Busy Bees Kerikeri Nursery

Education institution number:
10206
Service type:
Education and Care Service
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
38
Telephone:
Address:

19 Hone Heke Road, Kerikeri

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New Beginnings Infant and Toddler Centre - 01/11/2019

ERO’s Judgement

Regulatory standards
ERO’s judgement

Curriculum

Meeting

Premises and facilities

Meeting

Health and safety

Meeting

Governance, management and administration

Meeting

At the time of the review, ERO found the service was taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.

Background

New Beginnings Infant and Toddler Centre is one of two Kerikeri services owned by the nationwide Provincial Education Group. It is licensed for 42 children, including 25 under two years of age. Newbees Preschool caters for older children.

The centre is supported by a regional manager. The manager is assisted by a head teacher. There are nine qualified teachers, including the head teacher, and five unregistered teachers. A cook and van driver are employed for both centres.

This is the first ERO review since the change of ownership.

Summary of Review Findings

Programmes for children are consistent with Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. They respond to children’s interests and their parents’ aspirations. Environments support a range of appropriate indoor and outdoor learning experiences. Children have access to a sufficient quantity of equipment and resources. Positive interactions with teachers enable children to be involved in decisions about their own learning. Children have opportunities to gain an understanding of the cultural heritage of both parties to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

The service is managed effectively, and guided by its philosophy, annual plan and policies. Internal evaluation, including consultation with parents, guides improvement. Systems are in place to promote children’s health and safety.

Key Next Steps

Next steps include:

  • strengthening evaluation, including programme evaluation, so that it identifies areas for ongoing improvement and the impact of changes made on outcomes for children.

Next ERO Review

The next ERO review is likely to be an Education Review.

Steve Tanner

Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)

Northern Region | Te Tai Raki

1 November 2019

Information About the Service

Early Childhood Service Name

New Beginnings Infant and Toddler Centre

Profile Number

10206

Location

Kerikeri

Service type

Education and care service

Number licensed for

42 children, including up to 25 aged under 2

Percentage of qualified teachers

80%+

Reported ratio of adults to children under 2

1:4 - Better than regulatory standards

Reported ratio of adults to children over 2

1:8 - Better than regulatory standards

Service roll

48

Gender composition

Boys 23 Female 25

Ethnic composition

Māori 25
NZ European/Pākehā 18
other ethnic groups 5

Review team on site

October 2019

Date of this report

1 November 2019

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review November 2014
Education Review March 2011

General Information about Assurance Reviews

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.

ERO undertakes an Assurance Review process in any centre-based service:

  • having its first ERO review – including if it is part of a governing organisation
  • previously identified as ‘not well placed’ or ‘requiring further development’
  • that has moved from a provisional to a full licence
  • that have been re-licenced due to a change of ownership
  • where an Assurance Review process is determined to be appropriate.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

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:

  • curriculum
  • premises and facilities
  • health and safety practices
  • governance, management and administration.

As part of an 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:

  • 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 certification; ratios)
  • evacuation procedures and practices for fire and earthquake.

As part of an Assurance Review ERO also gathers and records evidence through:

  • discussions with those involved in the service
  • consideration of relevant documentation, including the implementation of health and safety systems
  • observations of the environment/premises, curriculum implementation and teaching practice.

New Beginnings Infant and Toddler Centre - 16/11/2014

1 Evaluation of Sylvan House Early Childhood Centre

How well placed is Sylvan House Early Childhood Centre to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Not well placed

Requires further development

Well placed

Very well placed

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

Background

Sylvan House is a well established centre that provides care and education for children up to three years old. Children transition into nearby Lanark House, owned and managed by the same licensee and manager, to continue with their early childhood education.

Since the 2011 ERO review two staff members have been promoted to new leadership roles. This leadership structure has resulted in some streamlining of centre management. A new centre manager oversees the two centres’ operations and administration. The supervisor manages daily operations. Her role includes oversight of the curriculum and its delivery and professional mentoring of staff.

Nearly all of the staff are new to this centre. Most are qualified early childhood teachers and some are training towards an early childhood education qualification.

