319 Sunset Road, Mairangi Bay, Auckland
View on mapAkarangi | Quality Evaluation evaluates the extent to which this early childhood service has the learning and organisational conditions to support equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners. Te Ara Poutama- indicators of quality for early childhood education: what matters most (PDF 3.01MB) are the basis for making judgements about the effectiveness of the service in achieving equity and excellence for all learners. The Akarangi Quality Evaluation Judgement Rubric (PDF 91.30KB) derived from the indicators, is used to inform the ERO’s judgements about this service’s performance in promoting equity and excellence.
ERO’s judgements for Busy Minds Early Learning Centre are as follows:
Outcome Indicators |
ERO’s judgement |
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What the service knows about outcomes for learners |
Whakawhanake Sustaining |
Ngā Akatoro Domains |
ERO’s judgement |
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He Whāriki Motuhake The learner and their learning |
Whakawhanake Sustaining |
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Whakangungu Ngaio Collaborative professional learning builds knowledge and capability |
Whakawhanake Sustaining |
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Ngā Aronga Whai Hua Evaluation for improvement |
Whakawhanake Sustaining |
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Kaihautū Leaders foster collaboration and improvement |
Whakawhanake Sustaining |
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Te Whakaruruhau Stewardship through effective governance and management |
Whakawhanake Sustaining |
Busy Minds Early Learning Centre is a long-established service in Mairangi Bay. The centre is owned and managed by an experienced, qualified early childhood teacher. She leads a stable team of qualified teachers. All children play together in a mixed-age setting. The centre’s community is becoming increasingly culturally diverse.
Children are encouraged to be social, articulate, and confident. They enjoy uninterrupted self-directed and complex play that is related to their interests. Adults’ conversations with children skilfully build on children’s ideas and enrich their developing oral language. Children have many opportunities to make decisions, build self-management skills and choose from the wide range of resources available.
The experienced teaching team works collaboratively, taking time to plan an environment that supports children’s curiosity and inquiry. Teachers’ knowledge of individual children guides the intentional way they recognise and respond to opportunities to engage in or extend children’s learning.
The centre is inclusive and family-orientated. Parents are encouraged to be partners in their children’s learning. Teachers value and invite whānau contributions, and they respond to parents’ aspirations for their children’s learning.
The principles of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, are reflected in the centre programme. The spacious environment is organised into discreet areas of play. There are many opportunities for exploration, choice, and challenge for children of all ages to extend their learning. Teachers continue to strengthen centre practices to reflect New Zealand’s bicultural heritage. This includes aspects of tikanga Māori and te reo in daily practice.
Transitions into and from the centre are child focused, well considered, and responsive to individual children’s requirements. Staff are building relationships with local schools, which helps them to support older children’s transition to these schools.
Sound foundations have been established for good quality teaching, learning and operational practices. The centre leader has developed a clear vision and strategic plan. She continues to strengthen and refine established internal evaluation processes.
Teachers’ appraisals are team focused and align with the centre’s strategic plan. Purposeful and well-considered professional learning is accessed by the service. Staff reflect on their teaching practice and are committed to ongoing improvement.
Busy Minds Early Learning Centre will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:
Before the review, the staff and management of Busy Minds Early Learning Centre 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.
Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki
16 July 2021
| Early Childhood Service Name | Busy Minds Early Learning Centre |
| Profile Number | 20550 |
| Location | Mairangi Bay, Auckland |
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Service type |
Education and care service |
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Number licensed for |
41 children, including up to 4 aged under 2 |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80%+ |
|
Service roll |
38 |
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori 2 |
|
Review team on site |
May 2021 |
|
Date of this report |
16 July 2021 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, October 2017 |
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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.
Busy Minds Early Learning Centre is a long-established service in Mairangi Bay. It is licensed for up to 30 children with a maximum of four under two years of age. Currently, all of the children enrolled are over two years of age.
The centre is owned and managed by an experienced, qualified early childhood teacher. Together with the head teacher, she leads and is part of a stable team of qualified teachers.
The centre's mission, values and vision for children are clearly expressed. The philosophy emphasises respectful relationships, a stimulating environment and child-centred practices. It promotes inclusion, partnerships with whānau, and responsiveness to diverse community needs and cultures. Programmes are guided by Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum.
ERO's 2014 report identified many positive, ongoing features of the centre. Next steps identified in 2014 focused on strengthening internal evaluation processes and outcomes. The owner and teachers have made good progress in this area.
Children are confident, articulate and comfortable in the environment. The centre's spacious learning environments are inviting and well resourced, and promote children's exploration. Children choose from the activities that teachers provide and freely access resources to support their play.
Teachers' conversations with children foster thinking and language development. Children are well supported to follow and build on their ideas and interests. Teachers often adapt centre routines and daily programmes, and offer a balance between teacher-directed activities and child-led play. They could consider ways to provide more prolonged periods for children to become immersed in uninterrupted, self-directed and more complex play that is related to their own particular interests.
Maths and science concepts, creativity and aspects of literacy are included well as part of children's play. Teachers have established relationships with local schools and provide information for whānau to support them in preparing children to transition to school.
Teachers foster children's awareness of the bicultural heritage of Aotearoa New Zealand. Children join in waiata and karakia, and know the centre's pepeha. Teachers continue to improve their confidence and capability in using te reo Māori.
Teachers' commitment to inclusive practices are visible in the environment and promoted well. They identify specific strategies for supporting children's diverse needs. Children's interactions and cooperative engagement in play support those who speak English as an additional language. Programmes include cultural festivals and teachers using greetings in children's home languages.
The varied curriculum includes ideas that children and their parents bring from home. Teachers value regular communication with whānau. There is a very good sense of partnerships with parents to support children's learning and inform centre direction. Families' sense of belonging in the centre is evident.
Teachers record children's learning in displays and portfolios that are readily available for children and their whānau to revisit. Portfolios include parents' contributions, and learning stories show children's developing dispositions for learning. Teachers' reflections and observations of children's play inform their programme planning.
The owner has documented comprehensive strategic and annual plans to guide centre development. A very good framework for internal evaluation has been established and teachers continue to build their evaluation understanding and capability. There are good connections between teachers' evaluations and the centre's strategic plans. The use of more focused evaluative questions and more succinct analysis would help to refine internal evaluation across all aspects of centre operations.
Teacher mentoring, appraisal processes and opportunities for professional development are also contributing to ongoing improvement. A current in-depth review is helping teachers to embed their understanding and implementation of Te Whāriki 2017. This review will inform ongoing improvement in programmes for children.
The centre's strategic plans clearly identify actions to support ongoing development. Next steps include continuing to:
strengthen teachers' understanding and documentation of the progression of children's learning
increase the integration of te reo and tikanga Māori across the curriculum and extend culturally responsive practices
increase the rigour of internal evaluation by deepening inquiry into the effectiveness of centre practices and their impact on outcomes for children.
Before the review, the staff and management of Busy Minds Early Learning Centre 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 Busy Minds Early Learning Centre will be in three years.
Graham Randell
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern
Te Tai Raki - Northern Region
17 January 2018
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 |
Mairangi Bay, Auckland |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
20550 |
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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 |
30 children, including up to 4 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
37 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 20 Girls 17 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
1 |
|
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% + |
||
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Over 2 |
1:7 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Review team on site |
October 2017 |
||
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Date of this report |
17 January 2018 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
September 2014 |
|
|
Education Review |
June 2011 |
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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:
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.