11 Peace Avenue, Mount Wellington, Auckland
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 |
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Curriculum |
Meeting |
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Premises and facilities |
Meeting |
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Health and safety |
Not meeting |
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Governance, management and administration |
Not meeting |
At the time of the review, ERO identified areas of non-compliance with regulatory standards that are an unacceptable risk to children.
Good Seeds Children’s Centre (Mt Wellington) is one of three services owned by a not-for-profit organisation, Good Seed Trust. An area manager provides support to the centre leader, three qualified kaiako, and five unqualified staff. A small number of children are Māori. Most of the children attending have Pacific heritage.
The service curriculum respects and supports the right of each child to be confident in their own culture and encourages children to understand and respect other cultures. Children are provided with opportunities to develop knowledge and an understanding of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Kaiako engage in meaningful, positive interactions to enhance children’s learning and nurture reciprocal relationships. The curriculum is informed by assessment that demonstrates an understanding of children’s learning and interests. Opportunities are provided for parents to communicate with teachers about their child’s learning.
Ongoing implementation and monitoring of the licensing criteria is required.
ERO found non-compliances in the service relating to:
Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, HS1, GMA7A.
Since the onsite visit the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:
ERO recommends that the Ministry reassess the licence issued to this service provider. ERO will not undertake a further review of this service until the Ministry of Education is satisfied that the service meets regulatory standards.
The next ERO review will be in consultation with the Ministry of Education.
Phil Cowie
Acting Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki
22 December 2021
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Early Childhood Service Name |
Good Seeds Children's Centre (Mt Wellington) |
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Profile Number |
46912 |
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Location |
Mt Wellington, Auckland |
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Service type |
Education and care service |
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Number licensed for |
32 children over 2 years of age |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
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Service roll |
41 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori 5, Samoan 7, Bangladeshi 7, Indian 7, Tongan 6, other Asian 4, other ethnic groups 5 |
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Review team on site |
August 2021 |
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Date of this report |
22 December 2021 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, May 2018. |
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.
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:
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO assesses whether the regulated 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:
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO also gathers and records evidence through:
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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.
Good Seeds Children's Centre (Mt Wellington) has been operating since February 2017, with a maximum roll of 26 children over two years of age. A larger proportion of children attending are Māori or Pacific. The centre is one of two operating under the Good Seed Trust.
The Good Seed Trust, which is an independent non-profit making organisation provides a framework of operational policies and procedures to support the day-to-day management of both centres. They have a strong commitment 'to equip families to live abundant lives, ensuring success and positive learning outcomes for all'.
The recently developed centre philosophy includes Christian values and recognises core principles of aroha, manaakitanga and whanaungatanga. It supports an environment that enables children to become C.U.T.E (confident, unique and thriving with enquiring minds). The vision statement, 'strengthening families, transforming communities' underpins centre operations.
Children are warmly nurtured and there is a sense of peace and a settled atmosphere. The value of 'aroha' is evident in interactions with children as well as with parents and whānau. Children know their environment well and are able to move freely indoors and outdoors and make choices and decisions about their play.
Teachers engage with children respectfully, often working in small groups. The environment and flexible routines provide time and space for children to become involved in meaningful conversations through the day. Tuakana/teina relationships mean that children support each other in their play and learning. To enable children to think more deeply and discuss their ideas more fully, teachers could consider ways to improve their questioning techniques. This will also help teachers to incorporate literacy, science, and maths concepts meaningfully in the context of their discussions with children as they play.
Whānau enjoy good relationships with teachers and appreciate regular conversations about their children's learning. To establish partnerships with whānau that support children's learning, teachers could include parents' aspirations for their children in programme planning.
The centre has established a relationship with the neighbouring school that supports smooth transitions for children and families. Teachers have initiated working relationships with the adjacent playgroup and community centre. The teaching team work collaboratively with external agencies to ensure that children with additional needs enjoy positive outcomes.
The newly developed philosophy reflects a deep commitment to supporting Māori children and their whānau as well as others from diverse backgrounds. Some teachers skilfully support children and families with English as an additional language, by weaving home languages into meaningful conversations. These practices have created a strong sense of belonging for children and their families.
Teachers' planning and assessment practices are developing as teachers and leaders build their understanding of a 'Notice, Recognise and Respond' cycle. They are also working towards improving the quality of their records of individual children's learning progress. It is timely for the leaders and the teaching team to revisit the links between their philosophy and planning. Regular evaluation of the centre philosophy, in collaboration with whānau and children, would help to increase its visibility in teachers' practice.
Internal evaluation at the centre is at early stages of development. It would be beneficial for leaders and teachers to access professional support to strengthen internal evaluation. This learning would help them to evaluate the impact of their practices on outcomes for children.
Leaders strongly promote the service's vision and associated goals. They support individual and whole-centre professional development. Teacher appraisal processes align with the future direction of the service. Senior managers' appraisal processes should now also be aligned with Education Council requirements.
The centre is well governed and managed. Management systems are understood by staff. The Trust and centre strategic plans are documented and would be strengthened by the regular evaluation of progress, linked to outcomes for children. Leaders could also consider reviewing Trust and management roles in order to build leadership capacity across the senior management structure.
Centre leaders agree that key next steps for the centre include:
Before the review, the staff and management of Good Seeds Children's Centre (Mt Wellington) 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.
ERO identified an area of non-compliance. The owners must provide space for adults working at the service to have planned breaks, and undertake assessment, programme planning and evaluation
Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Services 2008, PF9.
The next ERO review of Good Seeds Children's Centre (Mt Wellington) will be in three years.
Julie Foley
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)
Te Tai Raki - Northern Region
9 May 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 |
Mount Wellington, Auckland |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
46912 |
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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 |
26 children, over 2 years of age |
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Service roll |
34 |
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Gender composition |
Girls 19 Boys 15 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
12 |
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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 |
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Review team on site |
March 2018 |
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Date of this report |
9 May 2018 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
No previous ERO reports |
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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.