Kidsfirst Kindergartens Belfast

Education institution number:
5535
Service type:
Free Kindergarten
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
35
Telephone:
Address:

672 Main North Road, Belfast

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Kidsfirst Kindergartens Belfast - 15/05/2019

1 Evaluation of Kidsfirst Kindergartens Belfast

How well placed is Kidsfirst Kindergartens Belfast to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Not well placed

Requires further development

Well placed

Very well placed

Kidsfirst Kindergartens Belfast is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

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

Background

Kidsfirst Kindergartens Belfast is one of 69 early learning services governed and managed by Canterbury Westland Kindergarten Association Incorporated, trading as Kidsfirst Kindergartens.

The kindergarten provides for the education and care of young children from two to school age. All teachers/kaiako are qualified and certified. The association education manager (EM) provides consistent professional advice and guidance to support the effective operation of the service.

The kindergarten's vision is to establish strong pathways into the future by empowering children to learn through relationships, which build confident, respectful and connected akonga. Its curriculum priorities include self regulation, risk taking, playing together, and caring / manaakitanga.

ERO's February 2013 report noted that teachers needed to further develop and refine some aspects of children’s assessment and programme planning, and that bicultural practices needed strengthening.

This review was one of seven kindergartens in the Canterbury Westland Kindergarten Association.

The Review Findings

Teachers are using a range of strategies to promote children’s social and emotional competencies. Self regulation is a priority of the kindergarten’s curriculum. Teachers have undertaken training into this aspect of the curriculum. Their collaborative approach includes the children’s whānau, and learning and behaviour specialists. They use specific teaching strategies and resources to provide calming, sensory experiences that foster children’s resilience.

Children play and learn in an environment that values te ao and tikanga Māori. The purposeful links with Māori whānau support the bicultural curriculum. Māori parents support the teachers’ use of te reo Māori. They have been instrumental in bringing Māori concepts and resources into the kindergarten. Teachers are respectful of tikanga Māori with these concepts increasingly woven into the kindergarten’s documentation.

Strong learning community partnerships provide opportunities for the kindergarten to contribute to, and gain from, the wider education community. Teachers share their expertise within the cluster. They are involved in professional learning and development, research, and national presentations about their work on resilience. Children are well supported as they transition on to school.

The Canterbury Westland Kindergarten Association has a well-developed and clearly understood vision. It is underpinned by targeted strategic and annual planning systems. There are close links between the kindergarten plans, internal evaluation, appraisal and professional development. The teachers are well supported by association managers and leaders to achieve the priorities of the kindergarten and to promote high quality learning outcomes for all children.

Since the last review, a restructure has enabled a key focus on education excellence within the kindergartens, and innovation and collaboration within the association and in the wider early childhood community. Key staff make a significant contribution to supporting other early learning services in Te Waipounamu / South Island.

The association has a very strong commitment to providing high quality professional development to build on leadership capacity and teacher capability. It has high expectations for teaching and learning and equitable outcomes for all children. This includes promoting understandings of and respect for te ao Māori at all levels of the organisation. The association's internal evaluation practices are being well used to inform decision making and support the strong focus on continuous improvement.

Key Next Steps

ERO has identified, and the teaching team agrees, that further work is needed to develop and embed the initiatives recently introduced. Improvements are needed in planning, internal evaluation, and the appraisal process in order to provide consistent rich learning opportunities and experiences for children across the curriculum. In particular, they need to evaluate the impact of teaching practices and outcomes for children.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Kidsfirst Kindergartens Belfast 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.

Alan Wynyard

Director Review and Improvement Services Southern

Southern Region

15 May 2019

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

Christchurch

Ministry of Education profile number

5535

Licence type

Free Kindergarten

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

40 children over 2 years of age

Service roll

32

Gender composition

Girls 19, Boys 13,

Ethnic composition

Māori
NZ European/Pākehā
Other ethnic groups

8
20
4

Percentage of qualified teachers

80% +

Reported ratios of staff to children

Over 2

1:10

Meets minimum requirements

Review team on site

February 2019

Date of this report

15 May 2019

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review

February 2013

Education Review

November 2007

Education Review

October 2004

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

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.

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.

Kidsfirst Kindergartens Belfast - 28/02/2013

1 Evaluation of the Service

How well placed is the service to promote positive outcomes for children?

Kidsfirst Kindergartens Belfast is well placed to promote positive outcomes for children.

Context

Kidsfirst Kindergartens administers 62 kindergartens and one early learning centre in Canterbury and the West Coast. An education services manager (ESM) works with each kindergarten, giving feedback and professional support. Since the 2007 ER0 review, Kidsfirst Kindergartens Belfast has changed its hours of operation to better meet the needs of its community and more closely align to the school day. All teachers employed by Kidsfirst Kindergartens are registered and fully qualified early childhood teachers.

