58 Korora Road, Oneroa, Waiheke Island
View on mapERO’s Akanuku | Assurance Review reports provide information about whether a service meets and maintains regulatory standards. Further information about Akanuku | Assurance Reviews is included at the end of this report.
Regulatory standards |
ERO’s judgement |
|
Curriculum |
Meeting |
|
Premises and facilities |
Not meeting |
|
Health and safety |
Meeting |
|
Governance, management and administration |
Meeting |
At the time of the review, ERO identified non-compliance with regulatory standards that must be addressed.
Fossil Bay Kindergarten provides education and care for children between three and six years of age. The service’s philosophy is aligned with Rudolph Steiner’s theory of holistic learning. A qualified teacher oversees the curriculum, and a general manager provides governance support. A small number of children of Māori or Pacific heritage attend the service.
Teachers engage in meaningful, positive interactions to enhance children’s learning and nurture reciprocal relationships. The curriculum is responsive to children as confident and competent learners. Children’s preferences are respected, and they are involved in decisions about their learning experiences. They are provided with a range of experiences and opportunities to enhance and extend their learning and development. The curriculum provides a language-rich environment that supports children’s learning.
Regular opportunities are provided for parents to communicate with teachers and be involved in decision making concerning their child’s learning.
Consistent implementation and monitoring of licensing criteria is required to meet and maintain regulatory requirements.
ERO found areas of non-compliance in the service relating to:
ensuring the outdoor activity space is available for the exclusive use of the service during hours of operation.
Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, PF13.
During the review, the service provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:
Checking equipment, premises and facilities on every day of operation for hazards to children (HS12).
Maintaining a record of all medicine (prescription and non-prescription) given to children attending the service. Records include name and amount of medicine given, date and time medicine was administered; and evidence of parental acknowledgement (HS28).
Having a written child protection policy that contains provisions for the service’s identification and reporting of child abuse and neglect, and a procedure that sets out how the service will identify and respond to suspected child abuse and/or neglect (HS31).
Having a detailed record of each component of the safety check must be kept, and the date on which each step was taken must be recorded, including the date of the risk assessment required to be completed after all relevant information is obtained (GMA7A).
ERO recommends the Ministry follows up with the service provider to ensure that the non-compliance identified in this report is addressed promptly.
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Filivaifale Jason Swann
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki
24 January 2023
|
Early Childhood Service Name |
Fossil Bay Kindergarten |
|
Profile Number |
20525 |
|
Location |
Oneroa, Waiheke Island |
|
Service type |
Education and care service |
|
Number licensed for |
40 children over 2 years of age |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
100% |
|
Service roll |
20 |
|
Review team on site |
November 2022 |
|
Date of this report |
24 January 2023 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, May 2019; Education Review, August 2014 |
All services are licensed under the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008. The legal requirements for early childhood services also include the Licensing Criteria for Education and Care Services 2008.
Services must meet the standards in the regulations and the requirements of the licensing criteria to gain and maintain a licence to operate.
having its first ERO review – including if it is part of a governing organisation
previously identified as ‘not well placed’ or ‘requiring further development’
that has moved from a provisional to a full licence
that have been re-licenced due to a change of ownership
where an Akanuku | Assurance Review process is determined to be appropriate.
All early childhood services are required to promote children’s health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements. Before the review, the staff and management of a service 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.
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO assesses whether the regulatory standards are being met. In particular, ERO looks at a 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; safety checking; teacher certification; ratios)
relevant evacuation procedures and practices.
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO also gathers and records evidence through:
discussions with those involved in the service
consideration of relevant documentation, including the implementation of health and safety systems
observations of the environment/premises, curriculum implementation and teaching practice.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Fossil Bay Kindergarten is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Fossil Bay Kindergarten on Waiheke Island provides education and care for up to 44 children from three to six years of age. The kindergarten operates in two age-related groups in rooms designed to promote the Rudolf Steiner educational philosophy. Children have ready access to a large outdoor area.
