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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Nurture Me 2 is one of three homebased education and care networks owned by the service provider in the greater Auckland area. It caters for children from infancy to school age. Educators provide programmes in their homes for up to four children at a time. Children come mainly from Pākehā and Pacific backgrounds with the majority of Pacific children being Kiribati. There is a smaller group of Māori children. The service's roll continues to grow.
The director is a qualified early childhood teacher and an experienced manager. The visiting teachers are registered early childhood teachers. They offer support for educators, plan child-based education programmes and monitor health and safety requirements. Key aspects of the service's philosophy are play-based learning in a home environment and partnerships with whānau.
This is the first ERO review for Nurture Me 2. Managers have responded positively to the areas for development identified in ERO's 2017 review of the first Nurture Me network.
Learning records show that infants and toddlers benefit from individualised and nurturing care. Educators and visiting teachers know the children well. Respectful, responsive relationships nurture children's wellbeing and belonging. Educators offer a wide variety of educational experiences in their homes and in the community. The child-focused programmes are responsive to children's interests and ideas. Home environments often reflect the child's cultural identity. Visiting teachers and educators encourage children to use their home languages.
Visiting teachers work collaboratively with educators to plan programmes in authentic homebased learning experiences. During regular visits, they document learning experiences and offer useful strategies to further extend children's learning and increase the complexity of their play. Children respond enthusiastically to the visiting teachers' visits. They enjoy the toy library as well as other resources that the visiting teachers bring to extend children's learning. Visiting teachers model inclusive teaching practice, and encourage the ongoing use of te reo and tikanga Māori in the homes.
Children's learning programmes are underpinned by Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. Visiting teachers and educators value the relationships they have with parents, who express high levels of satisfaction with the care and education received by their children. Children's learning and development are recorded and shared in good quality portfolios and digital learning stories. Daily journals inform parents of their children's progress. Strategies to translate key documents into multiple languages have strengthened access to information and reciprocal partnerships, particularly with the Kiribati community.
Playgroups provide opportunities for children to socialise with their peers. Educators have developed exploratory play kits for infants and toddlers, using resources in the home.
The director is an active participant in the service. She works collaboratively with the visiting teachers. They are focused on increasing educators' knowledge and educational outcomes for children. The director ensures teachers and educators have access to regular and useful professional learning opportunities.
An effective review cycle ensures ongoing improvement. A comprehensive induction process and appraisal system are in place to support visiting teachers and educators to reflect on and improve their own practice. Robust health and safety systems are established and being monitored.
The director has a commitment to maintaining a high quality homebased education service. The philosophy and vision are evident across the service. The director is supported by a mentor whose expertise and influence is building professional knowledge across the service.
Service managers agree that key next steps are to continue:
strengthening bicultural understandings, with a focus on the languages and cultural identities of children and their families
developing programme planning with the educators to extend children's learning
developing a critically evaluative lens to help strengthen teaching and learning.
Before the review, the staff and management of Nurture Me 2 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:
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 Nurture Me 2 will be in three years.
Julie Foley
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)
Te Tai Raki - Northern Region
28 June 2018
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 |
Rosedale, Auckland |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
46811 |
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Institution type |
Homebased Network |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
80 children, including up to 80 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
78 |
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Standard or Quality Funded |
Standard |
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Gender composition |
Boys 39 Girls 39 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
13 |
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Number of qualified coordinators in the network |
2 |
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Required ratios of staff educators to children |
Under 2 |
1:2 |
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Over 2 |
1:4 |
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Review team on site |
May 2018 |
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Date of this report |
28 June 2018 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
No previous ERO reports |
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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:
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
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.