10 Pascal Street, Takaro, Palmerston North
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 |
Not meeting |
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Governance, management and administration |
Meeting |
At the time of the review, ERO identified non-compliance with regulatory standards that must be addressed.
The service is one of four under the Little Monkeys umbrella. The owners and three qualified visiting teachers provide professional guidance to support educators, families and children across two homebased education and care networks. At the time of the review a small number of Māori children were enrolled.
Children are provided with a range of experiences and opportunities to enhance and extend their learning and development – both indoors and outdoors. A variety of equipment and materials is provided that is appropriate for the learning abilities of those attending.
Children experience an inclusive curriculum that is responsive to them as capable and confident learners. Educators engage in positive interactions to nurture reciprocal relationships. Opportunities are provided for parents to share their aspirations for their child’s learning.
Consistent implementation of health and safety practices, as well as improved governance and management, is required to maintain aspects of regulatory compliance.
ERO found areas of non-compliance in the service relating to:
consistently carrying out relevant emergency drills with all children present in the home on an at least three-monthly basis and evaluating these to inform the annual review of the emergency plan
[Licensing Criteria for Home-based Education and Care Services 2008, HS7]
Since the onsite visit, the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:
providing parents with information about the amount and details of the expenditure of any Ministry of Education funding received by the service (GMA2)
ensuring safety checking of all children’s worker meets the requirements of the Children’s Act 2014 (GMA6A).
ERO recommends the Ministry follows up with the service provider to ensure that non-compliances identified in this report are addressed promptly.
The next ERO review will be in consultation with the Ministry of Education.
Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui
3 November 2022
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Little Monkeys At Home |
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Profile Number: |
47325 |
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Location |
Palmerston North |
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Service type |
Home-based service |
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Number licensed for |
50 children, including up to 50 aged under 2. |
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Service roll |
29 |
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Review team on site |
September 2022 |
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Date of this report |
3 November 2022 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
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.
having its first ERO review – including if it is part of a governing organisation
previously identified as ‘not well placed’ or ‘requiring further development’
that has moved from a provisional to a full licence
that have been re-licenced due to a change of ownership
where an Akanuku | Assurance Review process is determined to be appropriate.
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:
curriculum
premises and facilities
health and safety practices
governance, management and administration.
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO assesses whether the regulatory 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:
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 certification; ratios)
relevant evacuation procedures and practices.
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO also gathers and records evidence through:
observations of the environment/premises, curriculum implementation and teaching practice.
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Little Monkeys At Home is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Little Monkeys At Home has been operating since December 2017. It is a home-based care and education service where approved home educators provide education and care for children in the educator's homes. The service provider operates two education and care centres in Palmerston North. Little Monkeys At Home is licensed for a maximum of 50 children with up to 50 aged under two. The roll at the time of this ERO evaluation was 23, including four identifying as Māori.
Two qualified kaiako (visiting teacher) are employed. Both support educators to provide appropriate care and education by visiting them and children in the homes. One of the kaiako facilitates regular playgroups. The service is in the process of becoming accredited to deliver the Level Four Certificate in Early Childhood Education.
The service's philosophy and approach to early childhood care and education is based on: being child centred; fostering innovative and professional educators; building collaborative relationships; being community focused; and providing a stimulating environment that focuses on natural resources and sustainable practices.
This is Little Monkeys At Home's first ERO evaluation.
The service leaders provide a high level of support for educators to promote equitable learning opportunities for children. There are deliberate strategies to build educators' capabilities to achieve this. Systems and processes support curriculum and quality assurance. As the service has implemented these, regular feedback has been sought from educators and families. This has enabled the service to know what is working well for children and what needs more development.
Children engage in a good range of learning experiences in educators' homes and out in the community. Planned and spontaneous excursions and weekly playgroups outside the home are responsive to children's developing interests and strengths. These provide opportunities for children to socialise and develop social competencies with a larger group of children and adults.
The kaiako actively support, through modelling, educators' knowledge and understanding of the early childhood curriculum, Te Whāriki, and the implications it has for assessment, planning and evaluation of children's learning. Learning stories show that educators create positive and fun environments for children. This enables children to develop curiosity, confidence and to be creative.
Children's portfolios are a valuable record of their participation in a wide range of learning experiences. These are shared with parents. Links are made between children's learning and development at their home and at the educator's home. Parents contribute and work alongside educators to make children's experiences positive. The service should consider how parents' aspirations for their children's learning can be better captured and acknowledged.
Strategic planning identifies key priorities for ongoing development. These priorities are well informed by feedback from educators and families. It guides direction for change. Leaders are very reflective and have established a framework and understanding of internal evaluation. This contributes to ongoing change and improvement. To further strengthen strategic planning, leaders should consider developing success indicators, regularly monitor progress against these and measure the impact on outcomes for children.
Most children enrolled with Little Monkeys at Home are aged under three. The philosophy is to be reviewed this year. Leaders should consider how the philosophy reflects teaching and learning expectations for these young children, particularly those aged up to two years.
Individual children's language, culture and identity are acknowledged. Parents share a wide range of information about their families with the service, particularly the educators. Kaiako support children and educators by providing resources that focus on learning and understanding of the importance of weaving te ao Māori through practices. The service's current internal evaluation is focused on strengthening knowledge and understanding of te ao Māori across the service.
The service should continue to:
work closely in partnership with parents to gather their aspirations to inform children's learning
strengthen strategic planning by developing success indicators and measuring the impact on outcomes for children
develop the philosophy to reflect teaching and learning expectations for infants and toddlers.
Before the review, the staff and management of Little Monkeys At Home completed an ERO Home-based Education and Care 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.
Phillip Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services
Central Region
3 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 |
Palmerston North |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
47325 |
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Institution type |
Homebased Network |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
50 children, including up to 50 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
23 |
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Standard or Quality Funded |
Standard |
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Gender composition |
Girls 13, Boys 10 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
4 |
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Number of qualified coordinators in the network |
2 |
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Required ratios of staff educators to children |
Under 2 |
1:2 |
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Over 2 |
1:4 |
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Review team on site |
February 2019 |
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Date of this report |
3 May 2019 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
No previous ERO reports |
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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 the draft methodology for ERO reviews in Home-based Education and Care Services: July 2014
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.