508 Pakowhai Road, Stortford Lodge, Hastings
View on mapERO’s Akanuku | Assurance Review reports provide information about whether a service meets and maintains regulatory standards. Further information about Akanuku | Assurance Reviews is included at the end of this report.
Regulatory standards |
ERO’s judgement |
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Curriculum |
Meeting |
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Premises and facilities |
Meeting |
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Health and safety |
Meeting |
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Governance, management and administration |
Meeting |
At the time of the review, ERO found the service was taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.
Kiwi Kidz Community Early Education Centre is a community-based centre with a charitable status offering mixed age, all day sessions for children aged from birth to school age. Since the May 2019 ERO review, the service has strengthened systems and processes with support from the Ministry of Education.
The centre’s philosophy guides the service curriculum and is consistent with Te Whāriki. Curriculum practices acknowledge and reflect aspects of the unique place of Māori as tangata whenua giving children an understanding of both parties to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Adults engage in positive and meaningful interactions which nurture reciprocal relationships and support children’s developing social competence. Assessment and planning documentation shows teachers’ understanding of children’s learning, interests, whānau and life contexts and responds to parents’ aspirations.
Internal evaluation helps the service maintain and improve the quality of its education and care.
Next steps include:
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui
11 May 2021
| Early Childhood Service Name | Kiwi Kidz Community Early Education Centre |
| Profile Number | 55285 |
| Location | Hastings |
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Service type |
Education and care service |
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Number licensed for |
22 children, including up to 5 aged under 2 years. |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80%+ |
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Service roll |
20 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori 18, NZ European/Pākehā 1, Other ethnic groups 1. |
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Review team on site |
December 2020 |
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Date of this report |
11 May 2021 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, July 2017; Education Review, May 2019. |
All services are licensed under the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008. The legal requirements for early childhood services also include the Licensing Criteria for Education and Care Services 2008.
Services must meet the standards in the regulations and the requirements of the licensing criteria to gain and maintain a licence to operate.
All early childhood services are required to promote children’s health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements. Before the review, the staff and management of a service 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:
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO assesses whether the regulated standards are being met. In particular, ERO looks at a service’s systems for managing the following areas that have a potentially high impact on children's wellbeing:
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO also gathers and records evidence through:
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Kiwi Kidz Community Early Education Centre requires further development to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Kiwi Kidz Community Early Education Centre is located in Hastings. It is a community-based early learning service licensed for 22 children including five children up to two years of age. Of the 23 children on the current roll, 17 are Māori.
The service operates as a charitable trust and is governed by a board made up of parents, the centre manager, financial administrator and a staff representative.
Since the July 2017 ERO report, a new centre manager and teacher have been appointed. The majority of the teaching team have been long serving.
The centre has received targeted support through a Ministry of Education programme, Strengthening Early Learning Opportunities (SELO). The centre has made some progress in addressing the areas identified in the previous ERO report and is continuing to strengthen these.
The centre priorities emphasise the importance of manaakitanga and whanaungatanga. Links between whānau, home and centre support children's sense of belonging and consistency of children's care.
Children participate in a programme that supports their exploration and investigation. Infants and toddlers are well cared for by responsive teachers. The mixed-age setting fosters secure attachments with teachers and provides opportunities for learning and play through tuakana teina relationships. A sense of āko is evident as parents and whānau and teachers work together to support children's learning and wellbeing.
Individual learning plans have been developed to support teachers to more deliberately plan to extend children's interests, needs, strengths and learning over time. Teachers have identified that continuing to strengthen assessment, planning and evaluation of children's learning is a next step. ERO’s evaluation affirms this development. This should include reviewing the guidelines for teachers that promote consistent practice across the teaching team, with particular attention to reflecting children's language, culture and identity.
Bicultural practice is interwoven into aspects of the programme. Children are learning about te ao Māori. Some are beginning to use te reo Māori.
Samoan children's language and culture is well reflected within the centre. Children are building a strong sense of identity.
Teachers are working collegially to address the key next steps in the previous ERO report. The new centre manager is supporting teachers and trustees to respond to these areas. New initiatives have been implemented. Teachers have developed learning priorities for children, reviewed the centre philosophy and seek whānau aspirations as partners in their child's learning. The centre manager recognises the need to further develop, then embed these processes to better promote consistency of practice and sustainability over time. ERO’s evaluation confirms this.
Teacher's knowledge and understanding of internal evaluation is at the early stages. Evidence of reflection is evident. A full cycle of review is yet to be completed.
Sound procedures and expectations for appraising teachers have been developed. These are yet to be implemented. This was an area to address in ERO’s 2017 evaluation, and is a priority to support teachers’ growth and to meet the requirements of the Teaching Council.
The board is strengthening their knowledge and understanding of governance roles and responsibilities. A sound framework of policies and procedures support ongoing operation.
Key priorities for improvement are:
further strengthening assessment, planning and evaluation
implementing appraisal to support teacher and leader development
internal evaluation for improved learner outcomes
systems and processes to promote ongoing sustainability.
Before the review, the staff and management of Kiwi Kidz Community Early Education 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:
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.
ERO identified the following area of non-compliance relating to governance, management and administration and health and safety. To meet requirements Kiwi Kidz Early Education Centre needs to improve its performance in the following areas:
appraisal implementation
To improve compliance practice, the early childhood service should also ensure that:
records are kept of vehicle's Warrant of Fitness and driver licence checks
ERO recommends that the service, in consultation with the Ministry of Education, develops a plan to address the key next steps and actions outlined in this report.
Phillip Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services Central
Central Region
14 May 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 |
Hastings |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
55285 |
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Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
22 children, including up to 5 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
23 |
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Gender composition |
Male 17, Female 6 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
17 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
80% + |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:3 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Over 2 |
1:8 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
March 2018 |
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Date of this report |
14 May 2019 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
July 2017 |
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Education Review |
June 2014 |
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Education Review |
May 2011 |
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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 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.