Kidsfirst Kindergartens Bush Street

Education institution number:
5413
Service type:
Free Kindergarten
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
25
Telephone:
Address:

27 Bush Street, Rangiora

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Kidsfirst Kindergartens Bush Street - 30/03/2015

Here is the latest report for the Governing Organisation that this service is part of.

 

1. Evaluation of Kidsfirst Kindergartens Bush Street

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

Not well placedRequires further developmentWell placedVery well placed

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

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

Background

Kidsfirst Kindergartens Bush Street is one of 62 kindergartens governed and managed by Canterbury Westland Kindergarten Association Incorporated, trading as Kidsfirst Kindergartens. All Kidsfirst kindergartens share a common vision and values.

Children from two years old to school age can attend kindergarten for up to six hours a day during the four kindergarten terms.

Since the June 2011 ERO review, the kindergarten has made significant progress to meet the recommendations in the ERO report. Self review, child assessment and planning are now useful and provide direction for learning and teaching.

This review was part of a cluster of 18 kindergarten reviews.

The Review Findings

Children and their families have strong and positive learning partnerships with the teachers. Parents are actively involved in decisions about the kindergarten and about their children’s learning. They willingly share information and help the children and teachers to make learning meaningful for children.

Te reo and tikanga Māori are successfully woven into the kindergarten programme. The children, teachers and whānau are proud of New Zealand’s bicultural heritage. Māori families and local iwi regularly support the children and teachers to increase their knowledge and understanding of Māori culture. Children confidently share their knowledge of te reo Māori and tikanga Māori with their families.

The kindergarten’s environment supports children to be active and curious learners. The children spend most of their time in learning of their choosing. The wide range of resources and the support from their teachers help children to extend their learning by questioning, problem solving and sharing their ideas. Children are confident and willing to take risks to achieve success in their learning.

A culture of caring and support is evident. Older children willingly support younger children and include them in their play. Teachers praise children for the respect they show others and the care they take of the environment.

Teachers provide useful information for parents and have developed helpful processes to support children to transition to local schools.

The teaching team works well together. Individual teacher strengths and interests are well used to extend children’s learning. This is particularly evident in the way that te reo and tikanga Māori and mathematics are successfully integrated into the programme.

The Education Services Manager is an important member of the team and her opinion is regularly sought.

The Kidsfirst Kindergartens Association

All kindergartens in this cluster have spacious indoor and outdoor areas and are well resourced to meet the interests and learning needs of their children. In most of these kindergartens, environments and resources:

  • encourage children’s critical thought, wonderment and inquiry
  • provide challenges, stimulation and social support for children, families and the wider communities
  • promote opportunities for children to learn about sustainable practices.

Kidsfirst Kindergartens provides significant support for priority learners and their families. Teachers in kindergartens with priority learners receive considerable extra training and funding to ensure the needs of these learners are well met.

Kidsfirst Kindergartens has a strong commitment to te ao Māori (the Māori world view) and ensuring that their Education Service Managers (ESMs) and teachers are competent and confident in te reo and tikanga Māori. In this cluster of kindergartens, a bicultural curriculum is in place and bicultural practices are highly evident. The contribution from parents of Māori children is highly valued and Māori children are well supported to achieve success as Māori.

The association has a well-understood vision, and highly effective strategic and annual planning systems, policies and procedures. It has strong leadership and collaboration across all levels of the organisation.

There is a thorough and well-understood process of self review at all levels of Kidsfirst Kindergartens.

The skills and knowledge of the CEO, board and senior leaders are regularly sought by other kindergarten associations and early childhood services nationally and internationally.

The highly experienced and skilled trustees bring a good range of expertise to support their decision making. They have a wide knowledge and understanding of Kidsfirst and are very focused on achieving their goals. Their priorities are strongly linked to providing high-quality learning and care for all children.

The strategic leadership team members have a good breadth and depth of knowledge across their various areas of expertise. They value each other’s contributions and use their wide range of knowledge and skills to ensure effective operation of the service.

The ESMs show a high level of commitment to Kidsfirst and the implementation of the Kidsfirst vision, policies and expectations. They successfully challenge and use each other's strengths to meet the goals of Kidsfirst for high-quality learning and teaching in each kindergarten.

Kidsfirst has a well-developed evaluation process that is effectively used to identify the strengths, progress and areas for further development in each of its kindergartens. This allows the ESMs to successfully monitor how well each kindergarten is providing high-quality outcomes for children.

High-quality professional development is closely aligned to leaders and teachers achieving the Kidsfirst vision and goals. In this cluster, this is most evident in the well-developed, understood and useful self-review processes, child assessment and planning practices and effective use of a range of technologies.

Key Next Steps

The Kidsfirst Kindergartens’ managers have identified, and ERO agrees that the key next steps are:

  • to further align the existing appraisal process for ESMS, head teachers and teachers to recent developments in Kidsfirst Kindergartens' quality improvement programme ensuring it is consistently achieving its vision to provide high-quality learning and teaching for all children
  • to continue to review kindergarten practices and premises to make sure that they meet the changing needs of their communities.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Kidsfirst Kindergartens Bush Street 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.

