Kiwi Kids Childcare Centre

1 Evaluation of Kiwi Kids Childcare Centre

How well placed is Kiwi Kids Childcare Centre to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Kiwi Kids Childcare Centre is not well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

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

Background

Kiwi Kids Childcare Centre is located in Karori Wellington. This all-day service is licensed for 47 children, including 12 up to two years of age. At the time of this ERO review, 35 children were enrolled, including eight Māori and four of Pacific heritage.

The centre’s vision expresses a commitment to uphold the mana of each child to ensure they feel respected and acknowledged.

The education and care service is privately owned and currently managed by the owner. There have been significant staff changes since the September 2016 ERO review.

Kiwi Kids Childcare Centre has had a variable reporting history with ERO. The previous ERO report identified areas of practice requiring significant development. These included: strengthening internal evaluation, enhancing the appraisal process and improving systems and processes for managing and monitoring police vetting. Strengthening internal evaluation and the appraisal process have not been sufficiently addressed.

The Review Findings

Children are settled and confident. They experience positive relationships with teachers. The centre owner has identified the need for teachers to improve the quality of their interactions with children to extend their ideas and enrich learning opportunities.

Children have free access to a suitable range of learning materials. The outdoor play space is well equipped to promote adventure and challenge. The programme provides opportunities for children to explore.

A priority for the centre is to implement an effective curriculum. This should respond to parents' aspirations, and children's strengths, interests and needs, including of those aged under two years. High quality and up-to-date professional development is essential to support the implementation of better quality learner outcomes.

Teachers need to ensure that te ao Māori is consistently reflected through the curriculum, learning stories and the centre environment. This should better promote a strong sense of cultural identity for Māori children. More meaningful integration of all cultures is also required, particularly for those of Pacific heritages.

Clear documentation of teachers liaising with parents and external agencies is needed to support individualised planning for children with diverse learning and behaviour needs.

The quality of learning portfolio documentation is variable. Improved monitoring is required to ensure a frequent and consistent focus on individualised assessment, planning and evaluation for learners. Gathering and documenting parent aspirations that contribute to children's learning pathways is also needed.

Developing a shared understanding of evaluation and how to use it to guide decision making to improve outcomes for children is required. This approach should highlight what leaders and teachers do in relation to current theories and practice in early childhood education and enable them to more critically evaluate their practice.

Currently, the centre is not meeting requirements for the endorsement of teachers' practising certificates. In 2019, teachers have not engaged in a system of regular appraisal. Seeking professional development to address this should be prioritised. An effective induction and mentoring programme is urgently required for provisionally certificated teachers. This should promote improved teaching practices and better-quality care and education for all children.

Leadership urgently needs to develop and implement sustainable systems and processes, focused on provision of high-quality practices across the centre.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Kiwi Kids Childcare Centre 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.

Actions for compliance

ERO found significant areas of non-compliance in the service related to:

• curriculum provision being consistent with the prescribed curriculum framework

• planning for children's learning to inform the curriculum

• reflecting the unique place of Māori as tangata whenua

• acknowledging the aspirations that parents and whānau have for their children

• emergency planning and recording of earthquake drills

• a procedure for monitoring and documenting children's sleep and nappy routines

• whether equipment, premises and facilities are checked every day to identify hazards to children

• planning for excursions, particularly in relation to parent permissions and the identification of risk-management procedures

• presence of an adult who holds a current first aid qualification

• suitable records of all medicine given to children attending the service, particularly evidence of parental authority and acknowledgment

• an ongoing process of self-review that helps the service maintain and improve the quality of its education and care

• Developing and implementing a system of regular appraisal

• an annual plan to guide service operation.

Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, C1, C2, C5, C11, HS7, HS8, HS9, HS12, HS17, HS25, HS28, GMA6, GMA7, GMA8.

Since the onsite review, all teachers now hold a current first aid qualification.

Recommendation to Ministry of Education

ERO recommends that the Ministry reassess the licence of Kiwi Kids Childcare Centre. ERO will not undertake a further education review of this service until the Ministry of Education is satisfied that the service meets licensing requirements.

Dr Lesley Patterson

Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)

Southern Region - Te Tai Tini

13 March 2020

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

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.