52 Beach Road, Katikati
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.
Robins Nest previously known as Biggles Katikati, changed ownership in October 2021. The centre owner manages day-to-day operations and leads the curriculum. Of the children enrolled, a small number are identified as Māori, or as Tongan. The service philosophy places value on a heart-led, home-away-from home approach to children’s learning.
The curriculum acknowledges the unique place of Māori as tangata whenua. Assessment, planning, and evaluation demonstrate children’s learning, their interests, whānau, and life contexts. Teachers demonstrate knowledge of relevant theories and practice in early childhood education.
Adults providing education and care build nurturing, reciprocal relationships with children. They support children’s developing social competence. The service curriculum is language rich. It provides children with a range of experiences to enhance and extend their learning and development, both indoors and outdoors, individually and in groups.
The service philosophy and an annual plan guide operations. Suitable health and safety practices are in place.
Next steps include:
increasing opportunities for children to hear and use te reo Māori in meaningful learning contexts
continuing to develop the local curriculum to reflect what is important to children and their families, kaiako and the wider community.
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Patricia Davey
Director of Early Childhood Education (ECE)
3 July 2023
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Early Childhood Service Name |
Robins Nest |
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Profile Number |
40306 |
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Location |
Katikati |
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Service type |
Education and care service |
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Number licensed for |
25 children, including up to 5 aged under 2 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
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Service roll |
30 |
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Review team on site |
May 2023 |
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Date of this report |
3 July 2023 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Previous report for Biggles Katikati: Akanuku | Assurance Review, July 2019 |
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.
Pukeko Corner Kindergarten is a privately owned and family operated early childhood centre located in Katikati. It is licensed for 29 children over the age of two. Currently there are 41 children enrolled which is a significant increase since the previous ERO review in 2012. Four children are of Māori descent. The kindergarten provides education and care for children from diverse cultures and backgrounds.
Teachers are well qualified and experienced. The centre manager is committed to responding to the language, culture and identity of all the children and families attending. She has recently employed a teacher who is of Ngai Tamawhariua descent, which is the local hapū. This teacher brings knowledge and skills in te reo and tikanga Māori. This will enrich and deepen learning about local tribal history and te ao Māori for teachers, children and their families. In addition, part time teachers have been employed to respond to the language and culture of children of Tongan descent.
Since the 2012 ERO review, the centre has made progress and improved aspects of the teacher appraisal system and self review. This has led to systematic development and improvement in centre operations.
The centre's Christian values of respect and kindness are highly evident and underpin its philosophy of community involvement, service in the community, and children learning through meaningful contexts as they play.
Children have many opportunities to express their ideas and opinions, follow their interests and sustain their play. They are developing high levels of social and creative skills as they work and play in a mixed age setting. Children are supported to make choices. They can freely access a wide variety of high-quality equipment and materials in a well designed home-like setting.
Children are benefitting from the extensive knowledge that individual teachers bring to enrich the programme, most notably in the creative arts, natural science, Māori and Tongan culture.
Children are also benefitting from the close, reciprocal and meaningful relationship that the centre manager and teachers have developed over time with the local hapū. Flexible routines and regular cultural celebrations and events contribute to a strong sense of belonging for children and families.
Regular trips and excursions into the local community are an important part of the centre programme. This includes close relationships with the nearby primary school and a local retirement home.
Children who have special needs experience an inclusive environment and benefit from a strong partnership between teachers, specialist agencies and families.
Well planned transitions into the centre and on to primary school are appreciated by families and contribute to children's confidence and well being.
High quality teaching practices observed by ERO include:
There is a good balance between teacher led and child initiated learning. Teachers highly value children's contributions, listen carefully to their ideas and questions, and use these to underpin their planning.
The centre manager promotes a culture of shared leadership. This is evident because:
Good governance and management means that the centre is well placed to sustain its performance and promote positive outcomes for all children. A clear and regularly reviewed philosophy underpins centre operations. There is appropriate strategic and annual planning. This is increasingly useful in guiding centre development. Self review is well understood, ongoing and systematic and leads to improvement in centre practices and the environment.
Teachers are committed to increasing their bicultural knowledge and practice. Useful next steps should include:
Centre leaders and teachers acknowledge that assessment should be strengthened. A stronger focus on ensuring learning informs planning could help to extend that learning in a systematic way. This will include enhanced systems for monitoring and tracking.
The centre manager needs to continue to strengthen teacher appraisal by ensuring it is clearly linked to the Practicing Teacher Criteria and shared and agreed best practice in early childhood education.
Making more effective use of Ministry of Education resources, indicators and guidelines of best practice is likely to bring greater clarity and understanding to these reviews.
Before the review, the staff and management of Pukeko Corner 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:
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.
The next ERO review of Pukeko Corner Kindergarten will be in three years.
Graham Randell
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)
28 August 2015
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Location |
Katikati |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
40306 |
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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 |
29 children aged over 2 |
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Service roll |
41 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 21 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
4 |
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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 |
Over 2 |
1:9 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
July 2015 |
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Date of this report |
28 August 2015 |
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Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
October 2012 |
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|
Education Review |
October 2009 |
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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 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.