Next ERO Review

When is ERO likely to review the service again?

The next ERO review of Kidsfirst Kindergartens Bush Street will be in four years.

Graham Randell

Deputy Chief Review Officer-Southern Southern Region

30 March 2015

2. Information about the Early Childhood Service

LocationRangiora  
Ministry of Education profile number5413  
Licence typeFree Kindergarten  
Licensed underEducation (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008  
Number licensed for30 children, over the age of two  
Service roll43  
Gender composition

Girls 24;

Boys 19

  
Ethnic composition

Māori

NZ European/Pākehā

Chinese

American

1

39

1

2

 
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80% Based on funding rates80%  
Reported ratios of staff to childrenOver 21:10Meets minimum requirements
Review team on siteNovember 2014  
Date of this report30 March 2015  

Most recent ERO reports

These are available at www.ero.govt.nz

Education ReviewJune 2011 
 Education ReviewOctober 2007 
 Education ReviewJune 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 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.

Kidsfirst Kindergartens Bush Street - 30/06/2011

1. The Education Review Office (ERO) Evaluation

Kidsfirst Kindergartens Bush Street is located in the township of Rangiora. Since the 2007 ERO review, the kindergarten has changed its operating hours and staffing. The kindergarten currently operates morning and afternoon sessions for up to 30 children over the age of two. All teachers are fully qualified and registered.

It is one of sixty three kindergartens (including one early learning centre) administered by the Canterbury Westland Kindergarten Association Incorporated, trading as Kidsfirst Kindergartens.

Features of this kindergarten include:

  • the emphasis teachers place on working in partnership with parents and whānau
  • enthusiastic and positive interactions between children and teachers which reflect how well teachers know children and their lives outside of the kindergarten setting
  • the use teachers make of stories to motivate children and extend their ideas about the world around them
  • the range of interesting learning experiences within and outside the kindergarten, including many creative and exploratory activities.

Teachers show a strong interest in keeping up with educational research. They regularly write about how their beliefs fit with this research. An education manager from the association provides regular professional development and support that focuses on making ongoing improvements to the programme.

The next step is for teachers to focus more on identifying and recording the learning occurring for individual children, including how they will extend this learning and evaluate the effectiveness of their teaching approaches.

The kindergarten association is well organised and managed. It provides useful policies and procedures, a comprehensive framework for monitoring health and safety. The association incorporates management support in the form of education services managers and a manager of kindergarten operations who work in partnership with teachers providing ongoing leaderships and professional development.

This review occurred at a time when the association and its kindergartens were responding to issues associated with the Canterbury earthquakes relating to children, family, personnel and property. The association has been proactive in addressing these challenges.

Future Action

ERO is confident that the kindergarten is being managed in the interest of the children. Therefore ERO is likely to review the kindergarten again in three years.

2. Review Priorities

The Focus of the Review

Before the review, the management of Kidsfirst Kindergartens Bush Street was invited to consider its priorities for review using guidelines and resources provided by ERO. ERO also used documentation provided by the kindergarten to contribute to the scope of the review.

The detailed priorities for review were then determined following a discussion between the ERO review team and the management and staff. This discussion focused on existing information held by the kindergarten (including self-review information) and the extent to which potential issues for review contributed to positive outcomes for children at Kidsfirst Kindergartens Bush Street.

All ERO education reviews in early childhood focus on the quality of education. For ERO this includes the quality of:

  • the programme provided for children
  • the learning environment
  • the interactions between children and adults.

ERO’s findings in these areas are set out below.

The Quality of Education

Background

This kindergarten’s vision is to provide a consistent place in the lives of families, community and teachers, where everyone learns together.

Areas of strength

Teachers strongly support working in partnership with parents and whānau. This includes:

  • actively seeking to involve families and whānau in the programme and kindergarten events
  • valuing children’s experiences outside the kindergarten and building on these in the programme
  • providing additional support for children and families with social and health needs
  • making regular use of external agencies to assist children and families.

Children benefit from enthusiastic and positive interactions with their teachers. Teachers:

  • respond to children in caring and nurturing ways
  • show an interest and join in with children to extend their play
  • make good use of their knowledge of children to respond in appropriate ways
  • use conversations with children well to find out more about their developing ideas and interests.

A feature of the programme is the use teachers make of stories to motivate children and extend their ideas about the world around them. Teachers continue to build on the research they undertook between 2006 and 2008 to use these stories as a focused teaching approach. Parents make significant contributions to the story approach through regular contributions in children’s profile books and the programme.

Children benefit from an interesting range of learning experiences within and outside the kindergarten, including creative and exploratory activities. Teachers place emphasis on providing children and their families with new experiences. The kindergarten is well resourced with accessible and well-maintained equipment.

Areas for development and review

Teachers need to focus more on identifying and recording the learning occurring for individual children, including how they will extend this learning. This includes:

  • clarifying and using assessment practices that more clearly reflect association policy and guidelines
  • using planning to identify teaching practices that will extend children’s learning
  • evaluating the effectiveness of these practices in improving outcomes for children
  • strengthening the process of curriculum review so that the findings are used to decide what needs to happen next, make changes and monitor these to make sure they benefit children’s learning
  • reviewing how well group times foster the choices, interests, and engagement of all children.

