Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Lollipops Educare Vickery Street is a full-day, licensed education and care service located in Te Rapa, Hamilton. It is licensed to cater for 75 children, including 25 children up to the age of 2 in four age-based areas. At the time of this ERO review there were 75 children on the roll, including 9 children who identified as Māori. The centre is providing education and care for families in the industrial area from several different ethnicities.
Since the 2012 Education Review the centre has experienced two changes of ownership and is now owned by Evolve. The centre operates under the governance and management of the Lollipops organisation who place priority on the provision of high-quality services and positive learning outcomes for children and their families. The centre continues to be managed under the same leadership.
The centre has sustained its areas of strengths identified in the previous ERO report and has responded positively to the identified areas for development related to reporting and clarifying leadership roles and responsibilities.
The centre exceeds Ministry of Education requirements teacher qualification and adult to children ratios.
The service places priority on respectful and nurturing relationships with children and their family/whānau. They aim to foster wonder and curiosity for life-long learning.
The centre is well placed to promote positive learning and care outcomes for children and their family/whānau because of:
Children enjoy and participate in a programme that identifies and responds to their interests and strengths. The learning environment is well designed to promote active learning and enables children to make choices, explore, take risks and experiment from a wide range of high-quality, opened-ended equipment and materials.
The curriculum places priority on the provision of natural resources, flexible routines that respond to children’s needs, and the integration of literacy and mathematics. Teachers are increasingly including te reo and tikanga Māori in meaningful contexts of children’s play.
Children’s learning and development is recorded in individual profile books and attractive centre displays. Families are encouraged to share their views and aspirations for their children. There are some good models of assessment and planning. This information is being effectively used to inform teacher planning for the environment, and identify opportunities teachers provide for children.
Children up to the age of two experience calm, peaceful and unhurried nurture and care, which is influenced by the Pikler philosophy. This approach places importance on a primary care teacher who has particular oversight and responsibility for identified infants and toddlers and their families. Babies and toddlers are confident and are encouraged to grow and develop at their own pace.
Teachers consistently involve themselves in children's play in well-planned and prepared environments. They have established positive, respectful relationships with families/whānau and children. Teachers have many conversations with children that promote their oral language development, problem solving and social skills.
Effective leadership for this centre is evidenced by:
While self review is leading to improvement at all levels of centre operations, it would be more effective by setting clear and specific expectations for practice and making greater use of Ministry of Education resources and guidelines.
ERO have identified the need to further review and refine assessment, planning and evaluation practice. Development should include:
Before the review, the staff and management of Lollipops Educare Vickery Street 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.
The next ERO review of Lollipops Educare Vickery Street will be in three years.
Dale Bailey
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern
26 June 2015
Location |
Te Rapa, Hamilton |
||
Ministry of Education profile number |
45519 |
||
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
Number licensed for |
75 children, including up to 35 aged under 2 |
||
Service roll |
75 |
||
Gender composition |
Girls 44 Boys 31 |
||
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā |
9 66 |
|
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 |
1:8 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Review team on site |
April 2015 |
||
Date of this report |
26 June 2015 |
||
Most recent ERO report(s) |
First review as Lollipops Educare Vickery Street |
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:
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 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:
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.