3 Button Lane, Waitangirua, Porirua
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 |
|
Curriculum |
Meeting |
|
Premises and facilities |
Meeting |
|
Health and safety |
Meeting |
|
Governance, management, and administration |
Meeting |
Since the onsite visit, the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed non-compliances and is now taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.
BestStart Waitangirua is governed by BestStart Educare Ltd. An area manager supports the recently appointed centre manager with day-to-day operations. ERO’s 2020 review, identified the service was not well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children. Education and care is provided for infants, toddlers, and young children from a culturally diverse community. Most families attending identify their ethnicity as Māori or of Pacific heritage.
An inclusive curriculum aligns to Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, supports children’s developing social competence and independence skills. Teachers engage in respectful interactions with children in calm, settled learning environments. A recently reviewed and updated assessment, planning and evaluation process informs and guides teacher’s practice. The well-resourced play spaces support the provision of different kinds of indoor and outdoor experiences to extend children’s learning and development.
An annual plan guides the service’s operation. Parents and teachers contribute to the development and review of the service’s operational documents. Internal evaluation and the professional growth cycle are established. Those responsible for governance and management need to monitor aspects of health and safety more consistently.
Next steps include strengthening the quality of planning and assessment for learning, particularly in relation to:
assessment that reflects children’s languages, cultures, and show progression of learning over time.
Since the onsite visit the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliance:
records consistently show evidence that parents have been informed of accidents.
Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Services, 2008, HS27.
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini
20 September 2022
|
Early Childhood Service Name |
BestStart Waitangirua |
|
Profile Number |
46411 |
|
Location |
Porirua |
|
Service type |
Education and care service |
|
Number licensed for |
87 children, including up to 20 aged under 2 |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
|
Service roll |
89 |
|
Review team on site |
August 2022 |
|
Date of this report |
20 September 2022 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, June 2020; Education Review February 2017. |
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.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
BestStart Waitangirua requires further development to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
The service has made little progress in addressing the recommendations identified in the February 2017 ERO report. Significant development continues to be required in curriculum, assessment practice, provision for children with diverse needs, including Māori and Pacific and internal evaluation.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
BestStart Waitangirua, previously Community Kindy Warspite Ave, is licensed for 90 children, including up to 20 aged under two years. Of the 92 children enrolled, 43 identify as Māori and 33 are of Pacific heritage and is a member of the Porirua East Kāhui Ako I Community of Learning. Families represent a diverse range of cultures. BestStart Educare Ltd (the organisation) owns a number of early childhood services across New Zealand.
Regional managers have oversight of curriculum and operation. Day-to-day responsibility is delegated to the newly appointed centre manager. The majority of teachers are long serving and fully qualified. The centre is divided into three learning spaces designed for different age groups. An onsite cook provides meals for tamariki under two years old and snacks for older children. A van supports families and children to access the service.
The service vision is ‘growing strong roots to fly’.
The Feb 2017 ERO report identified areas requiring improvement. These included: assessment, planning and evaluation; knowledge and understanding of educational success for Māori and Pacific children and internal evaluation. Little progress has been made.
This review is one of five in BestStart Educare Ltd, Wellington region.
Recent changes to the learning environment are having a positive impact on older children’s learning and wellbeing. Children are settled and busy, engaging in sustained, independent play and focused group experiences. Their social competence, confidence and strong sense of belonging are evident.
The quality of provision for children aged two and three years is variable. Currently, teaching strategies rely too heavily on providing resources and managing routines. Teachers need to grow their knowledge of the unique characteristics of these children and ways to better support their social competence and engagement in focused play.
Provision for infants and toddlers is well developed. They benefit from teachers’ respectful, calm and attentive approach to supporting their learning. Care moments are tailored to home routines and suitably responsive to known preferences. Plentiful opportunities for sensory play and physical exploration promote positive engagement.