3. National Evaluation Topic

Overview

ERO provides information about the education system as a whole through its national reports. This information will be used as the basis for long-term and systemic educational improvement.

Partnerships with Whānau of Māori Children in Early Childhood Services

As part of this review, ERO evaluated the extent to which:

  • this kindergarten understands and values the identity, language and culture of Māori children and their whānau, particularly when the child and whānau transition to the kindergarten
  • managers and teachers have built relationships with whānau of Māori children
  • this kindergarten works in partnership with whānau of Māori children.

There are two Māori children enrolled at the kindergarten whose parents/whānau have identified them as Māori. The teachers have a strong focus on creating effective partnerships with parents and whānau. These practices are included in section 2 of this report.

The association has recently developed ‘Kidsfirst Whānau’. This strategy promotes a whānau-based approach for involving and engaging parents in kindergarten life and their child’s learning.

Teachers also acknowledge and celebrate Māori language, culture and symbols in the kindergarten programme.

Area for development and review

The next step is for teachers to:

  • make better use of enrolment information to identify Māori children and their whānau
  • seek and document parents’ aspirations for their children’s learning as Māori
  • use assessment to show how these aspirations have been responded to through the kindergarten programme.

4. Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff of Kidsfirst Kindergartens Bush Street completed an ERO CentreAssurance Statement andSelf-Audit Checklist. In these documents they attested that they have taken all reasonable steps to meet their legal obligations related to:

  • administration
  • health, safety and welfare
  • personnel management
  • financial and property management.

During the review, ERO looked at the service’s documentation, including policies, procedures and records of recent use of procedures. ERO also checked elements of the following areas that have a potentially high impact on outcomes for children:

  • emotional safety (including behaviour management, prevention of bullying and abuse)
  • physical safety (including behaviour management, sleeping and supervision practices; accidents and medication; hygiene and routines; travel and excursion policies and procedures)
  • staff qualifications and organisation
  • evacuation procedures and practices for fire and earthquake.

5. Future Action

ERO is confident that the kindergarten is being managed in the interest of the children. Therefore ERO is likely to review the kindergarten again in three years.

Graham Randell

National Manager Review Services

Southern Region

About the Centre

Type

Kindergarten

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Centres) Regulations 1998

Number licensed for

30 children aged over two years of age

Roll number

49

Gender composition

Girls 23; Boys 26

Ethnic composition

New Zealand European/Pākehā 43; Māori 2, other ethnicities 4

Review team on site

May 2011

Date of this report

30 June 2011

Previous three ERO reports

Education Review October 2007

Education Review June 2004

Accountability Review August 2000

To the Parents and Community of Kidsfirst Kindergartens Bush Street

These are the findings of the Education Review Office’s latest report on Kidsfirst Kindergartens Bush Street.

Kidsfirst Kindergartens Bush Street is located in the township of Rangiora. Since the 2007 ERO review, the kindergarten has changed its operating hours and staffing. The kindergarten currently operates morning and afternoon sessions for up to 30 children over the age of two. All teachers are fully qualified and registered.

It is one of sixty three kindergartens (including one early learning centre) administered by the Canterbury Westland Kindergarten Association Incorporated, trading as Kidsfirst Kindergartens.

Features of this kindergarten include:

  • the emphasis teachers place on working in partnership with parents and whānau
  • enthusiastic and positive interactions between children and teachers which reflect how well teachers know children and their lives outside of the kindergarten setting
  • the use teachers make of stories to motivate children and extend their ideas about the world around them
  • the range of interesting learning experiences within and outside the kindergarten, including many creative and exploratory activities.

Teachers show a strong interest in keeping up with educational research. They regularly write about how their beliefs fit with this research. An education manager from the association provides regular professional development and support that focuses on making ongoing improvements to the programme.

The next step is for teachers to focus more on identifying and recording the learning occurring for individual children, including how they will extend this learning and evaluate the effectiveness of their teaching approaches.

The kindergarten association is well organised and managed. It provides useful policies and procedures, a comprehensive framework for monitoring health and safety. The association incorporates management support in the form of education services managers and a manager of kindergarten operations who work in partnership with teachers providing ongoing leaderships and professional development.

This review occurred at a time when the association and its kindergartens were responding to issues associated with the Canterbury earthquakes relating to children, family, personnel and property. The association has been proactive in addressing these challenges.

Future Action

ERO is confident that the kindergarten is being managed in the interest of the children. Therefore ERO is likely to review the kindergarten again in three years.

When ERO has reviewed an early childhood centre we encourage management to inform their community of any follow up action they plan to take. You should talk to the management or contact person if you have any questions about this evaluation, the full ERO report or their future intentions.

If you would like a copy of the full report, please contact the centre or see the ERO website, http://www.ero.govt.nz.

Graham Randell

National Manager Review Services

Southern Region