Hunter Park Kindergarten

Education institution number:
5300
Service type:
Free Kindergarten
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
26
Telephone:
Address:

Nelson Street, Waipukurau

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Hunter Park Kindergarten

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 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 Hunter Park Kindergarten are as follows:

Outcome Indicators

(What the service knows about outcomes for learners)

Whāngai Establishing

Ngā Akatoro Domains

 

Learning Conditions
Organisational Conditions

Whāngai Establishing

Whāngai Establishing

2 Context of the Service

Hunter Park Kindergarten is one of 16 kindergartens governed and managed by Heretaunga Free Kindergarten Association. Approximately half of children enrolled are tamariki Māori. Significant staff changes have occurred since ERO’s 2019 report. The kindergarten’s philosophy values relationships, holistic play and upholding the mana of every child.

3 Summary of findings

Children’s learning is well supported by growing, learning-focused relationships with families and community. Teachers work collaboratively with parents to respond to children with diverse learning needs. The social and emotional wellbeing of the youngest learners is prioritised. Children’s home languages are valued. Response to tamariki Māori is growing as leaders engage with mana whenua to build their understanding and use of previously developed support frameworks. Children hear basic te reo Māori and have opportunities to engage with some tikanga Māori during everyday experiences.

Children’s interests, wellbeing and choices inform the curriculum. Philosophy values are consistently enacted. Assessment for learning is affirming. The extent to which assessment identifies progress over time and reflects each child’s cultural context is at an early stage. Evaluation of how well the curriculum is promoting equitable learning outcomes, or helping to achieve priorities for learning, is not occurring.

Significant change in association leadership has impacted capacity to progress key next steps identified in previous ERO reports. Leaders are enacting an organisation-wide shift to further enable collaboration, relational trust and sustained improvement. A range of new initiatives has been developed. Professional learning opportunities are responsive to teacher learning goals. Some information is generated in relation to the quality of teaching and learning. Leaders are developing their evaluation capabilities. However, evaluation is not yet used to:

  • systematically seek evidence about the effectiveness of professional learning processes to improve teaching practice and children’s outcomes

  • understand the impact of improvement actions in relation to how these contribute to strategic priorities and achieve equitable and excellent outcomes for learners.

4 Improvement actions

Hunter Park Kindergarten will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:

  • Increase opportunities for children to hear and use te reo Māori in meaningful learning contexts.

  • Strengthen assessment for learning to better reflect and respond to children’s cultural knowledge and attributes, and progress of learning over time.

Heretaunga Free Kindergarten Association will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:

  • Develop a systematic process that enables leaders to better understand and respond to the teaching and learning needs of each kindergarten.

  • Prioritise building internal evaluation capability and leadership at all levels to better monitor and evaluate the impact of improvement actions, including professional learning, on outcomes for individuals and groups of children.

5 Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Hunter Park Kindergarten 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.

Patricia Davey
Director of Early Childhood Education (ECE)

14 September 2023 

6 About the Early Childhood Service

Early Childhood Service Name

Hunter Park Kindergarten

Profile Number

5300

Location

Waipukurau

Service type

Free Kindergarten

Number licensed for

40 children over the age of 2

Percentage of qualified teachers

100%

Service roll

45

Review team on site

June 2023

Date of this report

14 September 2023

Most recent ERO report(s)

Akanuku | Assurance Review October 2019; Education Review, May 2018

Hunter Park Kindergarten - 22/10/2019

ERO’s Judgement

Regulatory standards
ERO’s judgement

Curriculum

Meeting

Premises and facilities

Meeting

Health and safety

Meeting

Governance, management and administration

Meeting

At the time of the review, ERO found the service was taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.

Background

Hunter Park Kindergarten operates under the umbrella of Heretaunga Kindergarten Association (HKA). They provide support to the newly established team of four qualified teachers. The May 2018 ERO report identified that the service required further development. The service has made significant progress in responding to these development areas.

Summary of Review Findings

Te Puna o Pukekaihou philosophy guides the centre’s operation. The service curriculum reflects the unique place of Māori as tangata whenua. Positive steps are taken to respond to aspirations held by parents, whānau, iwi and the wider community.