ERO and management agree that culturally responsive practice requires further development. This should include strengthening:
the bicultural curriculum
partnership with Māori and Pacific families to establish what success looks like for their children, and how this will be promoted in practice
reflection of children's cultures, languages and identities within everyday teaching interactions and documentation.
The needs of children requiring additional learning support have not been sufficiently prioritised. While some external assistance has been accessed for these children, planning for their participation and progress requires further development.
The quality of assessment practice requires strengthening. Leaders need to develop clear expectations and guidelines that help to promote a consistent, high quality approach. Particular attention should be paid to:
inclusion of parents’ aspirations for their children’s learning in planning
showing, in assessment documentation, how teachers are planning and implementing targeted strategies for individual children
focusing assessment on clear, observable evidence of children's progress
ensuring children's cultures are acknowledged in planning for learning.
A well-considered appraisal process supports teachers’ ongoing development and inquiry into the effectiveness of their practice. Purposeful appraisal goals focus on strengthening leadership and practice to promote children’s learning and wellbeing.
Teachers regularly review elements of practice using key early learning research as a guide. Their collective approach and well-considered actions result in improvements for children. A next step is to strengthen the use of internal evaluation processes, with a focus on measuring the impact current practices are having on child outcomes. This should better support teachers’ decisions about where to make refinements to their practice.
The organisation should establish clear and consistent understandings, expectations and practices around promoting educational success for Māori and Pacific children. Leaders and teachers should be supported to purposefully draw on the cultural expertise and aspirations of families and whānau, key staff and community. The organisation should then monitor the impact of this development, on teacher practices as well as outcomes for Māori and Pacific children.
Senior managers effectively foster a collective sense of responsibility to implement the vision, values and mission of the organisation. Systems, processes and guiding templates are well developed and regularly reviewed to continually improve provision for children. Recently revised induction information for relieving teachers includes clearer guidance around expectations for interactions and positive guidance, specific to individual centres and their learners. Embedding its use across BestStart centres should further promote consistency of practice, benefitting children.
Leaders are strongly improvement focused and have a clear vision for promoting positive outcomes for children. BestStart senior managers should continue to support the service to address the key next steps.
ERO, managers and teachers agree that priorities are to strengthen:
teacher knowledge and provision for two and three year olds
the quality of assessment, planning and evaluation
provision for children with diverse learning needs
the bicultural curriculum and grow teacher understanding of te ao Māori
partnerships with Māori and Pacific families
internal evaluation.
In addition, the organisation should support teachers’ understanding around promoting success for Maori and Pacific children.
Before the review, the staff and management of BestStart Waitangirua 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.
ERO identified areas of non-compliance relating to health and safety. To meet requirements the service needs to improve its performance in the following area:
take all practicable steps to ensure noise levels do not unduly interfere with normal speech and/or communications, or cause any child attending distress or harm.
Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, HS15.
ERO recommends that the service, in consultation with the Ministry of Education, develops a plan to address the key next steps and actions outlined in this report.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region - Te Tai Tini
3 June 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.
|
Location |
Porirua |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
46411 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
90 children, including up to 20 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
92 |
||
|
Gender composition |
53 Male, 39 Female |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori |
43 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
80% + |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:5 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
March 2020 |
||
|
Date of this report |
3 June 2020 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
February 2017 |
|
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.
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.
Community Kindy Warspite Ave is situated in Waitangirua. It provides education and care for children from birth to five years of age five days a week. The service offers extended hours and flexible booking times to meet the diverse needs of its community. At the time of this ERO review, 23 of the children enrolled identified as Māori and 37 as Pacific.
The service have been supported by the Ministry of Education (MoE) to strengthen teachers' professional practice. In September 2016, leaders developed a plan to address the key areas requiring improvement. These included the quality of teaching and learning and centre leadership. The MoE continues to monitor progress against this plan.
The service is currently in the process of recruiting a new centre manager. The area manager is temporarily managing the day-to-day operation of the centre and providing curriculum support for the teaching team until a new centre manager is appointed. All teachers are fully qualified and represent a diverse range of cultures. Staff are led by three head teachers.
