Jemmas Homebased Childcare Auckland

1 Evaluation of Jemmas Homebased Childcare & Education Service West Auckland

How well placed is Jemmas Homebased Childcare & Education Service West Auckland to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

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

Background

Jemmas Homebased Childcare and Education Service West Auckland is a privately owned and operated service. It is licensed to provide all day home-based education and care for 60 children, seven days a week. Educarers provide programmes for a maximum of four children at a time in their homes, including two children up to two years of age. Educarers in this service have a range of early childhood qualifications.

This is one of seven networks in the North Island and the owners are committed to delivering a high quality service. The service's philosophy promotes learning through play, and embraces cultural diversity and Christian values. A grandparent programme encourages and supports the education and care of children by their grandparents, under the guidance of Jemma's policies and procedures.

Two coordinators, who are qualified teachers, have been in their leadership role for about a year. Coordinators bring a variety of relevant skills and experiences to their position. Their main role is to regularly visit children in the educarers' homes and support educarers to provide for children's learning and wellbeing.

Since the 2012 ERO report, the owner has relocated the head office to Tauranga and replaced the Management Board with a Governance Board. The service administrator and coordinators report to the board monthly. In 2016 an external provider worked with coordinators to develop a strategic plan. The board also employed an external supervisor to coach and mentor the coordinators.

The service has a history of positive ERO reports. Many strengths identified in the 2012 ERO report continue to be evident. Strengthening self-review processes to focus on learning outcomes for children is an ongoing focus.

This review was one of two home-based reviews of Jemmas Auckland services. 

The Review Findings

Positive relationships between educarers, children and their families/whānau and collaborative team work continue to provide a sound foundation for promoting positive learning outcomes for children. Coordinators have developed a collaborative leadership model and work effectively to support each other.

The administrator and coordinators promote effective communication, partnerships and a strong sense of whanaungatanga. Coordinators make regular contact with educarers. They note that children display a strong sense of belonging in their home-based setting and this is clearly evident in learning records. Parents report high levels of satisfaction with the education and care that their children receive. Educarers are very satisfied in their work and with the support they receive.

Coordinators provide effective support and guidance to educarers. They model good practice and focus on how educarers can extend children's learning. Coordinators and educarers could now record specific professional learning goals that they will work on together and regularly document progress towards achieving these goals.

Educarers and coordinators know children well. They use Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, to plan programmes that respond to children's individual interests and dispositions. They ensure that the specific care needs of infants and toddlers are met. Resources are provided to extend and provide challenge for children's learning.

Journals provide a rich record of each child's learning. Coordinators and educarers, and often parents, contribute to these records. Coordinators could further support educarers and parents to extend children's learning by ensuring that the next steps they record children are clear and specific.

Educarers value children's home languages and cultures, and where possible support children's bilingual development. Coordinators are more intentionally supporting educarers to incorporate Aotearoa/New Zealand's bicultural heritage into their programmes. They consult with whānau Māori about their aspirations for their child's learning and respond positively to the information that is shared. They are planning to evaluate the bicultural curriculum in order to further strengthen it.

Educarers and parents have access to a wide variety of books and resources through the service's libraries. Supporting children's language development and making links between home and the service is a focus. Educarers make good use of community facilities. Children regularly participate in playgroups and outings that extend their learning opportunities. The service contributes to the cost of many of these experiences.

Coordinators are committed to ongoing improvement and are supported by the owner to attend regular professional learning and development. Coordinators have recently participated in a significant review of their appraisal process. They collate evidence to show how they meet the Education Council's requirements.

Managers and coordinators have improved internal evaluation procedures and practices. They have some very good systems for monitoring health and safety requirements. The owner and administrator annually visit educarers' homes with coordinators to nurture relationships and to observe how the service's expectations are being met.

Staff have collaborated to develop strategic goals that align with the service's philosophy. This process has supported coordinators to develop a shared sense of purpose and a deeper understanding of the service's philosophy, vision and values. Coordinators could now report progress towards meeting strategic goals in their monthly reports to the board.

Key Next Steps

To improve the quality of education and care, managers and coordinators agree to continue to strengthen the service's:

• internal evaluation practices

• bicultural curriculum and support for tamariki Māori to succeed as Māori.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Jemmas Homebased Childcare & Education Service West Auckland completed an ERO Home-based Education and Care 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.

To improve current practices, managers should review policies and procedures to ensure that links with the requirements of the Vulnerable Children's Act 2014 are explicit. 

Next ERO Review

When is ERO likely to review the service again?

The next ERO review of Jemmas Homebased Childcare & Education Service West Auckland will be in three years.

Steffan Brough

Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)

10 May 2017 

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 Home-based Education and Care Service 

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 the draft methodology for ERO reviews in Home-based Education and Care Services: July 2014

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.