Busy Bodies Childcare Limited

Education institution number:
80047
Service type:
Homebased Network
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
40
Telephone:
Address:

11 Elizabeth Street, Invercargill

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Busy Bodies Childcare Limited

ERO’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.

ERO’s Judgement

Regulatory standards

ERO’s judgement

Curriculum

Meeting

Premises and facilities

Meeting

Health and safety

Not meeting

Governance, management and administration

Meeting

At the time of the review, ERO identified non-compliance with regulatory standards that must be addressed.

Background

Busy Bodies Childcare Limited is a privately owned home-based education and care service. Educators care for up to four children at a time in their own homes. They are supported by the service owner who is also the visiting teacher. Children from a range of ethnicities attend this service, and nearly a third are Māori children.

Summary of Review Findings

The curriculum is consistent with the service philosophy and Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. The visiting teacher supports educators to engage in meaningful positive interactions with children to nurture responsive relationships.

Educators provide opportunities for different types of indoor and outdoor learning in their homes and the wider community, including a range of resources appropriate for children’s learning and abilities. 

There are opportunities for parents to contribute to the review of the service’s operational documents and they are informed about the running of the service.

Systems and processes relating to health and safety and maintaining the home-based premises have not been robustly implemented. Ongoing monitoring is required for the owner to be assured that compliance with the regulatory standards is maintained at all times.  

Actions for Compliance

ERO found areas of non-compliance in the service relating to:

  • ensuring all practicable steps are taken to ensure that noise levels do not unduly interfere with normal speech and/or communication

  • ensuring excursion documentation includes time and location of excursions.

Licensing Criteria for Home-based Education and Care Services 2008, HS12, HS14.

Since the onsite visit, the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:

  • Ensuring the outdoor activity spaces are enclosed by fences and gates that are designed to ensure that children cannot leave the premises without the help or knowledge of the educator, and are safe, well drained and suitably surfaced for a variety of activities (PF11).

  • Ensuring furniture and items intended for children to sleep on (such as cots, beds, stretchers, or mattresses) are of a design to ensure their safety (PF20).

  • Ensuring furniture and furnishings for the use of children attending are kept safe, hygienic, and maintained in good condition (HS1).

  • Ensuring heavy furniture, fixtures and equipment that could fall or topple and cause serious injury or damage are secured (HS6).

  • Ensuring equipment, premises and facilities are checked on every day of operation for hazards to children; and hazards to the safety of children are eliminated, isolated or minimised (HS11).

  • Having human resource processes that include for the selection and appointment of suitable educators (GMA6).

During the review, the service provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:

  • Ensuring mattresses that will be used by more than one child over time are securely covered with or made of a non-porous material (that is, a material that does not allow liquid to pass through it) that protects them from becoming soiled and allows for easy cleaning (or is disposable) (PF21).

  • Having detailed records of safety checks when engaging children’s workers, and the date on which each step was taken is recorded, including the date of the risk assessment required to have been completed after all relevant information is obtained (GMA6A).

Recommendation to Ministry of Education

ERO recommends the Ministry follows up with the service provider to ensure that non-compliances identified in this report are addressed promptly.

Next ERO Review

The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.

Patricia Davey
Director of Early Childhood Education (ECE)

14 August 2023

Information About the Service

Early Childhood Service Name

Busy Bodies Childcare Limited

Profile Number

80047

Location

Invercargill

Service type

Home-based service

Number licensed for

50 children, including up to 50 aged under 2

Service roll

45

Review team on site

July 2023

Date of this report

14 August 2023

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review, February 2019; Education Review, June 2016

General Information about Assurance Reviews

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.

ERO undertakes an Akanuku | Assurance Review process in any centre-based service:

  • 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.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

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.

Busy Bodies Childcare 2008 #2 - 04/02/2019

1 Evaluation of Busy Bodies Childcare 2008 #2

How well placed is Busy Bodies Childcare 2008 #2 to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Not well placed

Requires further development

Well placed

Very well placed

Busy Bodies Childcare 2008 #2 is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.

Background

Busy Bodies Childcare 2008 #2 (Busy Bodies) provides home-based care and education in nine educators' homes in Invercargill. It provides education for children from birth to six years. Educators care for up to four children at a time. The educators are supported by qualified visiting teachers who regularly visit and provide ongoing advice and ideas.

