5 Cavell Street, Musselburgh, Dunedin
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 Pioneers Elm Row are as follows:
Outcome Indicators(What the service knows about outcomes for learners) |
Whāngai Establishing |
Ngā Akatoro Domains |
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Learning ConditionsOrganisational Conditions |
Whāngai Establishing Whakaū Embedding |
Pioneers Elm Row is one of five services owned by a charitable trust known as the Dunedin Community Childcare Association, operating as Pioneers. A governance board of elected parents oversees the work of Pioneers. The new director has overall responsibility for the operation and professional leadership of the association.
This centre has an increasingly diverse learning community and is licensed as a mixed-age service. A small number of tamariki Māori attend. Almost all staff are qualified early childhood teachers. Good progress has been made with addressing the areas identified in the 2022 ERO review.
Children play and learn in deliberately planned and well-resourced environments. Teachers intentionally foster children’s interests and capabilities, and caringly support them to build a strong sense of wellbeing. Pioneers’ services are taking a planned approach to further developing and embedding the enacted bicultural curriculum.
Infants and toddlers experience nurturing, unhurried interactions with attentive teachers who use daily transitions and routines as learning opportunities. They often play with, and alongside, older children in the various learning areas.
The centre’s learning priorities form the basis of group planning, which includes regular, planned visits and walks in the local community. Evaluation of learning and teaching is yet to be fully implemented, and refining assessment, planning and evaluation processes is ongoing. Children are not yet able to independently revisit their learning records while at the centre.
Leaders and teachers have established, and are beginning to embed, the organisational conditions that enable collaboration for improvement. They promote distributed leadership opportunities and use a systematic approach to internal evaluation. They are yet to consistently monitor and evaluate changes made on outcomes for children and to report an overview of these to the board.
Those responsible for governance and management:
develop policies and procedures that are fit for purpose, guide inclusive practice across the association and make explicit the expectations of leaders, teachers and staff
allocate resources that place children and whānau at the centre of decision making
promote a positive working environment that facilitates low turnover of staff
are at the early stages of implementing their ongoing learning to enact the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi by recognising Māori as tangata whenua and engaging in treaty-based practices.
Pioneers Elm Row will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:
Continue to develop and embed the enacted bicultural curriculum that recognises the significance of mana whenua.
Further develop and streamline assessment, planning and evaluation processes and practices to clearly show the progress of children’s learning over time against the learning outcomes from Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum.
Explore and implement ways that children can independently access their own learning records while at the centre.
Ensure reporting to the board regularly provides an overview of outcomes from internal evaluation for groups of children, and all children.
Before the review, the staff and management of Pioneers Elm Row 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)
20 September 2023
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Early Childhood Service Name |
Pioneers Home Northern |
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Profile Number |
83014 |
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Location |
Dunedin |
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Service type |
Education and care service |
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Number licensed for |
45 children, including up to 12 aged under 2 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
100% |
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Service roll |
46 |
|
Review team on site |
June 2023 |
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Date of this report |
20 September 2023 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Akanuku | Assurance Review, April 2022; Education Review, September 2018 |
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Pioneers Home Northern is very well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Pioneers is a not for profit early childhood education and care service. It comprises four early childcare centres and three home-based care services. These are managed by a director with the support of a management team. Pioneers is governed by a board made up of parents from within the organisation.
Pioneers was known as Dunedin Community Childcare Association when previously reviewed by ERO in 2015. At that time, the three home-based services were called Kauri, Rata and Kōwhai. These are now rebranded as Pioneers Northern, Pioneers Southern and Pioneers Central. Pioneers Northern is licenced for 80 children.
The 2015 ERO review recommended improvements in some aspects of the service. Pioneers leaders and teachers have made very good progress in implementing these improvements.
Pioneers home-based care service provides education and care for up to four children at a time in the homes of educators. The majority of educators are very experienced and either have an Early Childhood Education qualification or are working towards one. They are supported and guided by a qualified early childhood education professional (visiting teacher) who visits them regularly. The visiting teacher ensures children receive good quality education and care while in the educators' homes.
Pioneers home-based care services has a philosophy that promotes the belief that 'a child is a treasure to be nurtured to grow and to flourish'. The key priorities for children's learning include social competence, literacy and mathematics, bicultural understandings and physical wellbeing.
This review is about Pioneers Home Northern, formerly Kauri, which is part of a cluster of three home based-care services governed and managed by Pioneers.
