Pauanui Pre-School - 17/05/2016

• On this page:

• 1 Evaluation of Pauanui Pre-School
• 2 Information about the Early Childhood Service
• 3 General Information about Early Childhood Reviews

How well placed is Pauanui Pre-School to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

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

Background

Pauanui Pre-School is a small community-owned centre governed by a parent board and located in the beachside township of Pauanui. It is licensed for 25 children including 8 under twos. The current roll of 20 children includes 4 who are identified as Māori. The board has recently introduced provisions for babies and toddlers who are unaccompanied by parents. They have also extended the opening hours from 8.30am to 3.30pm every day.

Since the 2013 ERO review, the board has restructured the leadership and teaching team, resulting in one head teacher and extended administration support hours. Teachers now have more non-contact time for assessment and planning. They have engaged in professional development that fosters authentic learning opportunities for children.

The centre philosophy is strongly aligned to learning outcomes in the early childhood curriculum, Te Whāriki, - empowering children, forging strong relationships with parents and the local community, and children supporting each other.

Parents and whānau are warmly welcomed in to the centre and are highly supportive of the programme being offered. The centre is also well supported by the wider community.

The Review Findings

Children experience warm, caring and nurturing relationships with teachers and staff. Teachers know children and their families well, and ensure that there are strong connections between home and centre. Children enjoy a strong sense of well being and belonging in the homelike environment.

Teachers work collaboratively, share ideas and teaching strategies, and provide flexible routines that are responsive to children's needs. They thoughtfully present the indoor and outdoor learning environments and resources to engage children in positive learning experiences.

Babies and toddlers learn and play in a mixed-age setting and experience a calm and secure settling- in period during transition from home to centre. Teachers ensure that young babies experience continuity of care with one teacher so they can build strong one-to-one relationships.

Older children are extended in their learning and play through carefully planned activities. These activities stimulate children's thinking and help to prepare them for school. The centre has established close relationships with the local primary school and is building stronger partnerships with other schools and early childhood centres in the wider area.

Teachers use te reo Māori and waiata throughout the day. They are committed to extending their use of te reo and tikanga Māori within the centre.

The curriculum responds to and fosters children's interests and ways of learning. Teachers use their knowledge and expertise to provide children with stimulating and enriching learning experiences. Strong priority is placed on creativity, music and arts, and authentic learning contexts such as cooking, gardening and science. Literacy and mathematics are effectively integrated throughout the programme.

Teachers have strengthened their planning processes. They capture children's learning moments and reflect on the effectiveness of their planning at teacher meetings and in conversations. They use a web-based programme to share learning stories with parents/whānau.

The head teacher has effectively supported centre changes and strengthened her working relationship with the administration officer and the board. She has introduced regular teacher meetings, fostered collegial and collaborative professional relationships, and is using self-review effectively as a tool for improvement. The head teacher should continue to seek relevant professional development to grow her leadership skills.

Board members bring a good range of skills, expertise and experience to the board and are highly supportive of the head teacher and staff. They are responsive to the parents, whānau and community.

Key Next Steps

Board, leaders and staff now need to:

• further engage parents and whānau in contributing to their child's learning particularly through a stronger acknowledgement of children's language, culture and identity

• continue to strengthen teacher planning for individual children and their response to children's next learning steps

• strengthen the teacher appraisal process to align it to the new Education Council requirements

• consider a new mission statement that reflects a sense of place and history of the local area and includes aspects of local Māori and settler history.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

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

Lynda Pura-Watson

Deputy Chief Review Officer

17 May 2016

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

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.