144 Foyle Street, Bluff
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Bluff Kindergarten is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Bluff Kindergarten offers education and care for 30 children aged two years to school age. The philosophy focuses on ako, learning and teaching together.
This is one of 23 kindergartens within the Kindergartens South Association (KS). KS is managed by a board of governors and a general manager. The general manager works with a team of senior teachers whose role is to support head teachers and staff working within each kindergarten.
Since the June 2017 ERO report there have been a number of changes within the board of governors and across KS management and significant changes within the teaching team at the kindergarten.
The 2017 ERO report recommended the kindergarten include desired outcomes for children's learning in the philosophy, continue to develop planning assessment and evaluation and develop understanding and use of rigorous internal evaluation. KS also needed to further develop systems to develop and improve the kindergarten's operations and practices. The KS, general manager and kindergarten leaders have made very good progress towards addressing the recommendations in the 2017 ERO report.
This review was one of a cluster of seven kindergartens within KS.
Bluff Kindergarten is effectively enabling positive outcomes for children. Warm, respectful relationships between children, teachers and families are highly evident. Leadership has established a culture in which children are first and foremost valued, celebrated and affirmed for who they are and what they bring to their learning. Leaders and teachers advocate for children and provide inclusive early childhood education.
A rich, responsive curriculum closely aligned with Te Whāriki -the early childhood curriculum, provides a stimulating learning environment. Integration of te ao Māori perspectives are evident throughout teaching and learning. Teachers plan using authentic contexts for learning and use children's interests to engage them in the programme. Recent initiatives include the use of a range of approaches for different assessment purposes to understand and support children's learning and development.
The kindergarten is continually strengthening partnerships with parents. Parent and whānau aspirations for their children are valued and considered in assessment and planning and evaluation processes and programmes. Leaders and teachers work in partnership with parents of children with diverse learning needs to improve and enhance their learning.
Leaders and teachers take responsibility for learning about the languages, cultures and identities of all children attending and this supports all children to feel a sense of belonging within the kindergarten. Children have opportunities to use te reo and tikanga Māori in the daily programme. Leaders and teachers have strengthened connections with the wider community. This has helped children develop a greater understanding of the culture, history and natural environment of their local area.
Transitions into and beyond the centre are well managed. The centre provides a range of well-considered and thoughtfully resourced indoor and outdoor environments that meet the needs of children.
The kindergarten has developed effective working relationships with a number of outside agencies to assist with priority learners. Ongoing and focussed professional development has helped teachers develop a range of strategies to deal with social and emotional issues.
Internal evaluation processes are well used to inquire into kindergarten and teacher practice and result in improvements. The next step is to show how these positive changes have improved outcomes for children.
KS leaders provide effective support and mentoring for the head teacher and teachers within the kindergarten. KS continues to make significant progress in improving the systems and process for the effective governance and management of the association.
ERO's evaluation confirms and kindergarten leaders and teachers agree that the next steps are to:
Next steps for the KS board and managers are to further develop and implement:
the KS strategic Intent and annual plan
the services guiding document Te Kaupapa mo nga akonga tatou
internal evaluation processes and practices.
Before the review, the staff and management of Bluff 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:
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.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region - Te Tai Tini
22 May 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 |
Bluff |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
5513 |
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Licence type |
Free Kindergarten |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
30 children aged over 2 |
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Service roll |
21 |
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Gender composition |
Females 8 Males 13 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
7 |
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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 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
March 2020 |
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Date of this report |
22 May 2020 |
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Most recent ERO reports |
Education Review |
June 2017 |
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Education Review |
November 2013 |
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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 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.
Bluff Kindergarten is licensed for up to 30 tamariki from 2 years to school age. Up to 20 children attend on week days between 8:45am-1:45pm. Most of the tamariki and their whānau were born and brought up in Bluff and are tangata whenua. They have a long history spanning many generations within the Bluff community and the kindergarten.
The kindergarten is governed by Kindergartens South. The kindergarten receives regular support from the senior teacher/s. Since the 2014 ERO report there have been changes to kaiako, including a new kaiako matua.
