424 Main Road, Motueka
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Horizons Montessori is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Horizons Montessori changed ownership and management in December 2017. It has a new leadership structure. The centre is a privately owned and managed centre that provides full-day education and care for children from two years of to school age. The centre is culturally diverse and is located at Riwaka in the Nelson region.
The service is licensed for up to 40 children, with up to 20 children in the two to three-year-old learning room and up to 20 children in the three to five-year-old learning room. Each classroom is spacious and well resourced. An extensive outdoor area has been recently modified.
Most of the teachers, including the owner/manager, are qualified and registered early childhood teachers. Two teachers have a Montessori Teaching Diploma. Most teachers hold a current first aid certificate and all teachers have undertaken training in child protection.
The centre's philosophy, vision and values are aligned with the Montessori method of education and focus on encouraging the unique development of each child, respect for self, others and the environment, and children having a sense of responsibility and care for others in their learning community.
The service has responded effectively to most of the recommendations in the December 2016 ERO report.
The Montessori philosophy, vision and values are aligned with the Te Whāriki the Early Childhood Curriculum and are highly evident in teaching practices and programmes. Teachers foster and model positive and respectful relationships with children and each other to nurture children's love of learning, ability to think and act independently, and confidence to express who they are.
Leaders and teachers are becoming responsive to the need to increase bicultural perspectives that promote opportunities to acknowledge and affirm Māori children's identities, languages and cultures. They are giving prominence to te ao Māori, including the alignment of tikanga values with Montessori values. The centre is promoting partnerships with parents and whānau from all cultures, to improve better outcomes for children.
Specific, useful information is developed and shared about the child as a learner to support progress and successful transitions. Transitions into the centre, between classrooms and on to school are personalised to meet the needs of individual children and their families. Teachers and leaders acknowledge and support the diverse needs of all children, including priority learners.
Children's curiosity and engagement in learning are encouraged by a well presented, calm and orderly learning environment, with high-quality Montessori learning resources. Science, mathematics and literacy programmes are meaningfully integrated into everyday learning. Children have many opportunities to be involved in physical activities and challenges in the spacious outdoor area and through excursions into the local area.
Teachers are responsive to children's individual interests, strengths and capabilities. They encourage children's friendships and social competencies and promote children's responsibility for the environment. Children exhibit a strong sense of belonging, security and being cared for.
Leaders promote a well-considered and carefully paced approach to teaching and learning that contributes to positive outcomes for all children. Emphasis is given to building reflective practices, strengthening teacher inquiry and appraisal, and focusing on evaluation capability which results in improvement to teaching and learning practices. There is an evident leadership focus on continuous improvement to meet the interests and needs of all children. This has included targeted and strategic professional learning and development that builds leadership and teacher capability to meet children's needs.
Leaders and teachers need to develop annual action planning for strategic priorities. This should include specific outcomes in order to monitor, evaluate and report on progress in relation to priorities.
ERO and the centre owner/manager agree that other key next steps for leaders and teachers are to:
strengthen their knowledge of te ao Māori, and bicultural perspectives and practices in documentation
refer to Te Whāriki (2017), to make learning outcomes and intentional teaching strategies more evident and measurable, evaluate the impact of teaching strategies on learning outcomes for children and making active use of parent aspirations.
Before the review, the staff and management of Horizons Montessori 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.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region - Te Tai Tini
12 June 2020
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 |
Motueka |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
65026 |
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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 |
40 children, children two years and over |
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Service roll |
68 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 34, Girls 34 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
9 |
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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 |
|
Review team on site |
December 2019 |
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Date of this report |
12 June 2020 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
December 2016 |
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|
Education Review |
July 2013 |
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|
Education Review |
February 2010 |
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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:
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.
The overall judgement that ERO makes will depend on how well the service promotes positive learning outcomes for children. The categories are:
Very well placed
Well placed
Requires further development
Not well placed
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.
Montessori Horizons Preschool is located in Riwaka, between Motueka and Kaiteriteri.
It provides education and care for children from two-years-old to school age. The programme is based on the Montessori approach to education and Te Whāriki, the New Zealand Early Childhood curriculum.
The centre has two rooms that cater for different age groups of children. The youngest children are in one room and the older children in another room.
The two co-owners are also the centre managers, team leaders and part of the teaching team. Staffing has remained consistent since the 2013 ERO review. The majority of the staff are qualified early childhood teachers and many also have Montessori qualifications.
The centre has continued to improve since the last ERO review. The greatest progress has been made in strengthening centre leadership and enhancing partnerships with families.
The service's philosophy is well reflected in the programme. There is an emphasis on effectively combining the Montessori approach with Te Whāriki. Children's learning about mathematics is well supported through the use of purposeful equipment and focused interactions. Teachers also prioritise children's language development and successfully promote their independence and self-help skills.
Children learn in a nurturing and positive environment. Teachers are observant and responsive to children's cues and suggestions. They work alongside children in unhurried and calm ways. They ask questions to prompt children to make choices and develop their ideas. Teachers use equipment well to challenge children to extend their thinking.
A significant recent initiative has been the development of a programme more targeted to supporting the learning, interests and needs of the younger children. Children's well-being and sense of belonging is supported. Effective transition practices help children move successfully from the programme for younger children to the classroom for older children.
The centre's philosophy promotes building learning partnerships with parents. Teachers have put in place useful practices for seeking parents aspirations for their children's learning and communicating with parents about children's progress and learning in areas of the curriculum.
Managers and teachers are reflective practitioners and improvement focused. They undertake regular and useful internal evaluation on centre practices. They use collaborative processes that support shared understandings among staff and lead to careful and considered decision making.
There are good examples of effective leadership practices within the centre that include:
Managers have suitably identified and responded to needs within the community. They have extended the links the centre has within the local community. This includes with other centres and schools to promote better outcomes for children and their families. They have initiated and actively support a community playgroup. Teachers are proactive in seeking and providing additional support for children and their families if required.
The centre managers have identified, and ERO agrees, that strengthening aspects of assessment, planning and evaluation is an appropriate next step.
ERO also recommends managers and teachers:
build on the best of current practices to further enhance internal evaluation, including increasing the focus on teaching and learning outcomes
consider ways success for Māori children can be further defined, enhanced and integrated into centre practices and the curriculum.
Before the review, the staff and management of Montessori Horizons Preschool 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 recommends managers extend the centre's appraisal guidelines and procedures to ensure these are consistent with Education Council expectations.
The next ERO review of Montessori Horizons Preschool will be in three years.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Deputy Chief Review Officer Te Waipounamu Southern
15 December 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 |
Motueka |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
65026 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
40 children, children two years and over |
||
|
Service roll |
57 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls 29; Boys 28 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Pacific |
11 40 6 |
|
|
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 |
October 2016 |
||
|
Date of this report |
15 December 2016 |
||
|
Most recent ERO reports
|
Education Review |
July 2013 |
|
|
Education Review |
February 2010 |
||
|
Education Review |
November 2006 |
||
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.
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.