11 Killarney Street, Takapuna, Auckland
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 Lakeview Private Kindergarten are as follows:
Outcome Indicators(What the service knows about outcomes for learners) |
Whāngai Establishing |
Ngā Akatoro Domains |
|
Learning ConditionsOrganisational Conditions |
Whāngai Establishing Whāngai Establishing |
Lakeview Private Kindergarten is one of three privately owned centres under the same ownership. The owner/director is an experienced teacher. Due to an internal promotion, a newly appointed centre manager leads the team of five registered teachers. Children enrolled are from increasingly diverse ethnicities.
Children experience positive, responsive relationships with teachers that support their sense of belonging. Their independence is encouraged, and children make decisions about their learning. Children are confident communicators. They articulate their thinking, express how they feel, and ask questions.
Children’s assessment records show their involvement and participation in activities provided by teachers. Parents have opportunities to contribute to children’s assessment information. Teachers recognise the diversity of children in their service. They are yet to document in assessment records how teaching practices or the curriculum responds to the identity, languages and cultures of children.
Te reo Māori is valued and is used by some teachers during group times. Teachers could improve the local curriculum by including learning about local hapu, and iwi, their history, sites of significance and aspects of tikanga Māori.
Teachers are reflective and participate in relevant professional learning. Self-review and internal evaluation processes are improvement focused. The service’s vision and mission statements are aligned to the strategic plan. Continued monitoring and evaluation are required for the service to identify the effectiveness and impact of these priorities on children’s learning.
Lakeview Private Kindergarten will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:
To ensure the learning outcomes of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, are more visible in documented assessment, planning and evaluation of children’s learning.
To build leaders’ and teachers’ knowledge of how to do and use internal evaluation processes to identify progress that relates to the service’s valued learning outcomes for children.
Before the review, the staff and management of Lakeview Private Kindergarten completed an ERO 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; safety checking; teacher registration; ratios)
relevant evacuation procedures and practices.
All early childhood services are required to promote children's health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.
Patricia Davey
Director of Early Childhood Education (ECE)
10 November 2023
|
Early Childhood Service Name |
Lakeview Private Kindergarten |
|
Profile Number |
20097 |
|
Location |
Takapuna, Auckland |
|
Service type |
Education and care service |
|
Number licensed for |
45 children over 2 years of age |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
100% |
|
Service roll |
35 |
|
Review team on site |
August 2023 |
|
Date of this report |
10 November 2023 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, July 2019; Education Review, February 2015 |
Not well placed | Requires further development | Well placed | Very well placed |
Lakeview Private Kindergarten is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Lakeview Private Kindergarten in Takapuna provides sessional and full-day education and care for children from two to five years of age. In 2018, the owner, who maintains a strong involvement in the kindergarten operations, promoted the supervisor to a centre manager role. The manager works with an assistant manager.
The centre's philosophy is consistent with the intentions of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. It recognises the importance of providing an inclusive environment that promotes self-help and independence, and where children have opportunities to learn through play. The philosophy promotes partnerships with parents/whānau.
The 2015 ERO report commented positively about centre management and leadership, the quality of teaching, and learning opportunities for children. It recognised progress in using te reo Māori and in planning and assessment. Areas for development related to challenging children’s thinking and extending their learning, building teachers’ capacity to evaluate their professional practice, and strategic planning.
The service is a member of the Pupuke (Westlake) Community of Learning | Kāhui Ako.
Children continue to benefit from positive relationships with teachers and each other. They learn in an environment that promotes their independence and allows them to follow their interests.
Teachers' interactions with children are positive and affirming, and support children's language and cognitive development. Teachers make time to listen to children and engage them in conversations about their play. They implement care routines sensitively and respectfully for each child. Children with additional learning needs are well supported.
The learning environment has been developed well to support children's learning through play. Children can access a wide range of equipment and open-ended resources in the main play areas, including the outdoor area. The mixed-age group promotes tuakana/teina relationships with the younger children learning from the older children.
Children's literacy and numeracy learning is promoted through resources used and conversations in the context of play. The phonics programme for four-year olds should now be reviewed to ensure that it reflects the centre's philosophy and current best practice in early childhood education.
The centre has made a commitment to include te reo and tikanga Māori in the programme. Teachers' confidence in this area is growing, and well supported through professional learning and development. Te reo and tikanga Māori are particularly evident in some areas of the programme and in the environment.
Staff know the children and their families well and work in partnership with parents. Communications between the centre and parents/whānau are well developed, using face-to-face discussions and electronic tools. Parent contributions are especially apparent in some children's learning portfolios. Parents are consulted about and involved in a variety of areas of centre operations.
Recent professional learning related to Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, has prompted a review of teachers' assessment of children's learning and programme planning. Teachers are currently exploring ways to document how they intend to plan responses to opportunities for extending children's learning.
There is a culture of ongoing improvement in the centre. Teachers are motivated and supported to improve their practice. They participate in relevant and significant professional learning and an effective appraisal system that encourages reflection on professional practice. Internal evaluation is used to guide changes to centre operations. Strategic planning would be strengthened by documenting improvement goals and how these goals will be met.
The centre is well managed. The centre's philosophy and an up-to-date policy framework guide decision making and promote teacher reflections. The centre owner, a registered teacher, takes a keen interest in all aspect of centre operations and is well supported by centre managers. Together, they have engaged with the Kāhui Ako, and especially with local primary schools.
Key next steps include:
Before the review, the staff and management of Lakeview Private 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:
All early childhood services are required to promote children's health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.
In order to strengthen current practice, teachers should document in greater depth how they will manage risks related to excursions.
Steve Tanner
Director Review and Improvement Services Northern
Northern 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 | Takapuna, Auckland | ||
| Ministry of Education profile number | 20097 | ||
| Licence type | Education & Care Service | ||
| Licensed under | Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 | ||
| Number licensed for | 45 children over the age of 2 years | ||
| Service roll | 73 | ||
| Gender composition | Boys 40 Girls 33 | ||
| Ethnic composition | Māori NZ European/Pākehā Chinese Filipino other ethnic groups | 3 59 4 4 3 | |
| Percentage of qualified teachers | 80% + | ||
| Reported ratios of staff to children | Over 2 | 1:8 | Better than minimum requirements |
| Review team on site | May 2019 | ||
| Date of this report | 1 July 2019 | ||
Most recent ERO report(s)
| Education Review | February 2015 | |
| Education Review | March 2012 | ||
| Education Review | September 2008 | ||
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:
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.