Harakeke

Education institution number:
45329
Service type:
Education and Care Service
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
24
Telephone:
Address:

1856 Moutere Highway, Upper Moutere

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Harakeke - 14/12/2020

1 ERO’s Judgements

Akarangi | 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 (PDF 3.01MB) are the basis for making judgements about the effectiveness of the service in achieving equity and excellence for all learners. The Akarangi Quality Evaluation Judgement Rubric (PDF 91.30KB) derived from the indicators, is used to inform the ERO’s judgements about this service’s performance in promoting equity and excellence.  Information about Akarangi | Quality Evaluations can be found here

ERO’s judgements for Harakeke are as follows:

Outcome Indicators

ERO’s judgement

What the service knows about outcomes for learners

Kia rangatira ai te tipu Excelling

Ngā Akatoro Domains

ERO’s judgement

He Whāriki Motuhake

The learner and their learning

Kia rangatira ai te tipu Excelling

Whakangungu Ngaio

Collaborative professional learning builds knowledge and capability

Kia rangatira ai te tipu Excelling

Ngā Aronga Whai Hua

Evaluation for improvement

Whakawhanake Sustaining

Kaihautū

Leaders foster collaboration and improvement

Kia rangatira ai te tipu Excelling

Te Whakaruruhau

Stewardship through effective governance and management

Whakawhanake Sustaining

2 Context of the Service

Harakeke is a privately-owned, rural service that provides education and care for a maximum of 25 children from two years to school age. The owner, who is the centre manager, leads a team of four qualified teachers. Since the last ERO review in December 2013, there have been very few staff changes. The service has addressed the key next steps from the previous ERO report and has sustained a range of high-quality practices. Harakeke has gained the Silver Enviroschools award.

3 Summary of findings

Children and their families benefit from close relationships with teachers who know them very well. Teachers deliberately and successfully build children's social competence. Kaiako work respectfully in partnership with children, parents and whānau to support emotional wellbeing and cultural connectedness, within the play-based learning programme. Positive outcomes for children are clearly and consistently evident in learning information and service documentation.

Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, is highly evident in assessment, planning and evaluation processes and underpins the learning programme. Kaiako deliberately use the learning outcomes from Te Whāriki to guide and show children’s progress and achievement over time. These processes show that teachers value parent partnerships and children’s interests to successfully plan to extend children’s learning and development.

Trusting relationships at all levels of the service promote collaboration, openness to new learning, and ongoing improvement. Those responsible for governance and management have developed policies and procedures that:

  • make explicit the expectation that kaiako will implement a bicultural curriculum
  • reflect the rights of children to quality, inclusive early childhood education.

A collaborative, supportive team of teachers promotes a positive environment for ongoing learning. Leaders and kaiako continually build their professional knowledge, expertise and cultural competence to provide a rich, responsive curriculum for all children, including Māori. They participate in a wide range of professional learning opportunities and actively engage in critical reflection and problem solving that promotes positive outcomes for children.

Distributed, cohesive leadership approaches utilise the strengths of kaiako to promote high levels of engagement in the internal evaluation process. Kaiako use appropriate methods to gather a range of relevant information for the purposes of evaluation. These result in well-considered actions that impact positively on outcomes for children.

4 Improvement actions

Harakeke will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning. These are to:

  • evaluate how effectively the service integrates the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi in their daily practices and into key service documentation
  • show more consistently how teachers intentionally plan the most appropriate teaching strategies to support children’s learning.

5 Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Harakeke 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.

Dr Lesley Patterson

Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)

Southern Region | Te Tai Tini

14 December 2020

About the Early Childhood Service

Early Childhood Service Name

Harakeke

Profile Number

45329

Location

Moutere, Nelson

Service type

Education and care service

Number licensed for

25 children, two years and over.

Percentage of qualified teachers

80%+

Service roll

27

Ethnic composition

Māori 4, NZ European/Pākehā 16, Other ethnicities 7.

Review team on site

November 2020

Date of this report

14 December 2020

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review, December 2013.

Harakeke - 20/12/2013

1. Evaluation of Harakeke

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

Not well placed

Requires further development

Well placed

Very well placed

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

Background

Harakeke is a privately owned and operated early childhood centre that opened in February 2010. It is located in the rural area of Upper Moutere, near Nelson. The service provides education and care for a maximum of 25 children aged around three to five years and is open Monday to Thursday from 9am to 3pm. This is the centre’s first ERO report.

