830 New North Road, Mount Albert, Auckland
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Ferndale Kindergarten is licensed to provide care and education for 40 children between two and five years of age. Most children enrolled attend full-day sessions similar to school hours. Some places are reserved for children to attend morning sessions only, in line with parents' wishes. The roll includes low numbers of Māori and Asian children.
The qualified teaching team has three full-time teachers, including a new head teacher who has held this leadership role for a year. One part-time teacher has also been appointed. The teaching team is supported by an administrator, a teacher aide and a teaching assistant.
The kindergarten's philosophy values respectful relationships and child-led learning through play. Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, guides the philosophy, and promotes inclusion of all children and their families. The philosophy expresses a strong commitment to the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, through meaningful integration of te reo and tikanga Māori in the programme.
The 2014 ERO report noted that children were capable, confident learners who sustained their play well and extended their own interests. The well-resourced environment offered children a wide range of choice and new learning experiences. The report identified development priorities that included increasing bicultural practices, and further developing programme planning and evaluation. Good progress has been made in these areas.
The kindergarten is part of the Auckland Kindergarten Association (AKA), which provides a governance and management framework. Professional support personnel assist teachers with curriculum, management and property matters.
This review was part of a cluster of 11 reviews in the Auckland Kindergarten Association.
Children and their parents and whānau are welcomed into the kindergarten. Teachers develop positive and responsive relationships with children. They listen to children's ideas and opinions, and explore deeper meaning and learning opportunities with them. Children are articulate and skilled communicators who develop and maintain friendships.
Teachers provide a well-organised environment to encourage children to lead their learning. They are designing resource catalogues to help children to choose resources to support their play, and sustain their learning. Extended periods of uninterrupted play allow children to develop their thinking and play, and explore their own learning theories.
Teachers know the children well. They identify children's interests and learning dispositions, and develop plans to extend children's learning. Assessment records show an increasing complexity in children's learning. Children's learning experiences are shared with parents through assessment portfolios and online learning stories.
Teachers provide a broad curriculum based on the principles of Te Whāriki. Teachers provide meaningful opportunities for children to learn about literacy, make sense of their world, and be creative and imaginative. Natural science and environmental sustainability practices are relevantly integrated in the programme. Teachers have begun to use children's perspectives to contribute to programme planning, and to extend children's learning.
Teachers' commitment to bicultural teaching practices has resulted in enriched learning environments that reflect both Māori and Pākehā world views. Teachers provide meaningful opportunities for children to learn about tikanga and te reo Māori through pōwhiri, karakia, pepeha, waiata and story-telling. Teachers are mindful of including parents' perspectives through consultation, to gain their ideas about changes and improvements. Parents who spoke with ERO support the implementation of bicultural practices.
The head teacher provides strong leadership for the kindergarten. She is building teaching capacity through professional development for teachers, and makes opportunities for individual teachers to lead projects. Teachers are deepening their knowledge about effective teaching and learning through readings, research, and sharing one another's professional experiences.
Teachers are improvement focused. They use evaluation well to adapt learning environments, resourcing, and teaching approaches to provide meaningful learning experiences for children. The team reviews policies, practices and systems with a focus on embedding effective practice and shared understandings. The team's evaluation of the philosophy has resulted in positive outcomes for children's learning. The philosophy is being enacted well in teacher practice, children's learning, and the kindergarten's environment.
Kindergarten operations are guided by a comprehensive strategic plan and a shared vision, linked to the AKA’s strategic goals. A Quality Improvement Process (QIP) aligns with the AKA and kindergarten strategic plans. The QIP helps the AKA and teachers to monitor quality and promote ongoing improvement. The AKA continues to review its management and leadership structure. It has begun a process of internal evaluation to establish how effectively the four pillars of its strategic plan are resulting in more positive outcomes for children, their families, and the organisation.
The teaching team agrees that to enhance their current good quality provision for children, they should:
make children's cultural identities more visible in the environment and programmes
continue to grow teachers' leadership capacity.
Before the review, the staff and management of Ferndale Kindergarten 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 Ferndale Kindergarten will be in four years.
