78-80 Maich Road, Manurewa, Auckland
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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.
First Steps Maich offers all day education and care for 100 children from five months to five years in either sessional or all day provision. Children are catered for in four age-related converted buildings. Two buildings are for the infants and toddlers and two for the preschool children. There has been ongoing centre refurbishment since 2014, including upgrading two of the three playgrounds.
The centre philosophy is based on the concept of whānaungatanga with teachers and whānau working together for the benefit of children's learning. The majority of children attending the multicultural centre are either Māori or Indian. Nineteen percent have Pacific heritage. Staff represent the multicultural community well. There are eight registered teachers including five staff employed since the 2013 ERO review. A cook, caregivers and a van driver support centre operations.
The centre is part of the BestStart Education and Care Centres organisation, which provides an overarching governance and management framework and guidelines. The centre manager and two head teachers provide leadership and are supported by the BestStart professional services (PSM) and business managers.
This centre has responded well to the areas for improvement identified in the 2013 ERO report which included extending children's learning through more focused planning and assessment.
Children and their families are warmly welcomed to the centre. The programme supports children to make decisions about their learning and to settle quickly into the day. Positive relationships and interactions among all children are evident. Nurturing, friendly teachers provide good care for babies and toddlers. Children have a strong sense of belonging to the centre.
Teachers recognise and value children's learning through play. Children have many opportunities to choose from the wide variety of high quality resources offered. There has been a significant upgrade of the resources, equipment and parts of the outdoor environment.
The programme and environment strongly reflects the organisation's commitment to a bicultural approach. The BestStart organisation has recently employed a national bicultural advisor to support teachers to develop their confidence in providing a culturally responsive curriculum.
Teachers have a deliberate approach and are committed to promoting cultural diversity. They value children's identity, culture, and languages and this has had a significant impact on children's and families' sense of belonging and well-being. Teachers interact respectfully with children using a variety of home languages. It could be beneficial for the centre manager and PSM to consider ways to support children to grow their confidence with English language.
The centre offers a learning programme strongly based on the principles of the Te Whariki, the early childhood curriculum. ERO affirms the centre manager's emphasis on developing individual plans for babies and suggests that she could consider ways that this process could support individual children as they transition through the centre. The PSM has appropriately identified the next step for teachers is to evaluate the impact of their teaching on children's learning and progress.
Parents are welcome partners in their child's learning. Teachers offer many formal and informal opportunities to meet with parents to discuss their child's learning. The centre implements many ways to involve the community including gathering family aspirations and weaving these into programme planning.
The BestStart organisation has implemented beneficial internal evaluation processes and guidelines. These include appraisal and performance management systems that are based on useful evidence. Newly appointed and registering teachers are very well supported by the centre manager and PSM through a strong coaching and mentoring process. Teachers reflect on the usefulness of programmes offered. The BestStart organisation values leaders and supports teachers to move into leadership roles well.
BestStart has effective systems for monitoring service operations. These include regular management meetings and an internal audit process, which is used to identify centre challenges and develop plans for improvement. The centre leader needs to ensure that BestStart guidelines are implemented consistently across all rooms.
The centre has a suitable strategic plan that is linked to the BestStart vision and long-term plan and is regularly monitored. Centre practices reflect the philosophy which has been collaboratively designed by all centre staff. The centre manager agrees that the annual plan could be more useful if it records separately the regular yearly activities and areas for centre progress. The areas for centre progress could then be better evaluated for impact and effectiveness on outcomes for children.
The centre manager, PSM and BM agree that the next steps for ongoing improvement include centre leaders:
Before the review, the staff and management of First Steps Maich 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 First Steps Maich will be in three years.
