Mother's Nest

1 Evaluation of Mother's Nest

How well placed is Mother's Nest to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Mother's Nest is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

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

Background

Mother's Nest is a privately owned home-based standard network. It provides education and care for up to 80 children with a maximum of 50 up to the age of two years. The majority of children enrolled come from Asian backgrounds. Three percent are Māori and seven percent have Pacific heritage.

A manager and two coordinators lead the service. They are all qualified early childhood teachers. Educators care for up to four children at a time in their own homes. Some of the educators are also family members of the children in their care. Most of the educators speak languages other than English and are able to support children's home languages and cultures. Coordinators visit each educator monthly to provide teaching and learning support.

The service's philosophy is based on growing healthy minds and bodies for children. Each child is viewed as precious, requiring a nurturing and safe learning environment. Supporting emotional, physical, social, cognitive and creative growth are key features of the philosophy.

This is the service's first ERO review.

The Review Findings

Children are affirmed in their cultural identities and home languages, which supports their wellbeing and reflects the service's philosophy. They receive nurturing and care from educators who know them well. Small group sizes allow time for positive interactions with their caregivers. Children up to two years of age are well supported and encouraged to achieve personal development milestones.

The service provides a wide range of resources to support and extend children's learning. Coordinators and educators initiate meaningful interactions with children that promote their confidence as learners. Coordinators provide and model teaching strategies to enhance children's engagement in learning.

Coordinators and educators plan individual programmes based on children's interests, strengths and abilities. Children's portfolios demonstrate how coordinators and educators respond to each child and support deeper learning. Parent and whānau aspirations are incorporated well into the programme. Parent and whānau relationships with coordinators and educators are supported through open communication that reflects mutual respect and reciprocity.

Coordinators organise regular playgroups for educators, children, parents and whānau. These gatherings provide opportunities for socialising and networking. They could be used to extend educators' knowledge and skills.

The service is responsive and inclusive to all children and their whānau. Coordinators demonstrate a commitment to equitable outcomes for all children. While bicultural practices are evident, the service's commitment to te ao and te reo Māori could be made more visible through its philosophy and documentation.

A clear vision, an up-to-date policy framework and a cycle of review have been established. However, the service would benefit from a stronger strategic direction. An appraisal process for educators has recently been developed and now needs to be implemented. The manager and coordinators could make stronger use of their policy and templates to strengthen internal evaluation.

Key Next Steps

Key next steps for ongoing improvement include:

• implementing a process for evaluating programmes that examines how effectively curriculum planning supports children's learning progress

• working in partnership with parents and whānau to establish a localised curriculum

• reviewing coordinators' appraisal process so that it aligns with Teaching Council requirements

• establishing ways for educators to record their learning and development over time.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Mother's Nest 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:

• 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.

Steve Tanner

Director Review and Improvement Services Northern

Northern Region

11 September 2019

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 Home-based Education and Care Service

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 the draft methodology for ERO reviews in Home-based Education and Care Services: July 2014

ERO’s Overall Judgement

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.

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.