Violet Tu’uga Stevenson
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)
14 September 2017
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 |
Mount Albert, Auckland |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
5048 |
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Licence type |
Free Kindergarten |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
40 children over two years of age |
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Service roll |
62 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 22, Girls 40 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
2 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
80% + |
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Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
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Review team on site |
June 2017 |
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Date of this report |
14 September 2017 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
April 2014 |
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|
Education Review |
February 2011 |
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Education Review |
December 2007 |
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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.
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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.
Ferndale Kindergarten, in Mt Albert, provides early childhood education for up to 40 children from around three years old to school age. The kindergarten has very recently changed to the kindergarten day model, which enables children to attend for six hour days or for morning sessions.
The kindergarten has started 2014 on a positive note with the appointment of a permanent teaching team, following three years of numerous but unavoidable staff changes. While the quality of the programme was maintained for children during the changes, the head teacher is looking forward to the developments that can be achieved with a stable team of four permanent qualified teachers and support staff.
Ferndale Kindergarten is part of the Auckland Kindergarten Association (AKA) and operates within the policies and management framework of this organisation. A professional services manager (PSM) visits regularly and provides professional advice and support for teachers.
This review was part of a cluster of 10 kindergarten reviews in the Auckland Kindergarten Association.
Children attending the centre are very capable and enjoy the spacious, richly resourced environment. They share their ideas confidently with each other and adults. They sustain their play well, particularly when their learning is extended through their own interests.
Teachers have warm relationships with children and families. Children have positive relationships with each other, and many play in friendship pairs or small groups. Children demonstrate good social skills such as inclusiveness, turn-taking, and empathy. They are supported very well by teachers to develop these skills.
The programme offers a wide range of choice and integrates music, performance, literacy and numeracy. The planned introduction of an enviro-school's focus should offer new opportunities for children and families to contribute to the kindergarten programme.
Good quality assessment practices are in place to monitor children’s learning. Assessment stories in children’s portfolios highlight what children are learning and how they are progressing. As many children begin at kindergarten with good competency levels, the challenge for the teaching team is to make sure that the programme provided is suitably stimulating to offer children new learning experiences. Improving the programme planning process and documentation should help them to achieve this.
The teaching team recognises that their understanding of bicultural practice needs to be further strengthened. Development in this area should help all children to understand the richness of New Zealand’s dual cultural heritage, and provide more responsive support for children and their whānau who identify as Māori. Some initiatives in this area are already underway.
The kindergarten’s focus for 2013 was making the shift from a sessional kindergarten to one that provides day-long education and care for children. Refurbishments to the indoor environment also occurred, causing some further disruption for the kindergarten. Toward the end of 2013, staff started to review their routines, practices and values with support from the PSM. The permanent teaching team is now well positioned to develop a more in-depth process for self review that will help them to make further shifts in their practice.
The Auckland Kindergarten Association continues to provide strong governance for kindergartens. The association continues to expand its strategies to build professional leadership across the organisation. It has diversified the delivery of professional learning and development (PLD) to keep teachers up-to-date with current theory and initiatives. Teaching teams are well supported by the AKA to continue to strengthen quality outcomes for children.
Teachers, the PSM and ERO agree that key next steps for the kindergarten should include:
The 2014 review of the AKA strategic plan should provide an effective way for kindergarten staff to contribute to the ongoing development of the association.
Before the review, the staff and management of Ferndale Kindergarten 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 Ferndale Kindergarten will be in three years.
Dale Bailey
National Manager Review Services Northern Region
30 April 2014
|
Location |
Mt Albert, Auckland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
5048 |
||
|
Licence type |
Free Kindergarten |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
40 children, including up to 0 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
56 |
||
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Gender composition |
Boys 31 Girls 25 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori NZ European/Pākehā Bangladeshi German Indian Russian Tokelau Vietnamese |
3 47 1 1 1 1 1 1 |
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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 |
Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
Review team on site |
February 2014 |
||
|
Date of this report |
30 April 2014 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
February 2011 |
|
|
Education Review |
December 2007 |
||
|
Education Review |
November 2004 |
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.