Cnr Nelson Street and Fitzroy Avenue, Hastings Central, Hastings
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 Kereru Rudolf Steiner Kindergarten are as follows:
Outcome Indicators(What the service knows about outcomes for learners) |
Whakaū Embedding |
Learning Conditions |
Whakaū Embedding |
Organisational Conditions |
Whakaū Embedding |
Kereru Rudolf Steiner Kindergarten is one of two services governed by a charitable trust attached to Taikura Rudolf Steiner School. A head teacher is supported by a school executive assistant and the teaching team. The kindergarten provides education and care for children from three to six years of age.
Children are received with reverence and responded to as capable and competent learners. They benefit from well implemented philosophies of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum and Rudolf Steiner. Parents and whānau actively contribute to an inclusive and responsive programme. Transitions into and beyond the service are sensitively managed. Children show a strong sense of whanaungatanga.
Children’s learning and development are well supported and informed through caring, learning relationships. Teachers, alongside parents and whānau, develop and progress children’s priorities for learning. Thoughtfully prepared and well-resourced learning environments encourage critical thinking in play-based contexts. Te reo me ngā tikanga Māori are woven through the teaching and learning. Teachers are yet to reflect all children’s culture, language, and identity in documented assessment. Children are explorers, creators and builders of knowledge. Their learning is deepened in the context of the service’s values and culture.
Relational trust among leaders and teachers enables collaboration, capability building and sustained improvement. Participation in professional development opportunities supports teachers ongoing reflection to improve culturally responsive practice. Leaders demonstrate an understanding of the purpose of internal evaluation and use this to promote growth in the centre. Teachers are embedding collective capability to do and use evaluation for improvement.
Leaders and teachers are guided by systems and processes that effectively maintain management of the kindergarten. Children’s taha hinengaro, taha tinana and taha wairua are upheld.
Kereru Rudolf Steiner Kindergarten will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:
strengthen assessment practice to reflect and respond to all children’s cultures and languages and evaluate how this has contributed to children’s learning progress
monitor and evaluate the impact of improvement actions designed to achieve equitable learning outcomes for all children.
Before the review, the staff and management of Kereru Rudolf Steiner 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.
Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui
13 April 2022
|
Early Childhood Service Name |
Kereru Rudolf Steiner Kindergarten |
|
Profile Number |
46235 |
|
Location |
Hastings |
|
Service type |
Education and care service |
|
Number licensed for |
40 children, including up to 0 aged under 2 |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
|
Service roll |
30 |
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori 9, NZ European/Pākehā 14, other ethnic groups 7. |
|
Review team on site |
February 2022 |
|
Date of this report |
13 April 2022 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, July 2019; Education Review September 2016. |
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Kereru Rudolf Steiner Kindergarten is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Kereru Rudolf Steiner Kindergarten is one of two kindergartens in Hawke’s Bay, affiliated to Taikura Rudolf Steiner School, Hastings. The kindergarten has 40 children from the ages of three to six years old attending and six identify as Māori.
Rudolf Steiner philosophy underpins the programme and learning environment.
Four qualified teachers implement the curriculum. The senior teacher has operational oversight of the kindergarten, with the head teacher responsible for the day-to-day running of the service. A newly developed teaching team started at the beginning of 2019.
Since the September 2016 ERO report, the governance and management structure has been reviewed and is currently being put into effect. A memorandum of understanding with the board of trustees currently guides developments.
Children develop a strong sense of belonging within a respectful and nurturing environment. Teachers and children work harmoniously as they participate in their daily work. Children benefit from a calm, settled environment. The Steiner/Waldorf philosophy is highly evident in practice.
Children's self-directed exploration and engagement in play is fostered through the provision of flexible learning spaces and open-ended resources. Respectful social interactions between children and adults are evident. A range of opportunities for parents and whānau to contribute to their children's learning has increased participation within the centre and wider Steiner community.
Teachers engage in professional learning and development to strengthen their understanding and use of te reo me ngā tikanga Māori. Familiar rituals and routines aligned to the Steiner philosophy and Te Whāriki, provide meaningful opportunities for children to explore aspects of te ao Māori. The service works alongside whānau Māori to develop a responsive curriculum.
Effective transition practice promotes the positive inclusion of children, parents and whānau. Appropriate information is gathered to reflect parent aspirations and inform individual goals. Transition to school is well considered. An extra support teacher, based at the school, works in partnership with kindergarten staff and parents to enable seamless transition.
Children’s participation in a wide range of activities throughout their learning journey is reflected in photo albums. Teachers work collaboratively to provide a programme that is holistically responsive. Leaders and teachers have identified that continuing to further refine and strengthen the assessment and planning process is a next step.
The service works in consultation with parents and external agencies to provide appropriate learning support for those children who require this.
Recent review has made clear the roles and responsibilities for leaders, teachers and trustees. This ensures that priorities for, and operational management of, the kindergarten appropriately supports ongoing development. The use of specific strategies is lifting the profile and importance of early childhood education within the Taikura Rudolf Steiner learning community.
Strategic and annual planning are aligned to the school and kindergarten mission and valued outcomes. A shared understanding of internal evaluation processes and practices is developing and contributing to decision making for improvement. Further developing the use of evaluation should support leaders and teachers to monitor progress overtime and evaluate the impact of initiatives and practices in terms of outcomes for children.
ERO and centre leaders agree that the service's key next steps are to continue to strengthen:
assessment, planning and evaluation to more clearly show children's learning over time and how their interests are extended
internal evaluation to know effectiveness of practice.
Before the review, the staff and management of Kereru Rudolf Steiner 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:
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 practice in the area of compliance, the service should ensure that heavy objects that could fall in an earthquake are secured in adult working areas.
Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services
Central Region
1 July 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.
|
Location |
Hastings |
|
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
46235 |
|
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
|
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
|
|
Number licensed for |
40 children |
|
|
Service roll |
40 |
|
|
Gender composition |
Male 22, Female 18 |
|
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori |
6 |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
80% + |
|
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
Review team on site |
May 2019 |
|
|
Date of this report |
1 July 2019 |
|
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
September 2016 |
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.