draft methodology for ERO reviews in Home-based Education and Care Services: July 2014
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.