Unit 24B 44 Blenheim Street, Upper Hutt CBD, Upper Hutt
View on mapAkarangi | Quality Evaluation evaluates the extent to which this early childhood service has the learning and organisational conditions to support equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners. Te Ara Poutama Indicators of quality for early childhood education: what matters most are the basis for making judgements about the effectiveness of the service in achieving equity and excellence for all learners. Judgements are made in relation to the Outcomes Indicators, Learning and Organisational Conditions. The Evaluation Judgement Rubric derived from the indicators, is used to inform ERO’s judgements about this service’s performance in promoting equity and excellence.
ERO’s judgements for Happy Days Childcare Centre are as follows:
Outcome Indicators(What the service knows about outcomes for learners) |
Whakatō Emerging |
Ngā Akatoro Domains |
|
Learning ConditionsOrganisational Conditions |
Whakatō Emerging |
Happy Days Childcare Centre is a privately-owned early childhood service. The owner is supported by a manager who oversees teaching, learning and operations. The centre families and staff are culturally diverse. Of the enrolled children, a quarter are Māori and a small number represent Pacific ethnic groups. Some progress has been made in addressing the key next steps from ERO’s 2019 report related to bicultural practice and celebrating children’s cultures, languages and identities.
Families’ cultures and languages enrich a curriculum that values diversity. The culturally diverse staff can often provide effective support for families from other countries to settle into the centre. Staff fluent in
te reo Māori provide good role models for others’ meaningful use of the language and tikanga within the daily programme.
Leaders and teachers are in the early stages of establishing a curriculum that recognises and responds to children as competent learners. The learning environment is not yet resourced or organised to support all children’s sustained engagement and learning. While some good teaching is evident, overall, the quality of teaching requires further development to support more purposeful play and independence in learning.
The team’s approach to planning for learning continues to develop, with a particular focus on children requiring additional support. Teachers purposefully seek the aspirations of parents and whānau to inform curriculum decisions and their teaching. The team has yet to update learning plans for all children, or to successfully integrate the learning outcomes in Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, into assessment, planning and evaluation processes.
Leaders have yet to successfully implement and sustain some key systems and processes for improvement. Understanding and use of internal evaluation and long-term planning are at an early stage of development. Compliance with all legislative conditions has not been maintained. Leaders have yet to engage in regular, development-focused appraisal linked to their roles.
Happy Days Childcare Centre will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:
further developing the curriculum through better resourcing and organisation of learning materials
targeted support for teacher development, and increased opportunities for sustained teacher engagement with children to support more purposeful play and independence in learning
ensure all children have meaningful and current plans for learning linked to the learning outcomes in Te Whāriki
build systems to promote and sustain compliance and improvement.
Before the review, the staff and management of Happy Days Childcare Centre 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; safety checking; teacher registration; ratios)
relevant evacuation procedures and practices.
All early childhood services are required to promote children's health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.
ERO identified the following areas of non-compliance:
fire drills are undertaken at least every three months
a system of appraisal for leaders
Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Services, HS8, GMA7.
Since the onsite visit, the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:
heavy items that could fall and cause serious injury [HS6]
beds are organised so adults have clear access to one side, and there is sufficient air movement to minimise the risk of spreading illness [HS10]
when children leave the premises for regular excursions, the person responsible has signed approval for the excursion to take place [HS17]
safe nappy changing facilities in the infant area which are adequately separated from areas of the service used for play; to prevent the spread of infection, and promote children’s independence, dignity and right to privacy [PF25]
implementation of a four-point safety check, three yearly, for individual staff employed at the service [GMA7a].
ERO recommends the Ministry follows up with the service provider to ensure non-compliances identified in this report are addressed.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini
14 November 2022
|
Early Childhood Service Name |
Happy Days Childcare Centre |
|
Profile Number |
55412 |
|
Location |
Upper Hutt |
|
Service type |
Education and care service |
|
Number licensed for |
75 children, including up to 30 aged under 2 |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
|
Service roll |
87 |
|
Review team on site |
July 2022 |
|
Date of this report |
14 November 2022 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, February 2019; Education Review May 2016 |
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Happy Days Childcare Centre is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Happy Days Childcare Centre is a privately owned and operated early learning service situated in Upper Hutt. It provides all day education and care for up to 75 children from birth to school age, five days a week. At the time of this ERO review, 15 of the children enrolled identified as Māori and 6 as Pacific.
The service philosophy focuses on agreed core values of respect, empowerment, integrity, compassion, playfulness, resilience, gentleness, trust and love. These points have been unpacked to build shared understandings of these elements to guide practice.
A board governs the centre. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) manages day-to-day operation. A manager works in collaboration with the CEO to support the teaching team. There has been a number of changes in teaching staff.
The 2014 and 2016 ERO reviews identified significant concerns about the quality of practice and operation. Since that time, the service has received targeted support through the Ministry of Education (MoE) funded programme, Strengthening Early Learning Opportunities (SELO). Leaders developed a plan to address the key areas requiring improvement, in consultation with the MoE. Good progress has been made and areas of non-compliance have been addressed.
