296 Halswell Road, Halswell, Christchurch
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Edukids Halswell is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Edukids Halswell operates under the BestStart Educare Ltd management structure. BestStart is a large national organisation which owns early childhood education centres across New Zealand.
The centre manager is responsible for the day-to-day operations. A BestStart business manager (BM) and professional services manager (PSM) visit regularly to support the service. The centre has a combination of qualified and untrained staff.
Edukids Halswell provides full-day education and care for children aged from birth to school age. Children come from a diverse multicultural community. The centre is licensed for 75 children, including up to 25 children aged under two. There are three indoor areas, including a nursery which has its own outdoor area.
Since the previous ERO review in 2015, there have also been a number of staff changes. With the new teaching team, leaders and teachers have:
increased their understanding and use of bi-cultural practices
strengthened assessment, planning and evaluation, particularly for individuals
refined internal evaluation, with greater understanding by teachers
reviewed and significantly changed the centre's philosophy to better reflect practices and beliefs.
The centre's recently-reviewed and redeveloped philosophy is clearly evident in practice. Children learn and play in a strongly child-focused and relationship-based environment and programme.
Teachers know children and their families well. They are flexible and responsive to individual children's identified needs. There is a strong focus on developing children's sense of belonging and social competencies. Children's transitions into, within and beyond the centre are well planned to meet family and individual readiness and need.
Children are encouraged to lead their own learning. They have a wide choice of rich learning experiences and opportunities within a well-considered, spacious environment. Children are provided with challenge and problem solving learning opportunities. Literacy and numeracy are well embedded naturally throughout the programme.
Teachers are actively engaged alongside children in their play. They carefully promote children's exploration and independence. Parents are encouraged to be involved in programmes and are kept well informed about their child's learning and involvement in centre activities.
A welcoming and inclusive culture is promoted. Children's home language and cultures are visible and valued within the environment and programme. Teachers proactively build their bicultural understandings and practices. They work closely with whānau of Māori children to support their aspirations for their children.
Children in the nursery experience nurturing and caring interactions and relationships. They are well supported to settle into the centre. Teachers provide consistent, child-paced routines to suit individual needs. A recent review of the indoor environment has resulted in increased opportunities for young children to explore and build their fine motor skills through free movement.
The professional services manager, the business manager and centre manager work collaboratively and have high expectations for effective teaching and learning. Good systems have been established to support the successful management and operation of the centre.
Teachers are provided with positive guidance. Individual strengths are well utilised. Managers are appropriately focused on building leadership capacity within teaching teams. There is an increased collaborative approach across the centre that is contributing to shared understandings and consistent practices.
The centre has well-developed internal evaluation guidelines and framework. This is effectively supporting and leading to improvements in the environment and understandings of high quality teaching practices. Teachers are encouraged to reflect and inquire into how their practices are improving conditions and learning outcomes for children.
Centre managers and ERO agree that the key next steps are to continue to:
ensure consistency across programme planning and assessments
build internal evaluation capability across the whole teaching team.
Before the review, the staff and management of Edukids Halswell 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 Edukids Halswell will be in three years.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Deputy Chief Review Officer
Te Waipounamu - Southern Region
18 July 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 |
Christchurch |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
45051 |
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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 |
75 children, including up to 25 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
92 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 42 : Girls 50 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Pacific Other ethnicities |
5 60 9 18 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% + |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:4 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Over 2 |
1:8 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
May 2018 |
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Date of this report |
18 July 2018 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
May 2015 |
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Education Review |
March 2012 |
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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.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Edukids Halswell is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Edukids Halswell is one of several early childhood centres owned and operated under the Kidicorp Organisation’s structure. Edukids Halswell is a purpose-built centre with three rooms: a nursery, preschool and prep-room to better provide for children’s changing needs.
The centre is licensed for up to 75 children including up to 25 children under the age of two. The children aged over two, share a well-prepared outdoor area with a range of equipment to provide physical challenges and resources to support their interests and needs. There is a separate outdoor area for infants and toddlers.
Recent staff changes have been well managed by the senior management team. An experienced acting centre manager is overseeing the day-to-day management of the service while the appointment of a new centre manager is in progress. Most staff are trained early childhood teachers. Six beginning teachers are being well supported as they complete requirements for full teacher registration.
The senior management team has successfully addressed the areas for review and development outlined in the 2012 ERO report. There is a greater focus on evaluating the impact teaching strategies have on children’s learning. Parents have access to an online facility to enable them to contribute to planning and self review. Teachers have strengthened their transition programme and share professional information with teachers at the local school.
The centre’s philosophy focuses on building trusting, respectful and nurturing relationships. Children are sensitively encouraged to be self-managing, confident and competent learners. Teachers effectively work together to ensure a child’s learning, development and wellbeing are fostered in a caring environment. ERO observed many examples of the philosophy reflected in the positive interactions between children and teachers.
Children are happy and busy. Many are independent and confident in the environment. Teachers strongly focus on:
Children under two are well cared for in a calm and settled environment. Teachers prepare resources and spaces that support infants and toddlers in their exploration and development.
Teachers willingly share useful ideas and strategies that support children’s learning. They often discuss how best to help children succeed in their learning and development. They think deeply about the effectiveness of their teaching. Parents have good opportunities to give feedback or make suggestions about the programme.
Centre leaders effectively lead the centre programmes. There are useful systems in place to manage all aspects of the centre’s operations. As a team, they work collaboratively and are well supported by the professional services manager.
The centre staff are well supported by the useful systems put in place by Kidicorp. These include:
The centre managers have identified, and ERO agrees, that key next steps to improve outcomes for children include:
Before the review, the staff and management of Edukids Halswell 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.
The next ERO review of Edukids Halswell will be in three years.
Graham Randell
Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern
20 May 2015
|
Location |
Halswell |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
45051 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
75 children, including up to 25 aged under two |
||
|
Service roll |
101 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls 55%; Boys 45% |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Asian (Chinese) African Indian Other ethnicities |
12 65 16 5 1 2 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80% Based on funding rates |
80% |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:5 |
Meets minimum requirements |
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Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
March 2015 |
||
|
Date of this report |
20 May 2015 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report |
Education Review |
March 2012 |
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.