4 Broadway, Mangaweka
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 |
Not meeting |
At the time of the review, ERO identified non-compliance with regulatory standards that must be addressed.
Mangaweka Playcentre is a rural centre administered by Te Whānau Tupu Ngātahi o Aotearoa – Playcentre Aotearoa. The February 2020 ERO report identified non compliances with regulatory standards that required addressing. The service has responded positively and progress is evident.
Philosophy statements guide centre practices. Children make decisions about their own learning and their choices are respected. New assessment, planning and evaluation processes inform the curriculum.
The service curriculum provides a language-rich environment that supports children learning. Children hear te reo Māori and have opportunities to develop an understanding of the cultural heritage of both parties to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
An annual plan guides centre operation. The premises and facilities are resourced to provide for the learning abilities of the children attending.
During a recent restructure period Playcentre Aotearoa regional centre-facing staff have not been appraised.
ERO found areas of non-compliance in the service relating to:
[Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, GMA7]
Since the onsite visit the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows heavy furniture, fixtures and equipment that could fall or topple and cause serious injury or damage have been secured. [HS6]
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
10 May 2021
| Early Childhood Service Name | Mangaweka Playcentre |
| Profile Number | 51008 |
| Location | Mangaweka |
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Service type |
Playcentre |
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Number licensed for |
30 children, including up to 15 aged under 2. |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
0-49% |
|
Service roll |
14 |
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori 6, NZ European/Pākehā 7, Other ethnic groups 1. |
|
Review team on site |
March 2021 |
|
Date of this report |
10 May 2021 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, February 2020; Education Review, June 2016. |
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 |
Mangaweka Playcentre requires further development to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
Mangaweka Playcentre requires further development so that Playcentre Aotearoa, leaders and parents ensure compliance with all health and safety licensing requirements, as outlined in the Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Services 2008.
Mangaweka Playcentre is licensed to provide mixed-age sessional education and care for 30 children two days a week. This includes 15 children up to the age of two years. At the time of this review, there are 17 children enrolled and nine identify as Māori.
The Playcentre Aotearoa philosophy, ‘whānau tupu ngātahi – families growing together’, is to 'empower parents and children to learn, play and grow together'. Alongside this, the Mangaweka Playcentre philosophy promotes parents as first teacher, learning together and inclusive practices.
Since the June 2016 ERO report, the New Zealand Playcentre Federation has restructured by amalgamating all associations to form Playcentre Aotearoa. Mangaweka Playcentre is part of the Lower North Island Region and is supported by a regional manager and support persons.
Whānau and families share responsibility for the curriculum. Day-to-day operation is undertaken by session support personnel and centre-elected office holders. A centre support worker and centre administrator regularly visit playcentres to provide professional support, strengthen practice and promote improvement.
The previous ERO report identified priorities for improvement in relation to: internal evaluation; appraisal; Te Tiriti o Waitangi practices; and practices that support sustainability of operation. Members have made progress in strengthening these areas.
This review was part of a cluster of 11 playcentre reviews in the Lower North Island Region.
Building all members' understanding of self review for accountability to ensure all legislative requirements are met is a key next step. Members should be supported by Playcentre Aotearoa to build knowledge and understandings of policies and procedures and support systematic monitoring of these to ensure licensing requirements are upheld.
The philosophy is highly evident in practice. Children lead their own learning and engage confidently in the programme. Carefully planned learning experiences engage and sustain their interest. Adults work alongside children and model social skills and respectful practice. They support children to be self managing, to take risks and to problem solve. Children's play is valued.
Ongoing observation of children in everyday activities builds a picture of what they are interested in and can do. Adults are using this information well to provide activities and experiences that successfully extend children's learning.
Children up to two years play alongside their older friends. Tuakana teina relationships are evident as children learn from one another. A designated area is available for infants and toddlers to explore.
Members have worked collaboratively to strengthen their practice in relation to the Treaty of Waitangi. Te ao Māori is reflected in the environment and playcentre resources. Rich examples of te reo Māori feature in children's learning stories. Adults are continuing to strengthen their spontaneous use of kupu Māori during playcentre sessions.
Internal evaluation is ongoing and has contributed to members making progress in addressing the key next steps in the previous report. However, members are not yet working effectively to ensure children's safety and wellbeing. Further work is required to ensure that expectations of practice in relation to the implementation of the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 are consistently applied.
The revised parent education programme is becoming more accessible to centre members. At this playcentre, members show commitment to teaching and learning that contributes to positive learning outcomes for children. Parents are actively engaging with the Playcentre Aotearoa education programme and are making progress towards appropriate qualifications.
Appraisal processes for session support staff have recently been strengthened to better evaluate performance in relation to specific roles and responsibilities, identify professional learning and development needs and focus on achievement of goals.
The national restructuring process continues to require significant attention and support to implement an extensive range of systems and processes. Regular communication from Playcentre Aotearoa seeks to keep parents informed of progress, changes and upcoming requirements.
National policies and procedures have recently been introduced and parents are in the process of aligning practices to these. Ongoing support is required to enable parents to understand and implement these procedures to meet licensing requirements.
Members and ERO agree that adults should continue to support and strengthen children's understanding of te reo Māori.
Playcentre Aotearoa should continue to build knowledge and understandings of policies and procedures and support systematic monitoring of these to ensure licensing requirements are upheld.
Before the review, the staff and management of Mangaweka Playcentre 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 areas of non-compliance relating to health and safety and governance and management. To meet requirements the service needs to improve its performance in the following areas:
adults are familiar with the relevant emergency drills and carry these out with the children on at least a three-monthly basis
records show the emergency drills carried out and evidence of how evaluation of the drills has informed an annual review of the service's emergency plan
whenever children leave the premises on an excursion an appropriate assessment and management of risk is undertaken
parents have given prior written approval to their child's participation in an excursion including of the proposed ratio
adults supervising children while eating must sit with the children, so attention is on the children and not on completing other tasks
records of all injuries and incidents that occur at the service show that parents have been informed and are reviewed regularly
medicine is not given to children without the written authority of a parent and evidence of parental acknowledgement of administration should be recorded. [Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, HS8; HS17; HS22; HS27; HS28]
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.
Darcy Te Hau Acting
Director Review and Improvement Services
Central Region - Te Tai Pūtahi Nui
27 February 2020
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 |
Mangaweka |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
51008 |
||
|
Licence type |
Playcentre |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
30 children, including up to 15 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
17 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Female 11, Male 6 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori |
9 |
|
|
Reported ratios of adults to children |
Under 2 |
1:2 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:5 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
November 2019 |
||
|
Date of this report |
27 February 2020 |
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|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
June 2016 |
|
|
Education Review |
March 2014 |
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|
Education Review |
November 2012 |
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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.