Systems are in place to include parents and whānau in decision-making about the service and their child’s learning. The curriculum is informed by assessment and planning that demonstrates children’s learning, their interests, whānau and life contexts.

Suitable human resource management practices are implemented. An education advisor provides ongoing professional learning and support aligned to improving the operation of the service.

Key Next Steps

Next steps include kaiako strengthening the:

  • planning process to consistently support, respond to and extend children’s learning and development
  • provision of a language rich environment to deepen the complexity of children’s learning and language development.

Next ERO Review

The next ERO review is likely to be an Education Review.

Phil Cowie

Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)

Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui

22 October 2019

Information About the Service

Early Childhood Service Name

Hunter Park Kindergarten

Profile Number

5300

Location

Waipukurau

Service type

Free Kindergarten

Number licensed for

30 children aged over 2 years.

Percentage of qualified teachers

80%+

Reported ratio of staff to children under 2

N/A

Reported ratio of staff to children over 2

1:10 - Meets regulatory standards.

Service roll

39

Gender composition

Female 25 Male 14

Ethnic composition

Māori 11
NZ European/Pākehā 26
Other ethnic groups 3

Review team on site

September 2019

Date of this report

22 October 2019

Most recent ERO report(s)

 

Education Review May 2018
Education Review May 2014

General Information about Assurance Reviews

All services are licensed under the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008. The legal requirements for early childhood services also include the Licensing Criteria for Education and Care Services 2008.

Services must meet the standards in the regulations and the requirements of the licensing criteria to gain and maintain a licence to operate.

ERO undertakes an Assurance Review process in any centre-based service:

  • having its first ERO review – including if it is part of a governing organisation
  • previously identified as ‘not well placed’ or ‘requiring further development’
  • that has moved from a provisional to a full licence
  • that have been re-licenced due to a change of ownership
  • where an Assurance Review process is determined to be appropriate.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

All early childhood services are required to promote children’s health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements. Before the review, the staff and management of a service 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.

As part of an Assurance Review ERO assesses whether the regulated standards are being met. In particular, ERO looks at a 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 certification; ratios)
  • evacuation procedures and practices for fire and earthquake.

As part of an Assurance Review ERO also gathers and records evidence through:

  • discussions with those involved in the service
  • consideration of relevant documentation, including the implementation of health and safety systems
  • observations of the environment/premises, curriculum implementation and teaching practice.

Hunter Park Kindergarten - 14/05/2018

1 Evaluation of Hunter Park Kindergarten

How well placed is Hunter Park Kindergarten to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Not well placed

Requires further development

Well placed

Very well placed

The kindergarten teaching team need further support from the Heretaunga Kindergarten Association (the association) to make the necessary improvements in the quality of education and care provided to children and their families. Limited progress has been made in addressing the areas for improvement noted in the May 2014 ERO report. Action planning to bring about improvement needs to be time bound and monitored by the association.

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

Background

Hunter Park Kindergarten is in Waipukurau, Central Hawkes Bay. It opens Monday to Friday from 8:30am until 2:30pm. Kindergarten day places are available for children aged from two to six years. Of the 39 children on the roll, 15 identify as Māori. The philosophy is founded on the principles of mātauranga, mōhiotanga and māramatanga.

There have been some changes in the teaching team since the previous review.

The May 2014 ERO report identified a number of areas for review and development, including: assessment, planning and evaluation for children's learning; self review; and educational success for Māori children.

Hunter Park is one of 16 kindergartens governed and managed by the Heretaunga Kindergarten Association (the association). An ongoing programme of restructuring began in 2016 and the association has experienced significant changes at all levels. A new general manager was appointed in January 2016 and an advisor - education delivery in November 2017.

The previous ERO review identified that the association should establish, review and monitor the implementation of guiding documents in individual kindergartens and undertake self review at association level.

This review was part of a cluster of 10 reviews in the Heretaunga Free Kindergarten Association. 

The Review Findings

The kindergarten's vision is underpinned by Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum.  It is timely for staff to review this to identify learning priorities for children and expectations for high quality teaching and learning.

