1 Arahoe Road, New Lynn, Auckland
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 Horizons Montessori Preschool are as follows:
Outcome Indicators(What the service knows about outcomes for learners) |
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Ngā Akatoro Domains |
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Learning ConditionsOrganisational Conditions |
Whakaū Embedding |
Horizons Montessori Preschool is family owned and the qualified owners work at the service. They are responsible for governance and management, as well as undertaking teaching roles as part of a well-established team. The service is a member of the Kōtuitui Community of Learning. At the time of ERO’s review, children attending the service were from a diverse range of cultures.
Children experience a positive and calm environment that supports them to engage in learning and be part of the wider group. They are encouraged to show respect for others and their environment. As a result, children develop skills for collaboration, negotiation and problem-solving.
The service’s curriculum blends the Montessori philosophy of learning with Te Whāriki, New Zealand’s Early Childhood Curriculum. Children are offered opportunities to engage in play-based learning within a structured routine. This routine includes uninterrupted time to explore materials of their choosing. Service leaders agree it would now be timely to consider how they can increasingly foster leadership opportunities for all learners.
Strong collaborative relationships between teachers and parents are visible. Leaders and teachers seek the views and input of parents/whānau about all aspects of service operations. A positive working environment facilities low staff turnover and as a result, quality professional relationships are prioritised and maintained.
The service curriculum is language-rich and intentional teaching practices place a focus on children’s oral language development. Words and phrases used by teachers support children’s growing understanding of te reo Māori. Leaders and teachers are beginning to consider a localised curriculum and how kaupapa Māori approaches can support them to best meet the obligations inherent in Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Progression towards this goal will help leaders and teachers to develop and implement a rich, bicultural curriculum.
Evaluation practices have been established that focus on improving provision for learners. Evaluation findings are collaborative, and this supports the development of capability and collective capacity throughout the team. At this time, the role of critical reflection, and critical evaluation practices which challenge teachers’ thinking are not yet being utilised to ensure equitable outcomes are provided for all learners.
Horizons Montessori Preschool will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:
Continue to strengthen the service’s localised curriculum with a focus on te ao Māori and kaupapa Māori approaches to learning and assessment.
Explore how teachers can best support children’s agency and sense of leadership as central components of a child-led curriculum.
Embed critical reflection practices to encourage service leaders and kaiako to scrutinize what they believe contributes to equitable outcomes for all learners.
Before the review, the staff and management of Horizons Montessori Preschool completed an ERO 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.
During the review, the service provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliance:
A record of all medication given to children attending the service which includes written authority from parents about the dose to be given.
Filivaifale Jason Swann
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki
5 April 2023
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Early Childhood Service Name |
Horizons Montessori Preschool |
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Profile Number |
10188 |
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Location |
New Lynn, Auckland |
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Service type |
Education and care service |
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Number licensed for |
30 children over the age of 2 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
100% |
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Service roll |
49 |
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Review team on site |
February 2023 |
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Date of this report |
5 April 2023 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, November 2018 |
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Horizons Montessori Preschool provides full-day education and care for up to 30 children aged 2 years and over. The centre is located in the residential area of New Lynn close to two local primary schools. The premises have been modified to provide a spacious facility for early learning. Children have ready access to outdoor areas.
Horizons Montessori Preschool is a privately owned centre. The owners are both qualified early childhood teachers and full members of the professional teaching team. One owner takes responsibility for the day-to-day management and leadership of the centre. The owners are supported by a high ratio of qualified teachers. The teaching team is well-established and work well together. Low staff turnover has helped teachers to build close relationships with families over time.
The centre's philosophy is underpinned by the Montessori approach to education and strongly grounded in Te Whariki, the New Zealand early childhood curriculum.
The centre has a positive ERO reporting history.
Horizons Montessori Preschool provides high quality education and care for children.
Children are highly engaged in learning and are confident and well supported to be self-managing and lead their own play. They persevere with their projects and activities and are proud of their successes. Teachers use deliberate strategies that help to grow children's social skills.
The well designed curriculum promotes children's overall development and learning. Children have extensive opportunities to investigate, initiate their own learning, and be imaginative and creative. Teachers integrate through play daily opportunities for children to develop early skills in reading, writing and mathematics. This ensures that children see these skills as meaningful and worthwhile. The environment is designed to give children access to physical challenge and environmentally sustainable practices.
Teachers have strong and effective learning relationships with children. They are positive, sensitive and responsive to each learner. Skilled teaching practices facilitate children's play, language development and engagement in learning. Teachers are respectful and unhurried when working with children. They support children towards success and provide children with feedback that acknowledges their efforts.
Teachers' programme planning, assessment and evaluation is highly responsive and involves deliberate decision making about the priorities for children's learning. Centre systems ensure that children's individual plans for learning are inclusive of each child's community. The child, teacher, and family contribute to the planning, assessment and evaluation stages. Children's strengths, interests, culture, language and needs are all evident in planning. Children with additional learning needs are very well catered for in this highly individualised process.
A monthly centre plan, developed on the basis of children's emerging interests, helps teachers to extend learning opportunities for them. The programme is informed by children's questions that are used to drive purposeful learning inquires.
The centre benefits from highly capable professional leadership and co-operative team work. Leadership is knowledgeable and competent. The centre leader clearly articulates the centre vision and ensures that teachers have a common understanding about expectations for their professional practice. Decisions about professional learning and development opportunities are strategic and responsive to identified needs. The centre leader fosters collaborative ways of working that allow all of the members of the centre's community to contribute to improving learning outcomes.
The centre manager and teachers have a very good understanding of internal evaluation. They use it well to improve the quality of education and support equitable outcomes for children. High quality evaluative practice is evident in the way that they use their evaluative findings to consider what they mean in terms of their teaching roles and any changes to practice.
While te reo and tikanga Māori are integrated into the programme and the environment, centre leaders are appropriately planning to continue increasing teachers' capability and collective capacity to provide a high quality authentic bicultural curriculum.
Before the review, the staff and management of Horizons Montessori 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.
The next ERO review of Horizons Montessori Preschool will be in four years.
Violet Tu’uga Stevenson
Director Review and Improvement Services
Te Tai Raki - Northern Region
2 November 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.
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Location |
New Lynn, Auckland |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
10188 |
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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 |
30 children over 2 years of age |
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Service roll |
47 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 27 Girls 20 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
3 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% + |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Over 2 |
1:6 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
July 2018 |
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Date of this report |
2 November 2018 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
January 2014 |
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Education Review |
February 2010 |
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Education Review |
December 2007 |
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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:
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.