Graham Randell
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern
4 October 2016
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.
| Location | Manurewa, Auckland | ||
| Ministry of Education profile number | 25049 | ||
| Licence type | Education & Care Service | ||
| Licensed under | Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 | ||
| Number licensed for | 100 children, including up to 22 aged under 2 | ||
| Service roll | 113 | ||
| Gender composition | Boys 52% Girls 48% | ||
| Ethnic composition | Māori Pākehā Indian Middle Eastern Samoan Tongan other Pacific other | 25% 11% 29% 8% 8% 4% 7% 8% | |
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates | 80% + | ||
| Reported ratios of staff to children | Under 2 | 1:4 | Better than minimum requirements |
| Over 2 | 1:8 | Better than minimum requirements | |
| Review team on site | July 2016 | ||
| Date of this report | 4 October 2016 | ||
| Most recent ERO report(s) | Education Review | September 2013 | |
| Supplementary Review | March 2010 | ||
| Education Review | March 2009 | ||
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.
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 |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
ABC Manurewa provides education and care for children between six weeks and five years of age. The multicultural centre reflects its community with many of the children of Māori, Pacific or Indian descent. The integration of children’s home languages through the daily programme is a feature of the centre.
Since the 2010 ERO review the Ministry of Education has relicensed the previous two ABC Manurewa centres as one centre under the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008.
The centre has also changed ownership and is now part of Kidicorp Ltd. Kidicorp policies, procedures and practices now underpin its operation. Business and professional support managers visit regularly to ensure that Kidicorp expectations are being met, and to promote ongoing centre development. A centre manager provides professional leadership to the centre’s teaching and leadership teams.
Centre leaders have responded positively to the recommendations of the previous ERO report, as part of a programme of continuous improvement.
Children’s social and emotional well-being are well supported by caring, experienced teachers. Respectful relationships between adults and children contribute to a settled, harmonious atmosphere. Infants and toddlers receive good quality care. They benefit from teachers who know them and their families well. Children enjoy friendships and cooperate in play with each other. They enjoy well managed care routines.
Teachers are flexible and respond sensitively to children’s preferences and interests. Transitions into the centre and between rooms are carefully managed so that the change for children is gradual and responds to their growing confidence.
Teaching and learning promotes positive outcomes for children. Teachers notice, recognise and respond to individuals and groups of children. They carefully support children to make choices from a wide range of learning activities. Teachers are positive and encouraging, building on what children can do. Children enjoy the opportunity to select play areas and engage in individual or group play for extended periods of time.
The centre celebrates the diversity of its community and programmes are inclusive of Māori, Pacific and other cultures. Teachers’ growing awareness of and appreciation for te reo and tikanga Māori is evident throughout the programme and environment. Whānau are welcome in the centre and good relationships are evident between teachers and families. Centre leaders are exploring ways to enhance communications with parents, whānau and aiga to further promote parent partnerships in learning.
The centre is well managed and led. The centre manager is focused on extending the knowledge and practice of the teaching team. She and her head teachers model good quality teaching practices and work effectively with Kidicorp personnel to promote ongoing teacher development. Self-review practices are embedded at all levels of operation and are clearly resulting in ongoing improvements for children. Centre leaders have a strong focus on continuing improvement through self review in order to guide significant development for the centre.
ERO and centre managers agree that the centre should use their well established self review processes to:
Kidicorp should also consider refining its personnel policy and procedural documents to better reflect the company’s desire to exceed minimum requirements and achieve high quality outcomes for children.
Before the review, the staff and management of ABC Manurewa 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 ABC Manurewa will be in three years.
Dale Bailey
National Manager Review Services Northern Region
17 September 2013
|
Location |
Manurewa, Auckland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
25049 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
100 children, including up to 22 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
98 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys 55 Girls 43 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori NZ European/Pākehā Indian Middle Eastern Samoan Cook Island Māori Vietnamese Other Asian Other Pacific Other |
9 42 18 7 7 6 3 3 2 1 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80% Based on funding rates |
50-79% |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:5 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
July 2013 |
||
|
Date of this report |
17 September 2013 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) These are available at www.ero.govt.nz |
Supplementary Review |
March 2010 |
|
|
Education Review |
March 2009 |
||
|
Education Review |
March 2006 |
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.