Kaiako have made good progress on some of the key next steps of the 2014 ERO report, in particular, improvements to assessment and planning for tamariki. However, most of the key next steps continue to be areas for improvement, including internal evaluation.
This review was part of a cluster of 14 kindergarten reviews in the Southland Kindergarten Association (trading as Kindergartens South).
Kaiako work well together to provide a rich, localised and culturally responsive curriculum that promotes positive learning outcomes for all children. Tamariki and their whānau benefit from the way that kaiako deliberately support a strong sense of whanaungatanga and mana whenua at the kindergarten and within the community. Kaiako ensure that the everyday routines, practices and interactions in the kindergarten reflect New Zealand's bicultural heritage. Tamariki have many opportunities to hear and use te reo Māori in conversations with their kaiako and one another.
Kaiako show good knowledge of the principles and strands of Te Whāriki. They use these to inform the way they deliberately build children's:
oral language skills
dispositions to learn, such as thinking and reasoning, and making choices
growing knowledge of mathematics and early literacy
skills to be friends.
Tamariki have opportunities to explore, challenge their thinking and develop physical skills in carefully planned outdoor areas designed to reflect the local environment.
Kaiako are skilfully broadening and deepening partnerships with whānau. This is evident in the way they actively involve whānau in decision making about their children's learning and invite their contributions and participation in the programme. For example, the long term project of developing a no-dig garden had wide community participation and nurtured tamariki to develop relationships with others.
The kindergarten philosophy needs to be strengthened to ensure that priorities for learning and desired outcomes for children are identified and then used to inform assessment, planning and evaluation, and internal evaluation.
Kaiako are carefully and deliberately developing useful systems to assess and plan for the learning of individuals and groups of tamariki. They are beginning to show in records of learning that tamariki are actively engaged and progressing in their learning. This is a work in progress. Group planning needs to be developed. The next step is for kaiako to:
identify the desired outcomes and priorities for children's learning
make clear the strategies and experiences to support these outcomes
evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies and experiences in supporting children's learning.
Tamariki with diverse needs are well supported in their learning. The kaiako tautoko a weekly playgroup to promote manaakitanga to the whānau and support tamariki to transition into kindergarten. Kaiako have developed useful strategies to support children's transitions into the kindergarten and on to school.
The kaiako matua has identified that building a sound understanding and embedding the use of effective internal evaluation is a key next step for development. ERO agrees.
The kindergarten benefits from ongoing and well-planned professional learning and development and is well supported by the senior teachers. A new appraisal system is being introduced, further development is required to include expectations for observations and explicit links to Tātaiako. Specific goals to support the development of leadership skills should be included within the process.
The kindergarten receives good support from Kindergarten South (KS). The KS board has a clear strategic vision that outlines key priorities for development. The next step is to ensure explicit alignment of these priorities to each kindergarten's long-term planning. The board has identified that internal evaluation practice is not strong at board level. The board needs to receive evaluative reporting of how well these plans and other initiatives have been enacted and the impact on children’s learning.
The key next steps for the kaiako matua and kaiako with the support of the senior teacher are to:
include desired outcomes for children's learning in the philosophy
continue to develop planning, assessment and evaluation
develop understanding and use of rigorous internal evaluation.
Next steps for the board are to:
ensure the appraisal system continues to be developed and embedded
develop and use rigorous internal evaluation practices
ensure explicit alignment of kindergarten planning to implement the KS strategic goals
Before the review, the staff and management of Bluff 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:
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 Bluff Kindergarten will be in three years.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Deputy Chief Review Officer
Southern (Te Waipounamu)
27 June 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 |
Bluff |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
5513 |
||
|
Licence type |
Free Kindergarten |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
30 children aged over 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
25 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys: 14 Girls: 11 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Cook Island |
21 3 1 |
|
|
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 |
April 2017 |
||
|
Date of this report |
27 June 2017 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
November 2013 |
|
|
Education Review |
October 2010 |
||
|
Supplementary Review |
February 2008 |
||
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 whānau ngatanga – 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.