The centre’s philosophy is aligned with Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, and acknowledges a strong commitment to the Treaty of Waitangi. Aspects of te reo and tikanga Māori are included naturally in the programme.

Little progress has been made in the areas identified for review and development in the 2011 ERO report. This is particularly evident in some areas that can have a significant impact in improving outcomes for children. These areas include teacher appraisal, self review and the provision of suitable resources to challenge and develop children’s interests, strengths and physical skills.

The Review Findings

Children play happily and have a strong sense of belonging in the centre. Māori children and their families experience an environment that is welcoming. There are visible symbols of Māori culture and teachers use te reo Māori confidently in the programme.

The free flow of play allows children to move with ease into the outdoors. Children are able to make independent choices about their play. Children’s self esteem is fostered through positive relationships and interactions with each other and with adults.

Teachers use children’s interests and strengths as the starting point for planning how to promote their learning and development. Individual children’s portfolios provide evidence of their learning experiences. Parents also contribute to their children’s learning through the informal chats they have with teachers during drop off and pick up times. Some parents involve themselves in the daily programme by sharing their skills and talents.

Infants and toddlers have a separate room for play and explorations. Teachers in this room are affectionate and provide children with experiences that promote their exploration and language development. Teachers would benefit from further professional learning on infant and toddler education to help them build their capacity to design programmes for this particular age group.

Parents interviewed by ERO express their appreciation of centre staff. They describe staff as genuinely caring and helpful. Parents feel welcomed and are well informed about what is happening for their children. They can approach any staff member for support or further discussions. These approaches help promote centre/whānau partnerships.

A key feature of the centre is the large outdoor area. Here, children are able to explore and physically express themselves in creative ways. The older children are helping to develop the outdoor environment to enhance their play. Children have started by planting some small trees and shrubs. It is timely now for the owner to renew some of the tired looking outdoor equipment and replenish both the indoor and outdoor resources. Providing a greater variety of good quality resources would challenge and extend children’s play.

In 2013 the centre manager resigned, which was a great loss to this community. The two new leaders have managed this difficult situation well. Through this transition phase they have ensured that administrative systems are current and meet regulatory requirements, and that teachers have access to professional development to improve and support their teaching practice.

Key Next Steps

The centre manager is very reflective about how the centre can continue to improve. Together with the centre supervisor she agrees that next steps for development include:

  • establishing a good understanding of their respective roles, and developing their individual capacity to carry out these responsibilities
  • maintaining effective financial systems which include an annual budget that clearly identifies anticipated income and expenditure in order to help ensure that the centre is better resourced
  • developing strategic and annual plans, formally documenting key actions for meeting the centre’s goals and addressing ERO’s recommendations
  • strengthening self-review processes to more effectively guide centre improvements, teaching practices and strategic directions
  • developing appraisal processes that support teacher growth and helps qualified teachers to meet the registered teacher criteria.

To improve programmes for children, teachers should strengthen their assessment and planning and evaluation processes. They should review portfolios so that these become a more useful record of the individual child's learning journey and of teachers' partnerships with whānau. They could also consider how to build their knowledge about mathematical concepts and strengthen the integration of incidental learning about mathematics into children’s play.

Recommendation

The owner, centre manager and supervisor should establish a clear organisation and management structure that is built on shared understandings and that contributes to more effective, cohesive and sustainable practices across the two centres.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Sylvan House Early Childhood Centre 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 Sylvan House Early Childhood Centre will be in three years.

Dale Bailey

National Manager Review Services Northern Region

14 November 2014

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

Location

Kerikeri

Ministry of Education profile number

10206

Licence type

Education & Care Service

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

42 children, including up to 25 aged under 2

Service roll

34

Gender composition

Boys 19 Girls 15

Ethnic composition

Māori

NZ European/Pākehā

Pacific

other

20

9

3

2

Percentage of qualified teachers

0-49% 50-79% 80%

Based on funding rates

80%

Reported ratios of staff to children

Under 2

1:4

Better than minimum requirements

 

Over 2

1:6

Better than minimum requirements

Review team on site

August 2014

Date of this report

14 November 2014

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review

March 2011

 

Education Review

December 2007

 

Education Review

June 2004

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.