The visiting teacher has established caring, empowering relationships with her educators and the children and families using the service. The dedication and professionalism of the visiting teacher supports positive outcomes for children. She builds on each educator's individual strengths while supporting them to implement programmes and provide experiences that promote and extend children's learning. The educators understand what is expected of them and the significance of their work. The service provides financial and study skills support for educators to support them to build their knowledge and skills.
Children at Pioneers Home Northern are provided with high quality care and education. The visiting teacher's skills are enhanced by the collegial support offered by the other visiting teachers. The visiting teacher's team and the service's leaders have extensive experience and expertise working within the early childhood education setting. They work closely together, sharing their expertise and supporting one another to personalise their work with educators.
Te Whāriki (2017), the New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum, is used effectively to support the focus on children and their learning. There has been significant and ongoing work with visiting teachers and educators to build their understanding of how Te Whāriki applies in daily practice. The teachers and educators set goals relating to key curriculum priorities and these can be seen clearly in documentation about children's learning.
There is an expectation for all involved in the service to build on their knowledge of te ao Māori and bicultural practices. This is gaining momentum across a range of practices. A bicultural review led to a plan of action to support this development over time.
All children are carefully matched to educators with the skills and knowledge to work with that family's particular needs. Children under the age of two are carefully placed with educators who support the child's home routines and provide the relevant care and learning needed for that individual's learning and development.
Pioneers uses a range of effective processes to communicate with parents, educators and each other. The Pioneers system supports the sharing of vital information which can be easily accessed by all who need it. Families can access information about their children's learning on a daily basis and hear how the educator and visiting teacher have supported this. The system also enables the visiting teacher and the team leader to closely monitor children's progress and educators' practice. Parents access profile books, made by the educators, which include useful and valuable information about their child's learning.
Children preparing to transition to school are well served. The visiting teacher supports educators to implement individualised learning programmes for older children, with an emphasis on promoting the child's independence, self-regulation and self-confidence skills.
The visiting teacher has useful links with the local community. She encourages educators to provide a range of outdoor experiences for children and to expose children to interesting community events. Along with her colleagues, the visiting teacher has begun a new initiative whereby the three homebased care networks gather together to share knowledge and skills. The visiting teachers facilitate this sharing while role modelling best practice.
The gathering place is set up to provide examples of ways to enhance learning through natural materials and other resources suitable to a home environment. This provides an opportunity for the educators to learn from the visiting teachers. Children are also able to build on their learning and social skills through the opportunity to interact with the wider Pioneers home-based community.
Children benefit from high quality leadership at all levels. The service's director, team leader and the visiting teacher team are all highly focused on outcomes for children. The board receives comprehensive reports from the leaders. Board members are well informed about the quality of the care and education the children receive. They also receive regular reports on compliance matters.
There is a strong culture of professional development. The visiting teachers access a wide range of useful professional learning aligned with strategic goals, curriculum development and internal evaluation, to strengthen teaching and learning where there is an identified need. Recent developments in the appraisal systems have also strengthened visiting teacher knowledge and practice. There is also an appraisal process for educators to build their capability and develop teaching practice on an ongoing basis. Pioneers has a comprehensive recruitment and induction process for new educators.
Leaders have a good understanding of the service's strengths and next areas for development or improvement. Internal evaluation for accountability and improvement are well understood. This process is effective in improving outcomes for children.
Service leaders have identified, and ERO's evaluation has confirmed, that the key next steps for Pioneers Home Northern are to:
consolidate newly introduced practices to ensure they are effectively maintained and monitored over time
continue with internal evaluation and self-identified next steps across the various aspects of the operation
continue to implement the Pioneer's bicultural plan, and further support and enhance children and their families' cultures and identities.
Before the review, the staff and management of Pioneers Home Northern completed an ERO Homebased 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:
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.
Alan Wynyard
Director Review and Improvement Services Southern
Southern Region
1 April 2019
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 |
Dunedin |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
83064 |
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Institution type |
Home-based Network |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
80 children, including up to 80 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
93 |
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Standard or Quality Funded |
Quality |
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Gender composition |
Boys 58 Girls 35 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
12 |
|
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Number of qualified coordinators in the network |
1 |
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Required ratios of staff educators to children |
Under 2 |
1:2 |
|
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Over 2 |
1:4 |
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Review team on site |
December 2018 |
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Date of this report |
1 April 2019 |
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Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
April 2015 |
|
|
Education Review |
June 2011 |
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|
Education Review |
April 2008 |
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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 the draft methodology for ERO reviews in Home-based Education and Care Services: July 2014
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.