- ERO evaluates and reports on the education and care of children and young people in early childhood services and schools.
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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.
Oranga Kindergarten is licensed to provide care and education for up to 40 children aged over two years. Families have the option of enrolling their children for morning sessions or for a full kindergarten day that is similar to school hours. Children who attend come from a wide range cultural backgrounds.
Four qualified teachers are led by a newly appointed head teacher, and are supported by a teaching assistant and a teacher aide.
The kindergarten's philosophy promotes relationships. The teaching team is committed to providing a welcoming culture, inclusive of all children and families, from the richly diverse community. Teachers actively promote the bicultural nature of Aotearoa, through the learning programme and kindergarten operations.
The very positive 2014 ERO report identified several areas of good practice, including the confident, settled children and strong partnerships between teachers and families. Teachers were seen to be skilfully guiding children's learning and working as a collaborative team.
Areas identified in the 2014 report for continued refinement were self-review and teachers' bicultural development. There has been some good progress in these areas.
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.
Children play together in social groups. They enjoy opportunities for imaginative play and play co-operatively together for good periods of time. Friendships amongst children are evident.
Children enjoy being creative and playing in the expansive outdoor area. Teachers play alongside children and take advantage of some opportunities to promote further learning. The programme provides numerous opportunities for children to go on excursions into the local community and to visit places of interest.
Parents who spoke with ERO appreciated the way they had been warmly welcomed into the kindergarten. Teachers work well with individual children and their families to help them settle into the programme.
Teachers' commitment to promoting bi-cultural practices in the programme and in centre operations is highly visible. The language, culture and identities of children are celebrated. The indoor environment has been the subject of recent review and areas of play have been newly established.
Teachers regularly identify groups of children for more in depth assessment. They work together to produce information for parents of these children, showing their child's learning and development over time. Learning stories record children's participation in the programme and are linked to the six key areas of learning, established in consultation with whānau.
The head teacher has begun to document guidelines for programme planning. With the teaching team now established, teachers will need time to work together and develop shared understandings of how they can utilise their skills to ensure quality practices are implemented. To support the head teacher in her new role, an action plan has been developed.
An effective system for conducting internal evaluation is followed by staff. This could be strengthened by focussing more on positive outcomes for children.
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.
Teachers agree that, to enhance their provision for children's learning, they should:
continue to develop and refine a system of documenting programme planning and evaluation, based on teachers' identification of children's interests and strengths
use effective questioning that encourages more complex thinking in children
consider how effectively the layout and resourcing of the kindergarten supports children to become engaged in, and sustain their play
build deeper understandings of the purpose of internal evaluation.
Before the review, the staff and management of Oranga 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:
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 Oranga Kindergarten will be in three years.
Steffan Brough
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)
7 June 2017
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 |
Onehunga, Auckland |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
5554 |
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Licence type |
Free Kindergarten |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
40 children, over 2 years of age |
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Service roll |
53 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 28 Girls 25 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Tongan Chinese Samoan Afghani Cook Islands Māori other |
7 20 11 4 3 2 2 4 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80% Based on funding rates |
80% |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Over 2 |
1:10 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
February 2017 |
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Date of this report |
7 June 2017 |
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Most recent ERO report(s)
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Education Review |
February 2014 |
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Education Review |
November 2010 |
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Education Review |
May 2007 |
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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 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.