2A Deveron Street, Regent, Whangarei
View on mapERO’s Akanuku | Assurance Review reports provide information about whether a service meets and maintains regulatory standards. Further information about Akanuku | Assurance Reviews is included at the end of this report.
Regulatory standards |
ERO’s judgement |
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Curriculum |
Meeting |
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Premises and facilities |
Meeting |
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Health and safety |
Meeting |
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Governance, management and administration |
Meeting |
At the time of the review, ERO found the service was taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.
Hātea Early Learning Centre was relicensed under new ownership in January 2022. The centre manager oversees the daily operations of the centre. The operations manager is responsible for four Geckos early learning centres in Whangarei. There is a small number of Māori or Pacific children attending the service.
Children experience positive respectful interactions with adults. They are respected and supported to be confident in their own culture and encouraged to understand and respect other cultures. Children have opportunities to develop an understanding of the dual cultural heritage of Aotearoa New Zealand.
The service’s curriculum is informed by systems for assessment and planning that align with the principles of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. Teachers provide a language-rich environment where children’s preferences are respected, and they are involved in decisions about their learning experiences.
Next steps include:
improving the extent to which assessment information shows children’s progress and learning over time
developing a shared understanding of internal evaluation and linking evaluation to learning outcomes for children.
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Patricia Davey
Director of Early Childhood Education (ECE)
20 September 2023
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Early Childhood Service Name |
Hātea Early Learning Centre |
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Profile Number |
46117 |
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Location |
Whangarei |
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Service type |
Education and care service |
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Number licensed for |
24 children aged over 2 years |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
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Service roll |
22 |
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Review team on site |
July 2023 |
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Date of this report |
20 September 2023 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
First ERO review of the service |
All services are licensed under the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008. The legal requirements for early childhood services also include the Licensing Criteria for Education and Care Services 2008.
Services must meet the standards in the regulations and the requirements of the licensing criteria to gain and maintain a licence to operate.
having its first ERO review – including if it is part of a governing organisation
previously identified as ‘not well placed’ or ‘requiring further development’
that has moved from a provisional to a full licence
that have been re-licenced due to a change of ownership
where an Akanuku | Assurance Review process is determined to be appropriate.
All early childhood services are required to promote children’s health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements. Before the review, the staff and management of a service 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.
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO assesses whether the regulatory standards are being met. In particular, ERO looks at a 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; safety checking; teacher certification; ratios)
relevant evacuation procedures and practices.
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO also gathers and records evidence through:
discussions with those involved in the service
consideration of relevant documentation, including the implementation of health and safety systems
observations of the environment/premises, curriculum implementation and teaching practice.
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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.
BestStart Regent Kindy in Whangarei, is licensed to provide full-day education and care for 24 children aged over two years. Since the 2015 ERO review, the centre has become part of the BestStart Education and Care Centres organisation. Children are cared for in one large space with easy access to covered and uncovered outdoor play spaces. The licensed area also includes a separate dining room and a sleeping room.
The philosophy of the service strongly values a collaborative relationship with families and the community. It promotes the nurturing of children to be successful creative thinkers who will innovate, lead and be ready for life's challenges.
The centre leader leads a team of three, including a qualified teacher, a provisionally registered teacher and a teacher in training. The two staff yet to be fully registered were appointed last year.
The 2015 ERO report noted the positive relationships, good support for individual learning needs and an increasingly responsive curriculum. Leaders and teachers have progressively built on this solid foundation. Agreed next steps included more focused strategic planning, development in personnel practices, and introducing more effective planning, assessment and evaluation. Very good progress has been made in these areas.
The BestStart organisation provides an overarching governance and management framework as well as personnel support for operation and curriculum development in individual centres.
This review was part of a cluster of three centre reviews in the BestStart organisation.
Children display a genuine sense of belonging in the centre. They are supported to reach their potential through the centre's high quality learning programme. Children play and learn in a nurturing environment that is designed to develop their knowledge, skills and dispositions. They benefit from teachers' strong partnerships with parents and whānau. Children are respected and valued as individuals, as members of a whānau, and as part of the centre.
Teachers' clear understanding of the centre's philosophy drives their practice. Their implementation of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, authentically integrates bicultural and multicultural practices into routines and the environment. Teachers' ongoing evaluation of teaching practices strengthens their ability to support children's successful learning outcomes. Children experience and develop early language, literacy and numeracy skills through the centre's comprehensive curriculum.
Leaders and teachers know each child as a unique learner. Teachers listen and respond to individual children as they extend their learning. They ensure that children's inquiries drive the responsive programme. Teachers deliberately use strategies to maximise the opportunities for children to be creative and imaginative. Children benefit from the vibrant learning environment provided by leaders and teachers. The environment encourages children to think critically, to wonder and to revisit their learning.
Strong effective leadership is a feature of this centre. The area and centre managers continually seek ways to extend their own professional learning. Their critical reflection encourages high level professional conversations which promote equitable outcomes for children. Leaders engage professionally with other early childhood networks to support sector-wide improvement.
Leaders and teachers are highly evaluative. Effective internal evaluation and planning practices guide the centre's development. There are well defined plans for achieving the strategic and annual goals. Strategic staff appointments have contributed to the high quality operation of the centre.
Centre operations are guided by a strategic plan and a shared vision. These are linked to the recently developed strategic goals of the BestStart organisation. This good practice promotes teachers' recognition that they belong to a wider learning community, and supports collaboration amongst teaching teams. Leaders and teachers regularly review progress towards the centre's strategic and annual plans. They monitor the quality of centre operations and promote ongoing improvement.
Leaders have identified relevant key steps that include providing opportunities for teachers to:
participate in professional learning to broaden education perspectives in team discussions
engage in meaningful action research to improve learning outcomes for all learners.
Before the review, the staff and management of BestStart Regent Kindy 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 BestStart Regent Kindy will be in four years.
Julie Foley
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)
Te Tai Raki - Northern Region
14 August 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 |
Whangarei |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
46117 |
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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 |
24 children over the age of 2 years |
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|
Service roll |
31 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 18 Girls 13 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
6 |
|
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% + |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Over 2 |
1:8 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
July 2018 |
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Date of this report |
14 August 2018 |
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Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review (as Breakthrough Timatanga) |
August 2015 |
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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.