Community Kindy Warspite Ave is owned and operated by BestStart Educare Ltd. BestStart (previously known as Kidicorp Ltd) is a large national organisation that owns early childhood services across New Zealand.
This is the centre's first ERO evaluation since it commenced operation in March 2014.
Children participate in a play-based curriculum. Teachers follow their interests and promote their independence as learners. Literacy and mathematics are a focus throughout the programme. The service curriculum is in the early stages of development.
Responsive caregiving meets infants' and toddlers' needs for strong and secure relationships. Unhurried routines supports their learning. Children requiring additional learning support are identified, planned for and monitored by teachers. Where appropriate external agencies are used.
Te reo me ngā tikanga Māori is part of the centre's programme. Te ao Māori is promoted through a dedicated carved Te Waharoa (entrance way). This acknowledges and celebrates the local iwi, marae, waka, awa and moana of Porirua. Waiata Māori are popular activities.
Pacific cultures are celebrated at the centre. Teachers' knowledge and understanding of the community is used well to support their developing understanding of ways to acknowledge Pacific cultures in the programme.
Building strong relationships between whānau, parents and families is a centre focus. Engaging with whānau Māori and the Pacific community to determine what educational success looks like for them and their children is a next step. This should assist leaders and teachers to develop learning partnerships to achieve this outcome.
A new planning framework has recently been introduced. Teachers identify children's interests to develop specific learning goals, teaching strategies and activities to support their learning. Assessment, planning and evaluation are at an early stage of development.
Children's profiles record their participation in the programme, developing relationships and ongoing interests. This assessment information should be improved through:
using parents' aspirations for their children to inform the programme
specific links to children's learning goals
clearly showing children's progress in learning over time
children's cultures, languages and identities being acknowledged and celebrated.
Transitions into and through the centre are thoughtfully considered. Leaders have identified the need to develop a robust approach to implementing the BestStart school readiness initiative, including developing useful relationships with local schools. ERO agrees.
A clear framework guides the appraisal process. This includes self and appraiser assessment and has a developmental focus. Formal observations of practice are providing useful information about the quality of teaching. BestStart provides opportunities to participate in a wide range of professional learning and development.
The centre internal evaluation process is currently enabling teachers to look in greater depth at aspects of practice. It is not yet focused on evaluating how well practice improves outcomes for children.
The BestStart quality education and care action planning process successfully identifies areas for improvement. Ongoing monitoring, review and evaluation of the progress the centre is making to improve the quality of teaching remains a priority.
Leaders acknowledge that building teachers' capability to sustain ongoing improvement is an area for development. The appointment of permanent staff to the vacant leadership position is a key priority for the service.
Professional service managers provide regular feedback, support and guidance about the curriculum in action. This clearly identifies strengths and areas for development. Roles and responsibilities of leaders and managers are clearly identified and well understood. A comprehensive policy framework, including procedures and systems, guides the operation of the centre.
Service managers, through planning, monitoring, reporting, reviewing and internal evaluation processes should continue to focus on improving the quality of the curriculum and teaching and learning practices.
In addition, ERO and leaders agree the next steps are to continue to improve:
knowledge and understanding of educational success for Māori and success for Pacific
teachers' understanding and approaches to assessment, planning and evaluation
teachers' and leaders' capability in internal evaluation.
Before the review, the staff and management of Community Kindy Warspite Ave 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.
The next ERO review of Community Kindy Warspite Ave will be in three years.
Joyce Gebbie
Deputy Chief Review Officer Central
15 February 2017
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 |
Porirua, Wellington |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
46411 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
90 children, including up to 20 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
101 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys 57, Girls 44 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Pacific Asian |
23 30 37 11 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% + |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:4 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:8 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
December 2016 |
||
|
Date of this report |
15 February 2017 |
||
|
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:
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.
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.