- ERO evaluates and reports on the education and care of children and young people in early childhood services and schools.
Papamoa Kindergarten operates under the umbrella of the Tauranga Kindergarten Association. It is located in the coastal suburb of Papamoa near Mt Maunganui. The kindergarten is licensed to provide sessional education and care for 40 children over two years of age.
Children learn in a safe, affirming atmosphere where there are high levels of respect and genuine interest in their growth and development. The kindergarten philosophy recognises ‘each child learning in remarkably unique ways’ and is underpinned by strong beliefs in sustainability, diversity, biculturalism, community and nature education.
Teachers are responsive to children’s wide range of interests and abilities. Children have fun in a safe learning environment that enables them to initiate play, try new experiences, use their creativity and imagination, and develop their sense of responsibility.
Extensive links with the local and wider community are a strength of the kindergarten. Staff develop effective partnerships with parents that support the learning and social development of children.
Staff are reflective practitioners who have a clear focus on continually improving the quality of education they provide for children. The head teacher provides highly effective professional guidance for teachers who are encouraged to assume leadership in areas of expertise, and continually grow and develop their teaching practice.
ERO is confident that the service is being managed in the interest of the children. Therefore ERO is likely to review the service again in three years.
Before the review, the management of Papamoa Kindergarten was invited to consider its priorities for review using guidelines and resources provided by ERO. ERO also used documentation provided by the centre to contribute to the scope of the review.
The detailed priorities for review were then determined following a discussion between the ERO review team and the management and staff. This discussion focused on existing information held by the centre (including self-review information) and the extent to which potential issues for review contributed to positive outcomes for children atPapamoa Kindergarten.
All ERO education reviews in early childhood focus on the quality of education. For ERO this includes the quality of:
ERO’s findings in these areas are set out below.
Papamoa Kindergarten operates under the umbrella of the Tauranga Kindergarten Association, benefiting from the use of its professional resources including the support of an experienced Senior Teacher. The kindergarten’s philosophy recognises ‘each child learning in remarkably unique ways’ and is underpinned by strong beliefs in sustainability, diversity, biculturalism, community and nature education.
Staff keep up to date with relevant developments and trends in early childhood education and are engaged in ongoing ‘Education for Sustainability’ research projects with Waikato University. The kindergarten recently achieved the Green Gold Enviroschools Award. The association encourages staff to share their ideas and successes with other kindergartens locally and have presented at an international conference.
Relationships: Positive, affirming and caring relationships amongst adults and children are a feature of the centre. Children develop social and cooperative skills such as negotiation and turn-taking through their play and interactions. They support and include each other in their play.
Programme and interactions: The programme consistently reflects the centre’s belief in empowering children to learn in a caring, inclusive environment where they can have fun. Strengths of the programme include:
Children are benefiting from effective teaching that encourages thinking and active participation.
Environment: Children learn in a richly resourced and stimulating environment that encourages their participation, exploration and investigation. Teachers are responsive to children’s wide range of interests and abilities. Children have fun in a safe learning environment that enables them to initiate play, try new experiences, use their creativity and imagination, and develop their sense of responsibility.
Community: Extensive links with the local and wider community are a strength of the kindergarten. These include:
Professional practice: Staff are reflective practitioners who have a clear focus on continually improving the quality of education they provide for children. Individual and group assessments, scheduled planning meetings, and continuous discussion contribute to effective, formal and informal self review. The head teacher provides highly effective professional guidance for teachers who are encouraged to take a leadership role in areas of expertise, and to continually grow and develop their teaching practice.
Teachers have identified and ERO agrees that the focus on enhancing professional practice, through research and self review, is an ongoing priority for the kindergarten.
ERO provides information about the education system as a whole through its national reports. This information will be used as the basis for long term and systemic educational improvement.
As part of this review ERO evaluated the extent to which:
At the time of this review the kindergarten had one child enrolled with moderate to high learning needs.
An effective transition programme contributes to the child’s full inclusion in the kindergarten and subsequently on to the neighbouring school. Staff have extensive discussions with parents / whānau before the child enrols. Specialist and advisory services are accessed and involved in the preparation of appropriate learning programmes.. Additional staffing support is sourced through appropriate external agencies and the Tauranga Kindergarten Association.
Individual programmes are designed to the needs, interests and abilities of the child. These are responsive to emerging interests and developments. All teachers have input into, and responsibility for, the learning of the child.
Before the review, the staff of Papamoa Kindergarten completed an ERO CentreAssurance Statement andSelf-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 documentation, including policies, procedures and records of recent use of procedures. ERO also checked elements of the following areas that have a potentially high impact on outcomes for children:
ERO is confident that the service is being managed in the interest of the children. Therefore ERO is likely to review the service again in three years.
Richard Thornton
National Manager Review Services
Northern Region
|
Type |
Kindergarten |
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Centres) Regulations 1998 |
|
Number licensed for |
40 children over 2 years of age |
|
Roll number |
64 |
|
Gender composition |
Boys 36 Girls 28 |
|
Ethnic composition |
New Zealand European/Pākehā 36 New Zealand Māori 14 Indian 9 Cook Island Māori 2 Other 3 |
|
Review team on site |
August 2011 |
|
Date of this report |
23 September 2011 |
|
Previous three ERO reports |
Education Review September 2008 Education Review January 2006 Education Review December 2002 |
23 September 2011
These are the findings of the Education Review Office’s latest report on Papamoa Kindergarten.
Papamoa Kindergarten operates under the umbrella of the Tauranga Kindergarten Association. It is located in the coastal suburb of Papamoa near Mt Maunganui. The kindergarten is licensed to provide sessional education and care for 40 children over two years of age.
Children learn in a safe, affirming atmosphere where there are high levels of respect and genuine interest in their growth and development. The kindergarten philosophy recognises ‘each child learning in remarkably unique ways’ and is underpinned by strong beliefs in sustainability, diversity, biculturalism, community and nature education.
Teachers are responsive to children’s wide range of interests and abilities. Children have fun in a safe learning environment that enables them to initiate play, try new experiences, use their creativity and imagination, and develop their sense of responsibility.
Extensive links with the local and wider community are a strength of the kindergarten. Staff develop effective partnerships with parents that support the learning and social development of children.
Staff are reflective practitioners who have a clear focus on continually improving the quality of education they provide for children. The head teacher provides highly effective professional guidance for teachers who are encouraged to assume leadership in areas of expertise, and continually grow and develop their teaching practice.
ERO is confident that the service is being managed in the interest of the children. Therefore ERO is likely to review the service again in three years.
When ERO has reviewed an early childhood centre we encourage management to inform their community of any follow up action they plan to take. You should talk to the management or contact person if you have any questions about this evaluation, the full ERO report or their future intentions.
If you would like a copy of the full report, please contact the centre or see the ERO website, http://www.ero.govt.nz.
Richard Thornton
National Manager Review Services
Northern Region
ERO is an independent, external evaluation agency that undertakes reviews of schools and early childhood services throughout New Zealand.
ERO follows a set of standard procedures to conduct reviews. The purpose of each review is to:
Reviews are intended to focus on outcomes for children and build on each centre’s self review.
ERO’s framework for reviewing and reporting is based on four review strands.
ERO reviews do not cover every aspect of centre performance and each ERO report may cover different issues. The aim is to provide information on aspects that are central to positive outcomes for children and useful to this centre.
Most ERO reports include recommendations for improvement. A recommendation on a particular issue does not necessarily mean that a centre is performing poorly in relation to that issue. There is no direct link between the number of recommendations in this report and the overall performance of this centre.