Mangakahia Road, Maungatapere
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Maungatapere Playcentre is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Maungatapere Playcentre is an established parent-led early childhood education service next to Maungatapere School. The centre is licensed for 30 children including 15 under two years of age. It offers mixed age sessions two days each week. Many of the families live in the surrounding township and local area and most are new to the Playcentre. The centre operates as a parent cooperative and is part of the Playcentre Aotearoa national organisation.
Programmes for children are underpinned by the Playcentre philosophy of whānau and children learning together in a fun, nurturing learning environment. Whānau are recognised and valued as first educators of their children. Maungatapere centre members aim to provide their community with an inclusive service for adults and children to play, work, learn and grow together. Adult education programmes are offered to all parents who enrol their children at Playcentre. Qualifications gained through these programmes are required for sessions to receive funding.
The good practices recognised in the 2016 ERO report have been maintained and areas for development addressed. Self review has been strengthened and a new format for strategic and annual planning has been introduced.
A new regional structure for Playcentre Aotearoa came into effect in June 2019. Regional staff are responsible for establishing effective management systems to support each centre. Support personnel visit centres regularly to carry out administrative tasks and model effective teaching, programme planning and evaluation practices for centre members.
This review was part of a cluster of six playcentre reviews in the Playcentre Aotearoa, Northern North Island Region.
Children are happy, confident learners. They play in a calm, spacious and well-resourced environment that supports their learning and creativity. Parents/whānau provide opportunities that foster learning and enable children to sustain their play. Warm respectful, relationships are nurtured, and a strong sense of community is evident.
Parents/whānau provide a welcoming, family orientated and inclusive play-based programme. Children explore and make choices, encouraged by adults who facilitate child-led learning. The natural outdoor area offers many opportunities for sensory play and physical challenge. Oral language is nurtured through conversation, and opportunities for children to use literacy, numeracy and science are woven into play.
Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, is visible in the centre programme. A stronger focus on recognising children's learning is being encouraged, and good practices are being modelled by more experienced Playcentre members. Leaders are considering how assessment documentation in the 'daybook' and portfolios can show the progression of learning over time.
Parents/whānau are committed to building their bicultural practice. In-centre leaders are promoting the inclusion of te reo and tikanga Māori. Adults' participation in professional development is developing their bicultural knowledge and confidence.
The centre employs an experienced early childhood teacher who is supported by a core group of enthusiastic parents/whānau. Centre members are developing consultative internal evaluation systems. Recent reviews have resulted in improvements in the environment and resources. Ongoing review is focused on improving programme planning processes. Centre members continue to review and refine current practices with a focus on ongoing improvement.
Centre members are eager to ensure the sustainability of the centre and the Playcentre philosophy. New families are provided with good information to support transitions into the centre. Experienced members support others to develop their confidence and skills as educators. Leadership roles are distributed, and individual strengths and talents are recognised. Building membership and continuing education for all parents is an ongoing priority.
Key next steps for centre members are to continue to:
refine and develop programme planning and evaluation processes
encourage and support adult education programmes for new members.
The regional manager and support personnel agree that key next steps for the region include:
providing targeted support for centre members to establish effective strategic and annual planning, with links to the long-term goals of Playcentre Aotearoa
implementing and embedding the revised Playcentre adult education programme
evaluating the effectiveness and impact of the personnel who are employed to support centres
establishing effective programme planning and evaluation processes that support and extend the learning of all children.
Before the review, the staff and management of Maungatapere 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.
Steve Tanner
Director Review and Improvement Services Northern
Northern Region
31 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.
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Location |
Maungatapere |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
17670 |
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Licence type |
Playcentre |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
30 children, including up to 15 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
24 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 15 Girls 9 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
5 |
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|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:3 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:3 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
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Review team on site |
June 2019 |
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Date of this report |
31 July 2019 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
June 2016 |
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|
Education Review |
June 2013 |
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Education Review |
March 2009 |
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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.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Maungatapere Playcentre is a parent-led early childhood education service next to Maungatapere School, about 15 minutes from Whangarei. The centre provides three morning sessions each week for children from birth to school age and centre currently caters for 38 children from 27 families who live in the surrounding township and rural areas. Many of the families are relatively new to Playcentre.
The centre is part of the Northland Playcentre Association, which is managed by officers elected by centre members. The Association provides a framework for centre management and operations, as well as parent education programmes and personnel to support centre members in their management, educator and parenting roles.