Teachers focus strongly on fostering positive outcomes for children and families. They provide a very welcoming and inclusive learning environment.

The kindergarten is situated next to the local school. Teachers have developed purposeful professional relationships with school staff to help children make a successful start to their schooling.

This review was conducted as part of a cluster approach to reviews in nine early childhood education services within the Kidsfirst Kindergartens Association umbrella organisation.

Areas of strength

An atmosphere of whanaungatanga (family and positive relationships) builds children’s confidence and that helps give them a sense of belonging. Children display confidence and a sense of ownership in the child-centred environment. They play well with and alongside others, sharing ideas and developing friendships.

Teachers know children well. They respond to the individual abilities and preferences of children in ways that support their developing independence. Children are encouraged to make decisions about their learning and to adapt resources to test and extend on their ideas. Children’s work is valued, respected and well presented in the environment. They have many opportunities to revisit and build on their learning.

Teachers use a calm, unhurried approach, and a good range of teaching practices, and quality resources, to support children in their learning. They engage children in conversations that appropriately build on their language skills. Teachers give children good feedback on their learning and affirm and celebrate children’s efforts with their work.

Children make good use of the outdoor area to extend their physical skills. They have many opportunities to learn about the natural world and kaitiakitanga (caring for the natural environment). These learning experiences are building children’s understanding of sustainability.

Children benefit from a varied programme that gives emphasis to music, literacy and te reo Māori. Bicultural practices are well integrated into the programme in ways that are meaningful to children and respectful of the Māori culture. Children are responsive to te reo me ngā tikanga Māori (the Māori language and culture) during teaching interactions. Some children are confident to respond in te reo Māori. The home cultures and languages of other children are also acknowledged and celebrated.

Teachers value the participation and contribution of parents and whānau to the programme and their involvement in children’s learning. Many parents spend time at the kindergarten working with their own and other children.

The ESM provides effective professional leadership to the teaching team. Teachers are suitably reflective and open to new learning. The ESM has provided targeted professional development that has successfully lifted the quality of self review and assessment practices. Planned professional development and self review is appropriately focused on improving teaching practices. Effective systems are supporting the kindergarten to maintain its focus on promoting positive outcomes for children. The head teacher values the skills of her team and encourages them to take on leadership roles.

Kidsfirst Kindergartens Association has a well-developed policy and practice framework to support the daily and long-term operation of the kindergarten. The association is kept well informed about the work of the kindergarten by the ESM and head teacher. The Kidsfirst Kindergartens senior leadership team has recently developed a new process for reviewing and reporting kindergarten information. This process is likely to help them to further identify the appropriate support required to improve learning outcomes for children.

Areas for development and review

The Kidsfirst Kindergarten manager and the teaching team have identified, and ERO agrees, that the next steps to improve learning outcomes for children include continuing to:

  • consolidate recent developments of self-review and assessment practices
  • plan in a more complete way and regularly evaluate the impact of the programme and teaching practices on children’s learning
  • focus teachers' goals on extending and improving teachers’ appraisal to more consistently focus goals on the ongoing improvement to the quality of teaching and learning practices.

2 Legal Requirements

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Kidsfirst Kindergartens Belfast 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.

3 Next Review

When is ERO likely to review the early childhood service again?

ERO is likely to carry out the next review in three years.

Graham Randell

National Manager Review Services

Southern Region

28 February 2013

Information about the Early Childhood Service

Location

Belfast

Ministry of Education profile number

5535

Licence type

Kindergarten

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

40 children, over the two years of age

Service roll

42

Gender composition

Girls 26

Boys 16

Ethnic composition

New Zealand European/Pākehā

Māori

Asian

36

5

1

Percentage of qualified teachers

80%

Reported ratios of staff to children

 

Over 2

1:10

Meets minimum requirements

Review team on site

October 2012

Date of this report

28 February 2013

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review

Education Review

Accountability Review

November 2007

October 2004

May 2000

General Information about Early Childhood Reviews

About ERO Reviews

The Education Review Office (ERO) is the New Zealand government department that reviews schools and early childhood services throughout New Zealand.

Review focus

ERO's education reviews in early childhood services focus on the factors that contribute to positive learning outcomes for children. ERO evaluates how well placed the service is to make and sustain improvements for the benefit of all children at the service. To reach these findings ERO considers:

  • 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 self review and partnerships with parents and whānau.

Review Coverage

ERO reviews do not cover every aspect of service performance and each ERO report may cover different issues. The aim is to provide information on aspects that are central to positive outcomes for children and useful to the service.