The kindergarten is governed by the Waiheke Island Rudolph Steiner Education Trust. The trust is responsible for the land, buildings and resources. It delegates day-to-day management of the kindergarten to the centre manager. Two qualified teachers and teaching assistants have responsibility for the children’s care routines and learning programmes. The kindergarten also benefits from volunteers who have many years of experience in Steiner education.
In 2017 the trust opened a Rudolph Steiner primary school adjacent to the kindergarten. The trust also operates a weekly playgroup in the kindergarten's licensed premises, for children under the age of three and their parents.
The kindergarten has a positive ERO reporting history. ERO's 2014 report identified many very good quality practices. Next steps for the service were to enhance partnerships with whānau, and increase the visibility of Māori and Pacific cultures in programmes.
Children are highly engaged in play and well supported to be confident and competent learners. They show resilience, self-care skills and a high level of independence.
Children confidently make decisions about their play. They negotiate with their peers, are respectful and play collaboratively. They initiate conversations and ask questions. As a result, children successfully interact and support each other’s play.
Teachers actively listen to children, extend children’s play, and allow children to lead their own learning at their own pace. They are unobtrusive and unhurried in their responses to children’s curiosity. Teachers encourage children to use their imagination and creativity to problem solve and explore new learnings.
The rich, natural outdoor environment supports children’s learning and wellbeing very well. It enables children to develop their physical skills without interference. Teachers encourage children to accept physical challenges and take risks. The indoor learning environment could be enhanced, especially for the older children, if children were able to access all the licensed space.
The curriculum is developed from seasonal rhythms and responds to children’s experiences. Cultural diversity is valued and celebrated in the kindergarten. Children’s cultures and languages are reflected in the learning programme. Their first languages are valued and often used to support their learning. The bicultural heritage of Aotearoa New Zealand is prominent. Te reo and tikanga Māori are integrated thoughtfully in the programme.
Comprehensive planning and assessment practices help teachers provide a curriculum that is relevant for children and their families. These approaches reference Te Whāriki, the 2017 revised early childhood curriculum, and focus clearly on children's learning outcomes. Individual 'learning journey' books record children’s participation in the programme, mainly through group stories. Teachers agree that a greater focus on capturing the individual child’s learning journey through these stories would be beneficial.
Leadership is shared across the kindergarten. High levels of relational trust and collaborative ways of working are fostered. Parents, staff and children are seen as equal partners and participants in the kindergarten. Staff have a strong commitment to the philosophy, vision and goals of the service. The philosophy is deeply embedded and guides all behaviours, practices and decisions.
Teachers benefit from regular professional learning in the wider NZ Steiner and environmental communities. Performance management systems could be strengthened by including a teacher in the process who holds a full practising certificate, and who supports 'teaching as inquiry'. This person could also help to monitor the Teaching Council requirements in relation to practising certificates.
Internal evaluation is used well as a catalyst for ongoing development and improvement. The kindergarten has good systems and processes for health and safety management. The annual plan clearly identifies priorities for day-to-day management. A stronger annual plan focus on curriculum development would help the trust board to monitor progress towards their educational priorities.
The key next steps are to:
review the use of the licensed space to support learning opportunities for the older children
continue to develop effective processes for recording the individual child's learning journey
increase the professional rigour of appraisal processes
ensure that the kindergarten's annual plan includes priorities for ongoing curriculum development.
Before the review, the staff and management of Fossil Bay 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.
Steve Tanner
Director Review and Improvement Services Northern
Northern Region
3 May 2019
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 |
Waiheke Island, Auckland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
20525 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
44 children over 2 years of age |
||
|
Service roll |
30 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls 15 Boys 15 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori |
3 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
50-79% |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Over 2 |
1:6 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Review team on site |
February 2019 |
||
|
Date of this report |
3 May 2019 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
August 2014 |
|
|
Education Review |
April 2011 |
||
|
Education Review |
April 2008 |
||
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 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.
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.