Busy Bodies believes that strong relationships between team members, parents, educators, children and the community are paramount. Visiting teachers and educators work in partnership with parents where respect for each other's values, beliefs, aspirations and cultural identities is fostered. Busy Bodies prides itself on being able to offer whānau a home away from home, where children can feel a sense of security and feel they belong to, and are part of, their educator's extended family. This enables children to 'contribute to their learning programme and become active explorers, thinkers and risk takers'.

Busy Bodies' values include nurturing learning environments, having cultural awareness and sensitivity, close communication and fostering strong relationships.

Busy Bodies Childcare 2008 has two networks and two new visiting teachers. The visiting teachers have developed systems to strengthen and build capability of leadership in the organisation. Busy Bodies Childcare's strategic plan is guiding decision making and direction. Through its goals, the service is addressing the recommendations of the 2016 ERO report.

This review was part of a cluster of two reviews of Busy Bodies Childcare 2008.

The Review Findings

Children learn in inclusive, caring and family-like settings. They are carefully matched with their educators and form positive, trusting relationships. This includes the sensitive placement of children under two and children who may need additional support. Children and their families have a strong sense of belonging to Busy Bodies where respectful and genuine partnerships are fostered. This enables educators to support children to lead their own learning, while responding to their children's parents' wishes, when planning.

Busy Bodies values the holistic learning of the children. It achieves valued outcomes through a broad and responsive curriculum. Children are provided with opportunities for play-based and child-led learning in home settings and within the community. Educators are supported to provide programmes that respond to children's interests, needs and strengths which are informed by the wishes of parents and whānau. Currently, this includes a service-wide focus on the 'sharing and caring' dispositions of two and three-year-old children.

Busy Bodies has clear expectations for educators. They are supported by visiting teachers who provide ongoing and specific mentoring and resourcing which strengthens their practice. Educators are coached to build on their skills in working with children and to deliver programmes that respond to the uniqueness of each individual. Children benefit from the professional conversations between visiting teachers and educators. There continues to be a focus on building leadership capability in and across the organisation.

Educators and visiting teachers' are building their teaching capability through meaningful, targeted professional development. Educators spoken to are experiencing a shift in their practice as a result of deliberate and focused tools, systems and processes that are ensuring a better quality of service. This has included improved communication within the service and strengthened relationships and collaborations within and across the organisation. The owner and visiting teachers are committed to further developing these practices.

The owner and visiting teachers reflect on their practice and are focused on improving what they do for children. They have strengthened their strategic plan and direction in response to external support. As a result, they have set clear priorities for continued improvement and aligned these to internal evaluation to improve outcomes for children. They have linked their philosophy and their parent relationships and aspirations for children to drive changes throughout the service.

Key Next Steps

The centre and ERO agree that key next steps are to:

  • continue strengthening the alignment of strategic planning and priorities with curriculum assessment, planning and evaluation, and outcomes for children

  • strengthen the appraisal system and processes to explicitly align with the teaching standards

  • increase bicultural knowledge and practices in daily interactions with children and families/whānau

  • continue strengthening internal evaluation systems and practices to effectively evaluate the impact of initiatives on children's learning and wellbeing.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Busy Bodies Childcare 2008 #2 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:

  • 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.

Next ERO Review

When is ERO likely to review the service again?

The next ERO review of Busy Bodies Childcare 2008 #2 will be in three years.

Alan Wynyard

Director Review and Improvement Services Southern

Southern Region

4 February 2019

The Purpose of ERO Reports

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.

2 Information about the Home-based Education and Care Service

Location

Invercargill

Ministry of Education profile number

80047

Institution type

Homebased Network

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

60 children, including up to 60 aged under 2

Service roll

38

Standard or Quality Funded

Quality

Gender composition

Boys: 12

Girls: 26

Ethnic composition

Māori
Pākehā
Other ethnicities

6
31
1

Number of qualified coordinators in the network

1

Required ratios of staff educators to children

Under 2

1:2

Over 2

1:4

Review team on site

November 2018

Date of this report

4 February 2019

Most recent ERO report(s)

 

Education Review

June 2016

Education Review

April 2011

Education Review

September 2007

3 General Information about Early Childhood Reviews

ERO’s Evaluation Framework

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

ERO’s Overall Judgement and Next Review

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:

  • Very well placed – The next ERO review in four years
  • Well placed – The next ERO review in three years
  • Requires further development – The next ERO review within two years
  • Not well placed - The next ERO review in consultation with the Ministry of Education

ERO has developed criteria for each category. These are available on ERO’s website.

Review Coverage

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.