Children engage in purposeful learning through a mixture of child and teacher-led activities. They freely access resources to support their interests and achieve their learning goals. Excursions into the community support their growing knowledge of the world around them. Independent and group work are promoted. There is a strong focus on developing children's social competencies, so they can engage positively with their peers and teachers.
Teachers respond sensitively to each child’s changing needs and preferences. The calm slow pace of the programme enables them to have time and space to lead their learning. The importance of play is respected and valued.
Children with additional learning needs are well supported to participate fully in the programme. Teachers are proactive in identifying support needs and accessing these. They work alongside parents to determine learning goals. External agencies are accessed when required.
The centre philosophies are underpinned by shared values and beliefs. These were developed in collaboration with leaders, teachers, whānau and children and make clear the expected practice. Leaders should next consider how best they can engage with parents, whānau Māori and their Pacific community to determine what educational success looks like for them.
A sound planning framework is in place for individual and group learning. It focuses on teachers noticing children's emerging interests, recognising opportunities for learning and responding through planning appropriate learning experiences. Parents, whānau and teachers co-construct meaningful learning goals for children's learning. Teachers use Te Whāriki, the refreshed early childhood curriculum, to help them to design the programme. Assessment builds children’s identity as a successful learner. As this process continues to be embedded, leaders should consider how they can:
build teachers' knowledge and understanding so a more consistent approach to assessment is implemented
make children’s cultures, languages and identities more visible in assessment.
Kaupapa Māori concepts are becoming well-integrated in the curriculum. Examples include excursion to the local marae and planned annual events that enrich the programme. Teachers are beginning to gain a greater understanding of how they can celebrate te ao Māori in the curriculum. Greater use of te reo Māori in everyday practice should strengthen this process. In addition, leaders and teachers should continue to extend and celebrate places of significant value for Māori and celebrate these within the curriculum.
A well-considered internal evaluation framework has been implemented. Leaders and teachers are beginning to use this to help them make informed decisions for supporting their most recent ongoing improvements. Building teachers' capability to evaluate the effectiveness of their practice should strengthen this process.
The centre’s policies and procedures have been significantly redeveloped to ensure they are up-to-date and meet legislative requirements. Leaders and teachers show an increased understanding of operational requirements of the centre that supports ongoing sustainability and improvement.
There is a sound appraisal system in place to support and grow teacher capability. Leaders should continue to refine this process by:
developing more specific and measurable teacher goals that are aligned to outcomes for children
including goals to support leadership
improving alignment with the Education Council quality practice framework.
The centre has developed annual and strategic plans that set the priorities and direction for the service. Further consideration should be given to making goals more specific and measurable. This should assist the centre to better measure the progress towards achieving its goals and objectives.
ERO and leaders agree that their priorities are to:
engage with whānau Māori and the Pacific community to determine what educational success looks like for them
strengthen the use of te reo me ngā tikanga Māori in the curriculum
enhance assessment and planning for children's learning
further develop the appraisal process and build teachers internal evaluation capability.
Before the review, the staff and management of Happy Days Childcare Centre 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 Happy Days Childcare Centre will be in three years.
Alan Wynyard
Director Review and Improvement Services Southern
Southern Region
5 February 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 |
Upper Hutt |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
55412 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
75 children, including up to 30 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
59 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys 31, Girls 28 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori |
13 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
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 |
December 2018 |
||
|
Date of this report |
5 February 2019 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
May 2016 |
|
|
Education Review |
June 2014 |
||
|
Education Review |
April 2011 |
||
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.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Good progress has been made in addressing some key aspects of practice. However, these have yet to be embedded. A priority for this service is to ensure that systems and processes for the continuous monitoring of health and safety requirements are in place.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Happy Days Childcare Centre is a privately owned early childhood service located in Upper Hutt. It is licensed to cater for 75 children, including up to 45 aged under two years. Of the 53 children attending, 19 are Māori and seven are from Pacific ethnic groups. The local community is culturally diverse.
The Chief Executive Officer owns and runs the service with the support of a business advisory group. A centre manager is responsible for staff and curriculum leadership. Of the 11 staff employed, seven are registered teachers. Four support staff work alongside teachers helping with children and undertaking domestic duties.
The June 2014 ERO review found significant development was needed particularly in relation to provision for children aged up to two years, implementation of bicultural curriculum, the quality of teaching and planning for children's learning, staff appraisal, and teachers' understanding and use of self review. In addition some of the impact surfacing in the outdoor playground, hazard management and aspects of the curriculum were deemed non-compliant.
The teaching team has received targeted support through a Ministry of Education funded programme, Strengthening Early Learning Opportunities (SELO).
Staff are responsive and warm in their interactions with children. They work together well to ensure that children are settled and their care requirements are met. A positive tone is evident. There is a need to strengthen the quality and use of intentional teaching strategies to support children's sustained engagement in learning experiences. Using care routines as part of the learning programme should provide additional opportunities for adults' one-to-one engagement with children.
Children are enthusiastic learners, keen to investigate the resources and activities available. Management should consider improving resourcing, particularly in relation to materials that promote investigation and creativity. Maximising children's access to a wide range of learning materials and enabling them to make more choices about their learning, should strengthen their purposeful engagement in the programme.
