Conductive Education Canterbury Inc

1 Evaluation of Conductive Education Canterbury Inc

How well placed is Conductive Education Canterbury Inc to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Conductive Education Canterbury Inc is very well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

Background

Conductive Education Canterbury Inc provides early intervention programmes within an early childhood education context for children with developmental delays or motor disorders. The service is licensed for 16 children, including six up to two years of age. Learning sessions include specialist therapy, and group and individualised activities, with a focus on holistic care and education.

The centre is governed by a management committee. A manager is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the centre. The staff includes two qualified and certificated teachers, an overseas trained conductor, early intervention teachers, and a speech and language therapist.

The centre philosophy was reviewed earlier in 2019 and covers the four priorities for the work of the centre: family, teaching and learning, inclusion and operational. Core values emphasise the importance of supporting children's learning by developing skills and greater independence in an environment that promotes active exploration and participation in partnership with parents, whānau and children.

Leaders have made very good progress towards achieving the recommendations in the 2016 ERO report. They have used external advisory services to strengthen assessment and planning, appraisal and strategic planning.

The Review Findings

Children are well supported to be independent, confident and motivated learners. Community experiences are well used to extend their awareness of the wider world. Teachers skilfully build each child's confidence in oral language and physical skills. The multi-disciplinary team are responsive to individual interests, strengths and capabilities. They regularly meet to discuss children's learning and development and to plan their next steps. This collaborative teams knowledge and skills ensures successful outcomes for all children.

Assessment, planning and evaluation celebrate children's achievements and progress. Parents' views are actively sought and well used to engage them in their child's learning and engage them in the life of the centre. Learning journals show teachers noticing and recognising interests, abilities and needs. They are intentional in the strategies they use to better support the extension of children's learning. Te Whāriki the early childhood curriculum, is well used in assessment records.

Infants, toddlers and young children enjoy a calm and settled environment where they can make independent choices and have access to a range of resources. Caregiving routines are an important aspect of the centre curriculum and seen as valuable learning opportunities.

Well planned and considered programmes help develop children's confidence and wellbeing as they move into and out of the centre. Families and whānau are an integral part of all transition planning. Teachers maintain close links with other early learning services and local schools, to support children's transitions.

Teachers value the centre community and intentionally celebrate its diversity. They are increasing their understandings of te ao Māori to provide meaningful bicultural experiences for children. Parents and members of the local Māori community share their expertise in tikanga Māori to support teachers' practices.

Strong leadership and a collaborative approach are supporting staff to develop their professional capability and leadership capacity. Effective teacher practice, appraisal and professional development are highly valued and recognised as strategic priorities.

Leaders and teachers have a shared understanding of internal evaluation and are improvement focused. They gather a wide range of information and carefully analyse the data to make improvements that benefit children.

The management committee sets a clear vision for the centre that reflects parents and whanau aspirations and expectations for their children's learning. They are well informed about the day-to-day operation of the centre through regular reporting from the centre manager and teachers.

Key Next Steps

Leaders have identified a well-defined direction for future development. They have undertaken some significant work related to Te Whāriki 2017. This continues as a priority for the service, as part of their focus on continuous improvement.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Conductive Education Canterbury Inc 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.

Dr Lesley Patterson

Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)

Southern Region - Te Tai Tini

25 February 2020

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.