6 St. Ninnians Way, Hawea Flat
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.
Kidsfirst Kindergartens Hawea is located in the small rural community of Hawea, Central Otago. The kindergarten is open from 9am to 3pm each weekday. Most days up to 30 children attend. However, to meet community demand 40 children now attend two days a week. The kindergarten vision is to be a community hub providing supportive and inclusive learning for all.
There have been staff changes since the 2014 ERO review. This includes a new head teacher, teachers and additional teaching staff to support roll growth. The kindergarten is now governed by the Canterbury/Westland Kindergarten Association, trading as Kidsfirst Kindergartens. The kindergarten receives regular support from an Education Service Manager (ESM). Teachers have made some progress on the recommendations of the last report, however internal evaluation continues to be a next step.
This review was part of a cluster of three kindergarten reviews in the Canterbury/Westland Kindergarten Association.
The new head teacher, together with the ESM, has taken a considered approach to managing change and developing systems for the teaching team to work together. This has resulted in a greater focus on effective teaching and learning to promote positive outcomes for all children.
The kindergarten philosophy is currently being redeveloped to better reflect the team's values and beliefs. Priorities for learning are not explicitly stated within the philosophy. As part of the philosophy redevelopment, the team in collaboration with parents should include the desired outcomes for children's learning at this kindergarten. These desired outcomes should be used to guide assessment, planning and evaluation. The ESM and teachers have identified that assessment, planning and evaluation are areas to further develop.
Teachers seek and respond well to parents' wishes for their children's learning. Children's learning and wellbeing are supported by interesting programmes based on the principles and strands of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. Teachers are increasingly intentional and responsive to the diverse interests and needs of the children. For example, there have been major adjustments to routines, resources and teaching practices to better support a larger group of younger children who now attend.
Teachers support children's play ideas to develop over time and foster children's dispositions for learning and developing friendships. They should continue to develop strategies for intentional teaching and evaluate how well these support children's learning.
Teachers support children to have choice from a wide range of learning experiences, including a current focus on numeracy, literacy, kotahitanga (recognising and valuing families' language, culture and identity) and sustainability. Teachers have had a deliberate focus on supporting children's transitions to school by building stronger links with the local school.
Teachers, with the support of Kidsfirst, are deliberately building their ability to support children to learn about their cultural heritages, and for Māori whānau to feel welcome in the programme. This is evident by the focus on kotahitanga, including children learning some te reo Māori and tikanga Māori, waiata and a kindergarten mihi. Building bicultural practices continues to be a work in progress.
The team is improvement focused and is building a culture of self-reflection. They have used internal evaluation to make some improvements. ERO found teachers still need to improve their understanding and practice of effective internal evaluation.
The kindergarten receives effective support from the Canterbury/Westland Kindergarten Association. The association provides a useful strategic and operational framework for the kindergarten management. The strategic plan contains a strong commitment to the Treaty of Waitangi and expectation for the kindergarten to enact this in practice. Kidsfirst Kindergartens Hawea receives ongoing, targeted and well-planned professional learning and development and is well supported by the ESM.
The key next steps to promote positive outcomes for all children are for the head teacher and teachers with the support of the ESM to:
ensures the redeveloped kindergarten philosophy includes their desired outcomes for children's learning
strengthen planning, assessment and evaluation
continue to develop intentional teaching
implement effective internal evaluation.
Before the review, the staff and management of Kidsfirst Kindergartens Hawea 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 Kidsfirst Kindergartens Hawea will be in three years.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern (Te Waipounamu)
9 May 2017
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 |
Hawea Flat |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
80060 |
||
|
Licence type |
Free Kindergarten |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
40 children, including up to 0 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
49 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys: 28 Girls: 21 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Other |
3 44 2 |
|
|
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 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
March 2017 |
||
|
Date of this report |
9 May 2017 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
June 2014 |
|
|
Supplementary Review |
February 2012 |
||
|
Education Review |
February 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 |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Hawea Kindergarten provides care and education for up to 30 children from two to five years of age. Children from a wide geographical area attend. The kindergarten has a rural setting in close proximity to the mountains and Lake Hawea, and is close to the local school. The children and their families are from a variety of cultures and nationalities.