Infants and toddlers benefit from the consistent attention of familiar adults who know them well. In 2016 whole-centre professional development is planned to support ongoing improvement to provision for these youngest children. The reorganisation of the indoor space into two areas, one for children aged under three years and one for those aged from three to five, is improving outcomes for both groups particularly in relation to their wellbeing, sense of belonging and ease of transitions into and through the centre.
Some acknowledgment of other cultures is evident in displays and supported by the ethnically diverse staff. The manager reports that recent professional development has promoted understanding of some suitable ways to work with Māori learners. Consideration of the Ministry of Education's Pasifika Education Plan should strengthen understanding of the needs of Pacific learners. The manager acknowledges that the service needs to continue to develop links with local Māori to support understanding of te ao Māori and the development of a more bicultural learning programme.
Some progress is being made to improve planning for learning. A more individualised approach is in the early stage of development and includes ongoing evaluation of each child’s progress. A best practice example shows how a teacher notices, recognises and responds in meaningful ways to a child's significant interests and parents' and whānau aspirations. Well-presented portfolios have been reintroduced to support children's reflection on their participation and achievements. Further work is needed to develop:
shared teacher understanding about the new approach
opportunities for teachers to share information about individuals to better support each child's learning
cultural perspectives in children's learning portfolios
parents' and whānau input and children's ownership of their portfolios.
Teachers should continue to develop the quality of evaluation of the group programme to inform decisions about next planning steps for individuals and the group.
The teaching team should collaboratively research best-practice early childhood guidelines to further develop the quality of the approach to supporting children's transition to primary school.
Understanding and use of internal evaluation continues to need development at centre and management level. A suitable framework has been developed and is in the early stages of implementation.
Teamwork is increasingly cohesive. Staff leadership opportunities are being created to enhance outcomes in both areas of the centre. The manager continues to seek appropriate professional development to improve centre practices.
A mentor has been identified to support implementation of suitable performance management processes for teachers. Effective implementation of the revised teacher appraisal process is needed, including:
regular constructive feedback for all staff based on targeted observations of their practice and linked to their specific development goals
the development of evidential files supporting endorsement of each teacher's practising certificate.
Implementation of an appropriate induction and mentoring programme for provisionally certificated teachers, and ensuring staff have sufficient time to effectively meet the expectations required of them in their teaching roles, should assist to improve the quality of teaching.
Progress has been made in relation to planning for the sustainability of the quality of the service, operation and teacher capability. The philosophy and strategic and annual plans now clearly outline centre priorities. Further work should be undertaken to define the desired outcomes of the identified initiatives. Undertaking regular evaluation of practice in relation to these desired outcomes should better support decisions about next development steps.
The manager agrees that policies and procedures should be reviewed to support more consistent staff understanding and implementation of centre expectations. The further definition of management and administration requirements and development of associated reporting and review processes, should provide assurance, at governance level, that accountabilities are being met.
Leaders must focus on promoting and sustaining good practice. This should include:
the collaborative review and further definition of the philosophy and strategic priorities
supporting teachers’ shared understanding and use of internal evaluation
the implementation of the revised teacher appraisal process
the development of an induction and mentoring programme for provisionally certificated teachers
further developing written guidelines, particularly to support curriculum and management practices
focused support for the manager's leadership.
In addition, there should be a continued focus on:
improving the quality of the learning environment and quality of teaching
the development of a more bicultural curriculum and ways to best support Māori learners.
ERO recommends that suitable support is sought to:
mentor and appraise the manager in her leadership role
assist the manager and CEO progress implementation of robust systems that sustain and promote improvements to practice.
Before the review, the staff and management of Happy Days Childcare Centre 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
ERO found significant areas of non-compliance in the service relating to governance, management and administration. To meet requirements the service needs to improve its performance in the following areas:
all requirements of the Vulnerable Children Act 2014 must be met when employing core workers
suitable human resource management practices must be implemented, including a system of regular appraisal
information is provided to parents about the amount and details of the expenditure of any Ministry of Education funding received by the service
an effective quality assurance process should be put in place to support ongoing compliance with legislative requirements for provision of early childhood education and care.
[Vulnerable Children Act 2014, Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, GMA7, GMA3, Reg 46 1(a) HS11]
In order to improve current practice the service provider should ensure that:
appropriate permission is sought from parents and whānau about the use of their children's photographs.
ERO recommends that the Ministry reassess the licence of Happy Days Childcare Centre. ERO will not undertake a further education review of this service until the Ministry of Education is satisfied that the service meets licensing requirements.
The next ERO review of Happy Days Childcare Centre will be in consultation with the Ministry of Education.
Joyce Gebbie
Deputy Chief Review Officer Central
31 May 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 |
Upper Hutt |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
55412 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
75 children, including up to 45 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
53 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls 33, Boys 20 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Pacific Other ethnic groups |
19 20 7 7 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
80% + |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:5 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
March 2016 |
||
|
Date of this report |
31 May 2016 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
June 2014 |
|
|
Education Review |
April 2011 |
||
|
Education Review |
May 2007 |
||
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.