The centre philosophy commits to developing children's curiosity, confidence and love of the living world through enjoyable play and exploration in a friendly, nurturing environment. The vision is that children will grow and learn together, know they are part of a close community and understand how to contribute caringly.

Educators are led by the owner who is an experienced, registered early childhood teacher with additional qualifications in special education. Two of the three other staff members are registered and one is in training. They have worked together since the centre opened. The building is new, purpose-designed and set in a spacious natural environment. The immediate area is fenced for outside play but children experience regular adventures beyond these boundaries.

The Review Findings

Children’s wellbeing and learning is at the centre of practice. The vision, philosophy and expectations are stated clearly and shared in many ways with educators, children, parents and the wider community.

Centre practices are highly inclusive and collaborative. The centre leader promotes teamwork and encourages others to take initiative and lead activities. Children have responsibilities for making choices and decisions in the rotating role of teacher-helper.

Parents are invited to share in planning centre direction. They are consulted for their views on how well the service is meeting the aspirations they have for their children. They regularly contribute to the programme through sharing their interests, skills and cultures. A collective approach to supporting and promoting children’s engagement and learning is evident.

The programme is child led. It caters for children’s interests, skill and attitude development through group experiences and self-chosen play or exploration. Children come together for mealtimes, planning activites, quiet time and reflection. The programme flows smoothly and at an unhurried pace.

The philosophy emphasises learning experiences in natural surroundings. Children are offered opportunities to be brave, accept challenges and explore new experiences. Teachers guide, encourage and give support when it is needed. Children learn to make sensible choices and develop self confidence at a level appropriate to individual readiness.

Teachers meet daily to share observations of individuals and to reflect on children's learning across the curriculum areas. More formal weekly meetings are held to plan support for further learning. Teachers’ documentation of observations of children shows that teachers know children well. Individual learning journals provide parents with an attractive record of the range of experiences their child has enjoyed. Children revisit their books proudly.

The centre leader recognises that assessment, planning and evaluation processes are still developing and is working with her team to build practice. The revised appraisal process should support this. She also recognises the need to give formal feedback and develop shared understandings of self review.

Policies and practices uphold cultural awareness and responsiveness. Teachers regularly use te reo Māori in conversations with children and interactions with adults. Tikanga Māori is evident in routines, activities and throughout the centre. The centre operates as a whānau and children learn to lead and support each other. Cultural richness bought by children and their families to the community, is evident.

Children with specific needs receive appropriate support and guidance within group and individual activities. The leader and teachers are highly collaborative. They respect the choices of parents and children and work with them to assist development, support wellbeing and transition children happily to the next stage of learning.

Children and their families are appropriately assisted to make the move from centre to school. The leader has formed connections with nine schools in the area and arranges some reciprocal visits. Relevant information is available in the centre for parents. Feedback from past families and children indicates that children make the transition easily and settle well into their new environments. The centre leader considers that it is now time to review how well transition is working to increase knowledge of effectiveness and find opportunities for improvement.

Key Next Steps

The centre leader has identified and shows a good understanding of development priorities. ERO’s evaluation finds that these are appropriate for sustaining and contributing to improved performance. The key next steps are to continue to develop:

  • assessment and planning to record responsiveness to children’s learning
  • appraisal processes for building team and individual capacity
  • processes for supporting transition to school
  • a shared understanding of self review.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Harakeke 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.

Next ERO Review

When is ERO likely to review the service again?

The next ERO review of Harakeke will be in three years.

Joyce Gebbie

National Manager Review Services

Central Region (Acting)

20 December 2013

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

Location

Upper Moutere, Nelson

Ministry of Education profile number

45329

Licence type

Education and Care Service

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

25 children over 2 years

Service roll

19

Gender composition

Girls 11

Boys 8

Ethnic composition

NZ European/Pākehā

Samoan

Asian

17

1

1

Percentage of qualified teachers

0-49% 50-79% 80%

Based on funding rates

80%

Reported ratios of staff to children

Under 2

N/A

 
 

Over 2

1:7

Better than minimum requirements

Review team on site

October 2013

Date of this report

20 December 2013

Most recent ERO report(s)

No previous ERO reports

 

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 and Next Review

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:

  • Very well placed – The next ERO review in four years
  • Well placed – The next ERO review in three years
  • Requires further development – The next ERO review within two years
  • Not well placed - The next ERO review in consultation with the Ministry of Education

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.