Children lead their learning. Teachers know children well. Warm and reciprocal relationships between teachers and children promote children's independence and their developing social competencies. There are positive and collaborative relationships with families and whānau.

The daily curriculum is flexible and responsive to children's interests. The environment fosters their exploration.  An immediate priority is to improve hazard recognition and supervision of children. With the number of younger children now attending kindergarten, leaders and teachers should give consideration to how the environment and teaching contribute to meeting the learning needs of these children.

Assessment, planning and evaluation processes require strengthening. The teaching team need support to:

  • develop a shared understanding of expectations of effective assessment, planning and evaluation
  • reflect children's language, culture and identity within assessment practices
  • more closely evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum and its impact on individual children’s learning.

Profile book information shows that ongoing observation of children in everyday activities builds a picture of their engagement, developing friendships and learning.

Some teachers use te reo Māori and integrate aspects of tikanga Māori into the programme. The bicultural programme should continue to be enhanced through more regular use of te reo Māori.

Developing relationships with whānau Māori to support educational success of their children is an ongoing focus. Further strategies to strengthen these into learning partnerships should be explored. A next step is for teachers to continue to grow their knowledge of te ao Māori and consider how this is integrated into the curriculum.

Transition to school should be strengthened by more effective recognition and reflection in assessment of the skills and dispositions that the children will need for their ongoing learning journey.

Teachers are in the early stages of understanding and using internal evaluation. Regular self review is undertaken to support decision making. There is a need to improve understanding of and develop a shared approach to evaluation, so staff know whether or not their practice is effective.

A newly formed team is in the process of building collective understandings. Strong leadership is needed to support teachers to embed their understanding of guiding documents and to continue to work towards consistent implementation. 

The governance and leadership team is well placed to continue to manage ongoing change and to set the strategic direction for the association to promote future sustainability. They are making good progress in addressing the key next steps identified in the previous ERO review. Continuing to strengthen and evaluate systems to monitor progress in individual kindergartens remains a key next step. Support for and monitoring of performance is of particular importance for Hunter Park Kindergarten.

Key Next Steps

Senior leaders and ERO agree on the following key next steps for Hunter Park Kindergarten to:

  • strengthen curriculum provision for Māori children
  • strengthen teachers’ assessment, planning and evaluation to promote increased complexity of learning over time
  • strengthen leadership through building knowledge and consistency of effective early childhood education practice
  • improve the use and understanding of internal evaluation to inform ongoing developments and improvement in children’s outcomes. 

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Hunter Park 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:

  • 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 

Actions for compliance

ERO identified areas of non-compliance relating to curriculum and health and safety. To meet requirements the service needs to improve its performance in the following areas:

  • assessment, planning and evaluation
  • take all reasonable steps to ensure that the premises, facilities and other equipment on those premises are used safely and kept free from hazards.

[Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, C1, Reg 46 (c) (iii); Health and Safety practices standard: general; Licensing Criteria for early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008]

In order to improve practice the association should:

  • ensure robust regular policy review and strengthen systems to promote teachers' understanding and implementation of guiding policies
  • implement robust social media and online policies and procedures to ensure that all reasonable steps have been made to protect children's online safety and that parents are well informed of these.

Development Plan Recommendation

ERO recommends that the service, in consultation with the Ministry of Education, develops a plan to address the key next steps and actions outlined in this report.

Next ERO Review

When is ERO likely to review the service again?

The next ERO review of Hunter Park Kindergarten will be within two years.

Patricia Davey
Deputy Chief Review Officer Central (Acting)

Te Tai Pokapū - Central Region

14 May 2018

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

Waipukurau

Ministry of Education profile number

5300

Licence type

Free Kindergarten

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

30 children, aged over 2 years

Service roll

39

Gender composition

Boys 23, Girls 16

Ethnic composition

Māori
Pākehā

15
24

Percentage of qualified teachers

0-49%       50-79%       80%+
Based on funding rates

80% +

Reported ratios of staff to children

Over 2

1:10

Meets minimum requirements

Review team on site

February 2018

Date of this report

14 May 2018

Most recent ERO report(s)

 

Education Review

May 2014

Education Review

September 2010

Education Review

November 2006

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.