Playcentre Aotearoa, the national organisation, is currently in the process of a comprehensive restructure. A regional hub will be established to provide governance, management and parent education support for Playcentres north of Auckland. While this will mean significant changes at the local level, it is expected that support for individual centres will be maintained or strengthened.
Maungatapere Playcentre members have recently developed a new mission statement. They aim to provide their community with an inclusive environment for adults and children to play, work, learn and grow together. The new statement and the programmes that centre members provide for children are underpinned by the overarching Playcentre philosophy and Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum.
ERO’s 2013 review emphasised the significance of whānau relationships and involvement in children’s learning, in a welcoming and inclusive environment. ERO suggested that centre members strengthen their self-review, and review the effectiveness of programme planning processes. The Association and centre leaders continue to support newer families to make progress in these areas.
This review was part of a cluster of four playcentre reviews in the Northland Playcentre Association.
Friendly and caring relationships amongst families and a welcoming, inclusive atmosphere contribute to children’s sense of belonging and wellbeing at the centre. More experienced centre members provide good support for new families. There is a positive sense of community and connectedness.
The centre grounds are spacious and well resourced with a variety of creative materials and activities. This year, centre members have created an outdoor mud kitchen and clay pit to expand opportunities for children’s natural, imaginative and sensory play. They have also improved the layout of the indoor learning environment and ensured that there is appropriate space for babies’ learning.
Programmes for children offer many opportunities for physical challenge. Whānau promote positive attitudes to natural outdoor environments, physical activity and healthy food. Children explore freely, make choices about their play, and are closely supported by adults who know them well.
Playcentre’s ‘whānau tupu ngātahi’ philosophical approach is reflected in centre members’ commitment to incorporating bicultural practices in programmes for their children. There is strong in-centre leadership for this focus as well as support from an Association kaiawhina. Parents/whānau are becoming more confident to include te reo and waiata Māori incidentally in sessions. Te Roopu Whakaaro Kotahi is being re-established to support whānau Māori in the Association.
The centre is managed and led by a core group of enthusiastic parents/whānau who share a commitment to supporting local families and providing well for their children’s learning. Centre member families contribute a variety of skills and expertise to managing, maintaining and improving the centre, and to implementing programmes for children.
Parents/whānau use a day book to record what they notice about children’s play and emerging interests and to identify next steps to support learning. They have a variety of useful ways of recording individual children’s learning and involvement in programme activities. Some individual children’s portfolios tell the story of their learning and developing personalities and characteristics very well. These can be used as a model for newer centre members to follow. As they increase their levels of training, parents/whānau report that the quality of support for children’s learning improves and the adults’ enjoyment of their roles as educators also increases.
Centre members have established useful informal and formal self-review processes that have helped them to make improvements for children. A positive feature of this group is their frequent consideration of ways to refine their practices. Through this review and development, systems and practices become more useful and manageable for the parent group and learning experiences for children can be enhanced.
The Northland Playcentre Association supports the centres well. The board of management communicates effectively and has responded positively to the need for flexible options in the parent education programme. Centre support workers tailor their support hours and focus to match centre needs. They are keen to further enhance the effectiveness of their centre visits. The Association has embraced the imminent restructuring of the national Playcentre body and is preparing centres well for the impending changes.
Next steps for building on long-established foundations and recent positive developments, include continuing to:
improve connections between what parents notice about children’s play, planning for their next steps and extending learning
encourage whānau to share understandings about and support for all children’s learning and developing independence
strengthen self-review, as well as strategic and annual planning, to support ongoing development in the quality of programmes for children.
ERO recommends that the Association and or the new regional manager and officers consider ways to strengthen the formative and evaluative nature of centre support workers’ visits and reports in order to:
provide greater assurance about the quality of support for children’s learning
establish the effectiveness and impact of the personnel who are employed to support centres
ensure that self-review processes provide clear guidance for centre office holders and support the continuity and sustainability of centre operations
provide targeted support for centre members to establish effective strategic and annual planning.
Before the review, the staff and management of Maungatapere 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:
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.
The next ERO review of Maungatapere Playcentre will be in three years.
Graham Randell
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern
21 June 2016
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 |
Maungatapere, Northland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
17670 |
||
|
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 |
38 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys 23 Girls 15 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Chinese |
6 31 1 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
0-49% |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:3 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:3 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
March 2016 |
||
|
Date of this report |
21 June 2016 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
June 2013 |
|
|
Education Review |
November 2009 |
||
|
Education Review |
March 2006 |
||
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 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.