90 Logan Street, Dargaville
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Happy Steps Early Learning Centre in Dargaville is a new privately-owned early childhood centre providing all-day care and education for up to 59 children, including 19 children aged under two years. Seventy-five percent of the children who attend the centre are Pākehā. Māori make up 20 percent, and children from other ethnicities complete the roll.
Children are catered for in two age-related rooms, each with ready access to outdoor areas. They transition through the centre based on age and their individual readiness.
The centre manager and head teachers lead a team of 12 qualified teachers who are supported by a large number of trainee teachers and centre support staff.
The philosophy of the centre is based on providing a service for the community that strives to have the best quality care and education. It recognises the value of strong partnerships with family/whānau and the community, where children are supported to develop dispositions to become competent and confident learners.
This is the first ERO report for this centre.
Children are well supported to be confident, capable learners who engage enthusiastically with the programme. They respond positively to teachers.
Trusting relationships between children and adults, and between teachers are evident. Teachers have a good understanding of children through their discussions and written observations. They work closely with children, supporting their self-chosen play through conversations and open-ended questions. Teachers are responsive to children with additional learning needs.
Teachers are culturally responsive. They have made a determined effort to embed te reo Māori into learning programmes and the environment. Karakia, waiata, simple words and phrases used in conversations provide children with a developing understanding of Aotearoa/New Zealand's dual cultural heritage. Signs within the centre prompt adults to use te reo words and phrases.
Teachers consistently support children's play and encourage them to follow their interests. There are some good examples of teachers extending children's interests through play and ongoing projects. The team could use these models to strengthen the focus on exploration goals. While they have strongly embedded strategies for the care and wellbeing of children, teachers could now design and use new teaching approaches to enhance the complexity of children's play.
Infants and toddlers enjoy nurturing care. They benefit from good adult to child ratios. Programmes support their developmental milestones, and teachers encourage them to explore appropriate resources. Toddlers often play with the older children as they develop their mobility and social skills. This enables children to transition easily through the centre.
Teachers in each room maintain extensive planning folders and journals to document children's shared interests and highlights of children's play. Teachers collectively contribute to children's portfolios. Leaders encourage teachers to make meaningful entries about the individual child's developmental progress over time.
Other areas of good practice that ERO noted are:
the learning programme that actively involves children in their local community
positive transitions to school
professional learning that supports ongoing teacher development
quality resources to support children's learning.
The centre is well managed. Strategic and annual planning help to guide centre operations. Policies and procedures are regularly reviewed. Centre leaders agree that procedures for teacher appraisal need to be clarified.
The team uses internal evaluation to measure the effectiveness of centre changes. The teaching team shares a clear understanding of the centre vision. Teachers are well poised to rationalise their strategic and annual plans to better align with the centre's vision.
In order to build on current good practice, managers agree that next steps include:
continuing to strengthen internal evaluation, particularly by evaluating the impact of their teaching strategies on children's learning
growing learning relationships with parents and families
continuing to develop programmes for their very active pre-schoolers.
Before the review, the staff and management of Happy Steps Early Learning 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 Steps Early Learning Centre will be in three years.
Violet Tu’uga Stevenson
Director Review and Improvement Services
Te Tai Raki - Northern Region
14 December 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.
|
Location |
Dargaville |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
47088 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
59 children, including up to 19 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
86 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls 45 Boys 41 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori |
17 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% + |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:3 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:8 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
October 2018 |
||
|
Date of this report |
14 December 2018 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
No previous ERO reports |
||
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.