Little Monkeys Learning Centre

Education institution number:
50113
Service type:
Education and Care Service
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
16
Telephone:
Address:

35 Newbury Street, Awapuni, Palmerston North

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Little Monkeys Learning Centre

ERO’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.

ERO’s Judgement

Regulatory standards

ERO’s judgement

Curriculum

Not meeting

Premises and facilities

Meeting

Health and safety

Meeting

Governance, management and administration

Meeting

At the time of the review, ERO identified non-compliance with regulatory standards that must be addressed.

Background

The service is one of four under the Little Monkeys umbrella. The owner has oversight of governance, management and administration and a centre manager oversees day-to-day operations. The majority of children identify as Māori and a small number as Pacific. The service has a history of compliance concerns reported by ERO.

Summary of Review Findings

Infant, toddlers and young children experience meaningful and positive relationships that nurture reciprocal relationships and enhance their learning. Teachers support children’s developing social competence and understanding of appropriate behaviour. Positive steps are taken to respect and acknowledge the aspirations held by parents. Information and guidance is sought from external agencies to support teachers to work effectively with children with additional learning needs and their parents. A curriculum that provides opportunities for all children to be confident in their own culture is not evident.

Actions for Compliance

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

  • ensuring the curriculum respects and supports the rights of each child to be confident in their own culture and encourages children to understand and respect other cultures

[Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Services 2008, C6]

Since the onsite visit, the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:

  • ensuring safety checking of all children’s worker meets the requirements of the Children’s Act 2014 (GMA7A).

Recommendation to Ministry of Education

ERO recommends the Ministry follows up with the service provider to ensure that non-compliances identified in this report are addressed promptly.

Next ERO Review

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 

Information About the Service

Early Childhood Service Name

Little Monkeys Learning Centre

Profile Number

50113

Location

Palmerston North

Service type

Education and care service

Number licensed for

30 children, including up to 12 aged under 2

Percentage of qualified teachers

100%

Service roll

27

Review team on site

September 2022

Date of this report

3 November 2022

Most recent ERO report(s)

Akanuku | Assurance Review, April 2021; Education Review, August 2017

General Information about Assurance Reviews

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.

ERO undertakes an Akanuku | Assurance Review process in any centre-based service:

  • 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.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

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:

  • discussions with those involved in the service
  • consideration of relevant documentation, including the implementation of health and safety systems
  • observations of the environment/premises, curriculum implementation and teaching practice.

Little Monkeys Learning Centre

ERO’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.

ERO’s Judgement

Regulatory standards

ERO’s judgement

Curriculum

Meeting

Premises and facilities

Meeting

Health and safety

Meeting

Governance, management and administration

Meeting

Since the onsite visit the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed non-compliances and is now taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.

Background

Little Monkeys Learning Centre is one of two privately owned, all day early learning services in the local area. Governance is shared across the services. This is their first Akanuku ERO evaluation. Since the August 2017 ERO report there is a slight increase in Māori enrolments.

Summary of Review Findings

Children have access to a range of experiences and opportunities, appropriate for their individual learning needs and abilities.

The curriculum supports children’s developing social competence. Teachers engage in meaningful, positive interactions and children’s preferences are respected.

Parents and teachers have opportunities to contribute to the development and review of the service’s operation. Staff take reasonable steps to promote the health and safety of children and maintain the premises and facilities.

Actions for Compliance

Since the onsite visit the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliance:

  • ensuring six monthly fire evacuations are forwarded to Fire and Emergency NZ
    [Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, HS4]

Next ERO Review

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

30 April 2021 

Information About the Service

Early Childhood Service Name Little Monkeys Learning Centre
Profile Number 50113
Location Awapuni, Palmerston North

Service type

Education and care service

Number licensed for

30 children, including up to 12 aged under 2.

Percentage of qualified teachers

80%+

Service roll

29

Ethnic composition

Māori 9, NZ European/Pākehā 14, Pacific 3, Other ethnic groups 3

Review team on site

March 2021  

Date of this report

30 April 2021

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review, August 2017; Education Review, June 2015

General Information about Assurance Reviews

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.

ERO undertakes an Akanuku | Assurance Review process in any centre-based service:

  • 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.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

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 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:

  • 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 certification; ratios)
  • evacuation procedures and practices for fire and earthquake.

