Learning Links Palmerston

Education institution number:
80065
Service type:
Education and Care Service
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
39
Telephone:
Address:

15 Sanday Street, Palmerston

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Learning Links Palmerston

1 ERO’s Judgements

Akarangi | Quality Evaluation evaluates the extent to which this early childhood service has the learning and organisational conditions to support equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners. Te Ara Poutama Indicators of quality for early childhood education: what matters most are the basis for making judgements about the effectiveness of the service in achieving equity and excellence for all learners. Judgements are made in relation to the Outcomes Indicators, Learning and Organisational Conditions. The Evaluation Judgement Rubric derived from the indicators, is used to inform ERO’s judgements about this service’s performance in promoting equity and excellence.

ERO’s judgements for Learning Links Palmerston are as follows:

Outcome Indicators

(What the service knows about outcomes for learners)


Whāngai Establishing

Ngā Akatoro Domains

 

Learning Conditions
Organisational Conditions

Whāngai Establishing
Whakaū Embedding

2 Context of the Service

Learning Links Palmerston, previously known as Palmerston Preschool and Nursery is one of nine services within the Learning Links Group. The organisation owners and leaders provide ongoing professional support to this rural service. Almost a quarter of children are Māori. Small numbers of children from Pacific and other cultural heritages attend. Progress has been made and teachers continue to develop a greater working understanding of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, and embed positive changes to practices as recommended in the 2018 ERO report.

3 Summary of findings

Children in this mixed age setting play and learn within a broad child-led curriculum based on Te Whāriki. The indoor and outdoor environments are well resourced. Curriculum priorities, aligned to the organisation’s values, are personalised to reflect the local context. These could be made more explicit within the enacted curriculum and documentation.

The curriculum increasingly:

  • responds to parent aspirations for their children’s learning

  • makes visible and integrates children’s languages, cultures and identities

  • includes local cultural perspectives and integrates te ao Māori

  • shows teachers intentionally extending the breadth and complexity of children’s learning opportunities through a range of experiences based on their interests.

Teachers meaningfully engage with children through sustained experiences, play and conversations. However, some teachers’ interactions do not always reflect current positive guidance strategies.

Children are supported to develop a sense of belonging and Māori children are affirmed in their cultural identity. Collaborative learning plans support children with additional learning needs.

Useful and improved guidelines for assessment for learning are in place. The learning outcomes from Te Whāriki are integrated within individual and group assessment. Teachers regularly document children’s learning as it occurs. However, evaluation of the learning and progress over time needs to be better understood and reflected in documentation.

There is a clear line of sight from the organisation’s vision and values to the operation of the service and an evident commitment to improving outcomes for children. Professional leaders build the collective capability of the leadership and teaching team through targeted support. Internal evaluation is systematic, well led and results in improvements. For greater effectiveness, some aspects of this process require refining.

4 Improvement actions

Learning Links Palmerston will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:

  • revisit the expectations of teachers and specific strategies for positive guidance, and monitor the consistency and effectiveness of their practice when supporting children’s developing social and emotional competence

  • when evaluating learning for individuals and groups of children, continue to build teachers’ collective capability to show learning and progress over time in relation to the Te Whāriki learning outcomes and the service’s priorities for learning

  • increase the effectiveness of internal evaluation practice by developing clear indicators of high-quality practice relevant to the focus and use these to guide all stages of the evaluation. At the evaluating and monitoring phase, make greater use of a wide range of evidence to better know what is working or not, and for whom. 

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Learning Links Palmerston completed an ERO 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; safety checking; teacher registration; ratios)

  • relevant evacuation procedures and practices.

All early childhood services are required to promote children's health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.

Kathy Lye
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini

3 April 2023 

6 About the Early Childhood Service

Early Childhood Service Name

Learning Links Palmerston

Profile Number

80065

Location

Palmerston, North Otago

Service type

Education and care service

Number licensed for

50 children, including up to 11 aged under 2

Percentage of qualified teachers

80-99%

Service roll

41

Review team on site

January 2023

Date of this report

3 April 2023

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review, November 2018; Education Review, March 2016

Palmerston Pre-School and Nursery - 12/11/2018

1 Evaluation of Palmerston Pre-School and Nursery

How well placed is Palmerston Pre-School and Nursery 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

Palmerston Preschool and Nursery is a privately-owned education and care service. New owners took over the centre in November 2017. The centre is licensed for 50 children from birth-to-school age and currently has a roll of 58 children. Infants and toddlers up to 2 years of age have their own indoor and outdoor play area, and sleeping area.

The centre's team leader oversees the day-to-day running of the centre and is having an increasing focus on centre leadership. Over 80% of the teachers are qualified.

The centre's philosophy is for children to learn through play and for them to have a strong sense of belonging to the centre. Teachers are to provide an environment for children to explore, and participate in planned and spontaneous experiences. Learning is to be based on Te Whāriki, the New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum.

Since the 2016 ERO review:

  • a new governance structure has been put in place

  • there is a greater level of operational and professional support

  • the centre has made good progress in addressing almost all of the areas identified for improvement in the last report.

The Review Findings

Children benefit from the positive and caring relationships their teachers have with them. The teachers know the children and their families well. Teachers set up the environment and resources purposefully for greater engagement in meaningful play. Well-planned strategies and activities have developed children's social competencies.

Since the 2016 ERO review, teachers have improved planning and assessment practices. Teachers' planning is giving greater direction for teaching and authentic learning opportunities, especially for groups of children. They are at the beginning stages of developing more focused planning for individual children's learning and development.

The teachers of infants and toddlers have sensitive and responsive interactions with these children. The continuity of care contributes greatly to the secure relationships the infants and toddlers have with the teachers. Resources are easily accessible to the children.

Māori children have some opportunities to see and hear about Māori culture. Te reo Māori is used by teachers throughout the centre. Leaders acknowledge the need for ongoing development of teachers' confidence, knowledge and ability to provide a strong and meaningful bicultural environment.

The new owners and professional leaders are systematically building the collective capacity and sustainability of the centre. This includes effective internal evaluation and relevant professional learning and development. The increased levels of support have led to:

  • clear and useful strategic and annual planning

  • a greater focus on education and professionalism

  • improved organisational practices for assessment, planning and evaluation for children's learning

  • effective systems and processes to ensure licensing and Ministry of Education requirements are being met.

Leaders and teachers are improvement focused. They are more regularly reflecting on their practices and making relevant changes to improve positive outcomes for all children.

Key Next Steps

Centre leaders and teachers need to:

  • embed the recent positive changes to ensure they are implemented to high standards

  • participate in professional learning to gain a greater working understanding of Te Whāriki (2017)

  • carry out a review of the effectiveness of practices in the under two area.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Palmerston Pre-School and Nursery 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 Palmerston Pre-School and Nursery will be in three years.

Alan Wynyard

Director Review & Improvement Services Southern

Te Waipounamu - Southern Region

12 November 2018

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

Palmerston

Ministry of Education profile number

80065

Licence type

Education & Care Service

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

50 children, including up to 11 aged under 2

Service roll

58

Gender composition

Boys: 33 Girls: 25

Ethnic composition

Māori
Pākehā
Other ethnicities

7
45
6

Percentage of qualified teachers

80% +

Reported ratios of staff to children

Under 2

1:4

Meets minimum requirements

Over 2

1:8

Better than minimum requirements

Review team on site

October 2018

Date of this report

12 November 2018

Most recent ERO reports

Education Review

March 2016

Education Review

February 2013

Education Review

October 2009

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.