Future Kids

1 Evaluation of Future Kids

How well placed is Future Kids to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Future Kids requires further development to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

All key next steps identified in the May 2017 ERO report continue to require improvement. Systems, processes and practices need further development to enable the service to consistently provide positive outcomes for children.

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

Background

Future Kids is a Christian preschool located in Hastings. It operates under the Bay City Trust. It offers education and care for up to 39 children, including six children up to two years. The current roll of 34 includes six who identify as Māori and 10 as Pacific. At the time of the review, no children under two years of age were enrolled.

The service is governed by a board and managed by a director. A head teacher is responsible for the day-to-day running of the service. All teachers are qualified early childhood teachers.

The philosophy is underpinned by Christian principles and values and 'preparing children for a life and love of learning'.

Since the May 2017 ERO review significant restructuring has resulted in the merger of Future Kids Queen Street, into Future Kids Omahu Road, subsequent staffing changes, a reduction in opening times and a decision to no longer enrol children up to two years.

The Review Findings

Leaders should continue to build knowledge and understandings of policies, procedures and practices and oversee systematic monitoring of these, to ensure all licensing requirements are consistently met.

The service's vision and values underpin the programme. Children are well engaged through a mixture of child and teacher-led activities that are responsive to their emerging interests. They access a wide range of resources that provide opportunities for them to investigate, be creative and engage in physical activity. Teachers use a range of strategies to maximise learning opportunities that promote literacy and mathematics.

A strong focus on building children's social and emotional competence is highly evident and builds their confidence and ability to develop relationships. They play well together for sustained periods of time and support each other's learning goals. Teachers work with parents to maintain consistent positive guidance strategies between home and the service.

A programme for four-year-olds provides opportunities for children to learn a range of skills and competencies that are likely to support a successful transition to school.

Children requiring additional learning support are well provided for. Teachers work collaboratively with parents and whānau to develop appropriate goals that support children's participation and engagement in learning. Progress in relation to these goals is monitored and celebrated.

Children's profile books provide a picture of their participation in the programme and what they can do. Children's ways of learning, social competencies and personalities are featured. Assessment, planning and evaluation practices need further development to:

• make visible goal setting and planning for individual children that responds to parent aspirations

• acknowledge children's culture, language and identity

• show how learning relevant for each child is progressed over time.

Assessment, planning and evaluation practices was an area for development identified in the previous report and remains a priority for further development. With the proposed change of the leadership roles in the centre, trustees and leaders should ensure a shared understanding of expectations and oversight of implementation of change to promote high quality education and care.

A bicultural curriculum is in place. Teachers are at the beginning stages of making connections to children's whakapapa and are considering how best to support these connections through their learning. Teachers continue to explore and implement strategies that promote educational success for Māori.

Teachers have an awareness of Tapasā: Cultural Competencies Framework for Teachers of Pacific Learners. They have yet to collectively consider how these strategies are integrated into their practice. They also acknowledge that they are still growing their understanding of the range of Pacific cultures represented in their centre.

Regular review that leads to change is established. Trustees, leaders and teachers should develop a shared understanding of internal evaluation processes and practice to measure the quality and value of programmes and operation. This should enable them to make informed decisions that promote positive outcomes for children.

Key Next Steps

ERO has identified that key next steps are to further develop:

• consistent assessment, planning and evaluation practices that respond to the learning needs of individuals and acknowledge parent aspirations

• teaching practices that promote successful outcomes for Māori and Pacific learners

• shared understanding and use of internal evaluation

• leadership that supports professional practice and promotes quality education and care.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Future Kids 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.

Actions for compliance

ERO identified areas of non-compliance relating to governance, management and administration and health and safety. To meet requirements the service needs to improve its performance in the following areas:

• strengthen hazard checking and analysis of accidents to ensure hazards to the safety of children are eliminated, isolated or minimised

• fire drills must be carried out on at least a three-monthly basis

• all aspects of the child protection policy must be reviewed every three years

• a written appointments procedure including safety checking all workers before they have access to children, that meets the safety checking requirements of the Children's Act 2014 and a record of all safety checks and the results.

[Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008: HS1; HS8; HS31; GMA7; GMA7A]

[Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, 46(1c, 1d); Children's Act 2014]

The service also needs to improve its performance in the following areas:

• when children leave the premises on an excursion the excursion must be approved by the Person Responsible

• a clear appraisal policy should be developed that includes reference to the Standards for the Teaching Profession.

Since the onsite phase of the review ERO has received evidence of steps taken to improve hazard checking, excursion approval, child protection and appraisal [H12; HS17; HS31].

Development Plan Recommendation

ERO recommends that the service, in consultation with the Ministry of Education, develops a plan to address the key next steps and actions outlined in this report.

Darcy Te Hau

Acting Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)

Central Region - Te Tai Pūtahi Nui

15 June 2020

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.