Mt Roskill Kindergarten - 02/06/2017

• On this page:

• 1 Evaluation of Mt Roskill Kindergarten
• 2 Information about the Early Childhood Service 
• 3 General Information about Early Childhood Reviews

How well placed is Mt Roskill Kindergarten to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

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

Background

Mt Roskill Kindergarten is a well established service that offers six-hour daily sessions for a community that is increasingly culturally diverse. The roll includes children from 17 different cultures, including a small number of Māori children.

The head teacher is an experienced educator and leads the teaching team of four qualified teachers, a teacher aide and a teaching assistant. Teachers speak seven different languages. This feature allows for good communication with children and their families.

The kindergarten has sustained and built on the positive practices outlined in ERO's 2014 report. Teachers have responded well to the next steps identified in the 2014 report and have made significant progress in all areas.

The kindergarten's philosophy highlights the importance of positive relationships, building partnerships and empowering children and their families. It promotes manaakitanga and whakaute, kindness and respect, as key values for children and adults, alongside bicultural and culturally responsive teaching practices.

The kindergarten is part of the Auckland Kindergarten Association (AKA), which provides a governance and management framework and support personnel, in a range of different roles.

This review was part of a cluster of nine kindergarten reviews in the Auckland Kindergarten Association.

The Review Findings

Children play and learn in an interesting and very well resourced learning environment. The indoor space reflects children's various cultural backgrounds, and promotes children's bicultural heritage in Aotearoa New Zealand. Teachers promote te reo Māori and tikanga in different ways throughout the environment and the programme. Children and their families are warmly welcomed at the start of the day and children are free to explore and play in areas of their choice.

Teachers promote respectful relationships with children, parents and whānau. Their use of various home languages, alongside useful English language-learning approaches, supports children and their families and helps them feel secure and settled. Teachers create learning partnerships with parents by seeking and responding to the ideas and aspirations that parents have for their children. They respond very well to children's interests and involve them in decision making.

Teachers implement a child-initiated programme. As skilled and capable practitioners they recognise and respond to children's dispositions and emerging interests. Teachers involve children in decisions about their play and learning. These good practices support children's confidence and provide space for them to be inquisitive. Together children and teachers make very good use of the environment for physical challenge, exploration and creativity.

Teachers work very well together. They recognise and value each other's strengths and share the responsibility for all children's education and care. Teachers provide good support for children with special learning needs and engage well with their parents and specialist workers. They plan programmes that combine mathematics, science and literacy learning.

Teachers are highly responsive to professional learning. They make very good use of research and internal evaluation to inquire into and improve their practice. They welcome critique from each other, their head teacher and AKA curriculum specialist. The head teacher provides effective leadership for the teaching team. She promotes collaboration and empowers teachers to be leaders within the kindergarten. Teachers' appraisals align well with the kindergarten's strategic plan and goals.

Kindergarten operations are guided by a comprehensive strategic plan and a shared vision, linked to the AKA’s strategic goals. A quality improvement process (QIP) also aligns with AKA and kindergarten strategic plans. It enables the AKA and teachers to monitor quality and promote ongoing improvement. The AKA continues to review its management and leadership structure. It has begun a process of internal evaluation to establish how effectively the four pillars of its strategic plan are resulting in more positive outcomes for children, their families, and the organisation.

Key Next Steps

Teachers have identified appropriate next steps, which include deepening bicultural practices and strengthening approaches that enhance children's early childhood educational experiences.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Mt Roskill Kindergarten 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 Mt Roskill Kindergarten will be in four years.

Steffan Brough

Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)

2 June 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 

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.