Dorie Community Preschool

1 Evaluation of Dorie Community Preschool

How well placed is Dorie Community Preschool to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Dorie Community Preschool is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

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

Background

Dorie Community Preschool is a community-based early childhood service located in a rural setting. The centre is fully licenced for 36 children up to five years, including 10 children under the age of two. It provides full-day care with flexible hours.

The centre's philosophy is for children to learn by exploring and discovering in an environment that celebrates their uniqueness, and where whānau are welcome participants in their child's learning.

Teachers provide education programmes for different aged children in two rooms, each with a separate outdoor area. The centre is beside Dorie Primary School.

The centre is led by a team made up of the operational manager, a head teacher and an under-twos team leader, supported by two qualified teachers, a teacher in training and two support staff. The new manager and head teacher are supported by a well-established governance board.

Since the 2016 ERO review, the centre has extended bicultural practice and worked to give children greater autonomy over their learning.

The centre is a member of the Ōpuke Kahui Ako | Community of Learning.

The Review Findings

Children are engaged, confident and happy. They are empowered to work together co-operatively, make collective decisions and problem solve. Children select from a range of varied and purposeful activities throughout the centre. Learning is enhanced by well designed and equipped outdoor areas that provide children with a variety of challenges where they can experiment and lead their own learning. Children have easy access to an environment that is well resourced and encourages exploration.

Infants and toddlers are nurtured through settled routines by teachers who know them well. Teachers are responsive and caring.

Learning priorities are collaboratively planned by the teaching teams, stemming from children's emerging interests. Planning for individual children focuses on their particular needs, and tasks are effectively modified as required. Early language and literacy are introduced as children are ready. Programme planning is aligned to Te Whariki (the NZ early childhood curriculum, 2017) and the centre philosophy. Staff are beginning to use an effective self-review model to evaluate practice across the centre.

Te reo Māori and tikanga elements are evident throughout teacher planning, many of the children's activities, and the daily life of the centre. Centre staff are committed to affirming and celebrating the language and cultural identity of each child.

Strong connections with whānau and the community enhance learning opportunities. Parents are welcomed, included and encouraged to be part of the centre as active partners in their children's learning. Teachers know the families and community well, and the centre is responsive to its families' needs in its rural context. Flexible transitions into, within and beyond the centre are enhanced by close relationships with families and local schools.

Key Next Steps

Leaders need to develop review and improvement processes to ensure priorities, goals and procedures are strongly linked to positive learning outcomes for children. These processes should establish consistent expectations and practices for enacting:

• coherent policy and procedure development and implementation
• effective curriculum coverage, planning and assessment
• a formalised teacher appraisal system
• strengthened self review.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Dorie Community Preschool 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.

ERO identified an area of non-compliance.

The service provider must ensure that it prominently displays, for parents and visitors, a procedure to follow should they wish to complain about non-compliance with the Regulations or criteria. The procedure should include the option to contact the local Ministry of Education office and provide contact details.

Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, GMA1.

In order to improve current practice the service provider should ensure all teacher appraisals follow Teaching Council guidelines, particularly with regards formal teacher observations and completing an appraisal summary sheet.

Dr Lesley Patterson

Director Review and Improvement Services Southern

Southern Region

5 September 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.