As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO also gathers and records evidence through:

  • discussions with those involved in the service
  • consideration of relevant documentation, including the implementation of health and safety systems
  • observations of the environment/premises, curriculum implementation and teaching practice.

Little Monkeys Learning Centre - 17/08/2017

1 Evaluation of Little Monkeys Learning Centre

How well placed is Little Monkeys Learning Centre to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Not well placed

Requires further development

Well placed

Very well placed

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

Background

Little Monkeys Learning Centre is one of two privately owned, all-day early learning services in Palmerston North, under the same management structure. The owner and head teacher work collaboratively to lead and manage these services. Consistent staffing over the past two years has been maintained and team leader positions established.

The centre is licensed for 30 children, including 12 aged up to two years. Of the 35 children enrolled, 13 are Māori and four are of Pacific heritage. There are separate spaces for infants and toddlers and for older children.

The June 2015 ERO report identified a number of areas for development. There have been significant improvements in strengthening governance, management and teaching practices. Improvement continues to be needed in developing Māori and Pacific children's language, culture and identity. This features as a key next step in this report.

The centre's vision and philosophy emphasise children's individuality, connections with whānau and community, and sustainable practices.

The Review Findings

Infants and toddlers lead their learning in a calm environment. They have a variety of age appropriate resources from which to choose. Teachers are responsive and effectively support children's emerging independence, self-help skills and oral language.

Children have good opportunities to be creative and follow their interests. Teachers share useful assessment information and document learning to support experiences in the planned programme. Strengthening the depth and range of teaching strategies that increase engagement, involvement and complexity of thinking is needed.

Removing barriers to families' participation and promoting access to the centre is a priority for management. Teachers work collaboratively with parents and external agencies to support children with additional learning needs.

A useful framework guides internal evaluation. Teachers give priority to change, share responsibility for these actions and monitor the impact of these actions. Next steps for developing this process should include:

  • clearer evaluative questions

  • identify measurable indicators of quality

  • collection of useful data and strengthening its analysis

  • ongoing monitoring of plans for improvement.

Transition to school processes need strengthening. A recent self review on transitions has resulted in improved information sharing with parents about local schools.

Leaders have identified that their bicultural curriculum is still developing. Improving shared understanding of culturally responsive practices and promoting language, culture and identity for Māori and Pacific children remains a key next step.

Annual planning and accountability processes have improved since the previous 2015 ERO review. A clear vision sets the direction for the service. Team leaders are well supported to build their professional capabilities. Defined expectations assist them in the day-to-day running of the centre.

Leaders and teachers are improvement focused and highly reflective. Management implements clear, useful systems for appraisal and teacher certification. A focus on outcomes for children is evident. Further areas to strengthen this process are:

  • setting more specific and challenging goals to grow teacher practice

  • targeting evidence to show clear progress against goals and the Practising Teacher Criteria

  • incorporating Tātaiako: Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners.

Key Next Steps

Leaders and ERO agree that the centre's priorities are to further develop and strengthen:

  • strategies for promoting the language, culture and identity of Māori and Pacific children

  • extending teaching practices that support complexity of children's learning

  • aspects of the teacher appraisal process to grow teacher capability

  • transition to school processes that assist children and families as they move to school

  • understanding of internal evaluation for improved outcomes for children.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Little Monkeys Learning 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.

Next ERO Review

When is ERO likely to review the service again?

The next ERO review of Little Monkeys Learning Centre will be in three years.

Alan Wynyard

Deputy Chief Review Officer Central (Acting)

17 August 2017 

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

Location

Palmerston North

Ministry of Education profile number

50113

Licence type

Education & Care Service

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

30 children, including up to 12 aged under 2

Service roll

35

Gender composition

Boys 18, Girls 17

Ethnic composition

Māori
Pākehā
Pacific

13
18
4

Percentage of qualified teachers

0-49% 50-79% 80%+

Based on funding rates

80% +

Reported ratios of staff to children

Under 2

1:3

Better than minimum requirements

Over 2

1:5

Better than minimum requirements

Review team on site

June 2017

Date of this report

17 August 2017

Most recent ERO report(s)

 

Education Review

June 2015

Education Review

July 2013

Education Review

May 2010

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.