Busy C's Preschool Lyttelton - 13/03/2019

• On this page:

• 1 Evaluation of Busy C's Preschool Lyttelton
• 2 Information about the Early Childhood Service
• 3 General Information about Early Childhood Reviews

How well placed is Busy C's Preschool Lyttelton to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Busy C's Preschool Lyttelton is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

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

Background

Busy C's Preschool Lyttelton is a small, well established and privately owned early learning service. In 2017 the preschool relocated to a new site on a former primary school property. A new head teacher was appointed in 2016. All kaiako are fully qualified and registered teachers. They provide care and early childhood education for children from birth to school age.

Since the 2013 ERO review, leaders and kaiako, with the support of external expertise, have made sound progress in developing the quality of assessment, planning, internal evaluation and bicultural practices.

The preschool's philosophy is underpinned by valued learning outcomes for tamariki that reflect bicultural concepts and Te Whāriki 2017 The Early Childhood Education Curriculum. Leaders and kaiako value Māori as tangata whenua, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and ako (sharing of knowledge). The preschool is an enviroschool which promotes sustainable practices and learning about the natural world.

The Review Findings

Leaders and kaiako foster respectful relationships and a positive sense of belonging and wellbeing for tamariki (children), parents and whānau. The home language, culture and identity of families are valued and respected. Kaiako primary-care practices provide continuity of care and communication with individual tamariki and families. Personalised processes support successful transitions into and within the preschool, and onto school.

Tamariki benefit from the provision of a rich bicultural curriculum within the preschool and local area. Te ao Māori is highly valued and well integrated within a localised curriculum that reflects the cultural narrative of the area and carefully considered partnerships with the community.

Kaiako have high expectations for all tamariki, who are seen as capable and competent learners. Social learning and leadership skills are fostered through ako and tuakana teina relationships where tamariki are encouraged to take responsibility for themselves and to care for others and the environment. Tamariki with additional needs are well supported within an inclusive and caring culture. Infants and toddlers benefit from continuity of care and flexible, predictable, child-led and well-paced routines and curriculum.

Kaiako establish learning-focused partnerships with tamariki. They are responsive to the individual interests, strengths and capabilities of tamariki. Kaiako promote a thoughtful balance between knowledge building, dispositional learning and links to the primary school key competencies. Tamariki are actively involved in a wide range of authentic learning experiences that capture their imagination and provoke their curiosity and creativity. Literacy, numeracy and the arts are well integrated in ways that are meaningful for tamariki. Parents are well informed through purposeful learning displays and well written learning records that detail the progress tamariki make in relation to valued learning.

Strong pedagogical leadership and targeted professional development are having a positive impact on bicultural practices, assessment, planning and evaluation. The individual skills and knowledge of staff are valued and well used. Emphasis is given to developing reflective practices that build on leadership and teacher capabilities. There is a systematic approach to collaborative internal evaluation that results in ongoing improvement and positive outcomes for children.

Key Next Steps

Leaders and kaiako, with the support of external expertise, have developed a number of new processes to support the effective operation of the service. The key next steps are to:

• strengthen appraisal practices to more closely align with the Education Council requirements

• further refine aspects of strategic and annual planning to make centre priorities more explicit.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Busy C's Preschool Lyttelton 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.

Alan Wynyard

Director Review and Improvement Services Southern

Southern Region

13 March 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 Early Childhood Service

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 ERO’s Approach to Review in Early Childhood Services.

ERO’s Overall Judgement

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.

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.