The teachers have all been at the kindergarten since it began in 2008. They know the children and community well. There is strong community support for the work they do. The supportive parent committee has raised substantial funds to extend the building and develop the environment.
Teachers have successfully addressed the recommendations made in the 2011 and 2012 ERO reports.
This review was part of a cluster of seven reviews in the Central Otago Kindergarten Association.
Relationships. Children and their teachers enjoy each other’s company. Well-established friendships between children were noticed by ERO. Children and their teachers are calm and settled and have caring and respectful interactions with each other. Teachers focus on providing children with strategies to successfully interact with others, such as negotiating, problem solving and turns taking. They encourage children to help and support others (tuakana-teina relationships). Children are confident of their place within the kindergarten and make decisions about the programme that teachers respond to. Teachers work collegially with each other. This benefits all children.
Curriculum. Children learn through a rich variety of experiences. Teachers use children’s interests as the basis for planning interesting experiences to support children’s learning. Teachers make effective use of local geographical features and local expertise to enrich the programme, such as a parent going to the Winter Adaptive Olympics. An aspect of the programme focuses on sustainability. Members of the community and the children take responsibility for this with the garden and recycling. Teachers expect children to take an appropriate level of responsibility for themselves and support them to grow in independence.
Children hear and use te reo Māori throughout the day. Waiata and karakia are a regular part of the programme. Events of importance, such as Mātariki, are celebrated. A Māori parent takes a group time each week to support children’s growing awareness of te ao and te reo Māori (the Māori world).
Teaching. Teachers provide high quality learning opportunities for children. This is done through:
Planning and assessment. The head teacher and teachers have developed and implemented an effective system to ensure that all children are regularly assessed and planned for. They have identified various groupings of children at the kindergarten and plan in depth to meet the particular needs and interests of each group and individual children. They include the contexts and strategies they will use to support children’s learning. Plans cover a wide range of interesting topics and learning areas.
Leadership. The head teacher provides effective professional leadership. Effective systems are in place for the smooth running of the kindergarten. A useful strategic plan provides focus and sets out the priorities for the next three years.
Over the past three years the Central Otago Kindergarten Association has gone through an unsettled period. There was a break down in governance, management and systems. This has adversely affected the effectiveness and level of leadership provided to each kindergarten. This led to the board contracting Canterbury Westland Kindergarten Association (trading as Kidsfirst Kindergartens) in 2012 to undertake an independent review of the management structure. Then in September 2013, Canterbury Westland Kindergarten Association was contacted again to provide management support and guidance in an effort to establish robust systems, competent leadership and management. The process for redevelopment is still underway. Overall, there has been a substantial turnover of teachers within the wider association. New systems are being established and at the time of this review, ERO found it was too early to tell how well they would be implemented. ERO also found that the association’s appraisal process was not robust and needs further development.
ERO found the systems and processes for self review within the Hawea Kindergarten were bringing about positive changes. Self review could be further strengthened by including a strong evaluative question and indicators to show what best practice looks like in the process. Currently, teachers evaluate the strategies and programmes they use. These could lead to more effective practice if teachers investigate how well they met their intended outcomes and what they could change to do better.
The teachers have developed a shared understanding of the approaches they may take and the expectations for high-quality practice.
It would be useful if these expectations were documented. This would help maintain consistency in teachers’ practice and ensure that new teachers know the centre’s expectations.
Before the review, the staff and management of Hawea Kindergarten 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:
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 Hawea Kindergarten will be in three years.
Graham Randell National Manager Review Services Southern Region
26 June 2014
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 |
Hawea, Central Otago |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
80060 |
||
|
Licence type |
Free Kindergarten |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
40 children, including up to 12 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
56 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls: 30 Boys: 26 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori NZ European/Pākehā Asian Russian European African |
4 43 1 1 6 1 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80% Based on funding rates |
80% |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
Not applicable |
|
|
Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
May 2014 |
||
|
Date of this report |
26 June 2014 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Supplementary Review |
February 2012 |
|
|
Education Review |
February 2011 |
||
|
Education Review |
November 2009 |
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.