Peachgrove Prep Preschool - 10/11/2020

ERO’s Akanuku | Assurance Review reports provide information about whether a service meets and maintains regulatory standards. Further information about Akanuku | Assurance Reviews is included at the end of this report.

ERO’s Judgement

Regulatory standards	ERO’s judgement
Curriculum	Not meeting
Premises and facilities	Meeting
Health and safety	Not meeting
Governance, management and administration	Meeting

At the time of the review, ERO identified non-compliance with regulatory standards that must be addressed.

Background

Peachgrove Prep Preschool is a privately-owned service providing education and care in four aged-based rooms. The Ministry of Education placed the centre on a provisional license in April 2019. After strengthening areas relating to governance and management, the service regained a full licence in December 2019.

Summary of Review Findings

The service curriculum supports the right of each child to be confident in their own culture and encourages them to understand and respect other cultures. Children’s learning is supported with meaningful, positive interactions with adults at the service in a language-rich environment. The curriculum is informed by assessment, planning and evaluation that demonstrates an understanding of children’s learning, their interests, whānau and life contexts. An ongoing process of self-review helps the service maintain and improve the quality of its education and care.

ERO found non-compliances relating to Curriculum and Health and Safety that need to be addressed.

Actions for Compliance

ERO found areas of non-compliance in the service relating to:

relevant emergency drills to include lockdown
parental acknowledgement of medicine administered
written documentation relating to the Children’s Act 2014 being kept on file
where there is a serious injury, illness or incident involving a child that is notified to a specified agency, that the Ministry of Education is also notified
providing a curriculum that is responsive to children as confident and competent learners, respecting their rights and involving them in decisions about their learning experiences including more access to the outdoor environment.

[Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, HS8, HS28, HS31, HS34, C7]

Since the onsite visit the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliance:

updating the medication policy and forms to include guidance and space for evidence of parental acknowledgement that medicine has been administered (HS28).

Recommendation to Ministry of Education

ERO recommends the Ministry follows up with the service provider to ensure that non-compliances identified in this report are addressed promptly.

Next ERO Review

The next ERO review of Peachgrove Prep Preschool will be in consultation with the Ministry of Education.

Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki

10 November 2020

Information About the Service

Early Childhood Service Name	Peachgrove Prep Preschool
Profile Number	46906
Location	Hamilton
Service type	Education and care service
Number licensed for	95 children, including up to 18 aged under 2.
Percentage of qualified teachers	80%
Service roll	78
Gender composition	Male 44,Female 34
Ethnic composition	Māori 35, NZ European/Pākehā 19, Other ethnic groups 24.
Review team on site
Date of this report	10 November 2020
Most recent ERO report(s)	Education Review, June 2018

General Information about Assurance Reviews

All services are licensed under the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008. The legal requirements for early childhood services also include the Licensing Criteria for Education and Care Services 2008.

Services must meet the standards in the regulations and the requirements of the licensing criteria to gain and maintain a licence to operate.

ERO undertakes an Akanuku | Assurance Review process in any centre-based service:

having its first ERO review – including if it is part of a governing organisation
previously identified as ‘not well placed’ or ‘requiring further development’
that has moved from a provisional to a full licence
that have been re-licenced due to a change of ownership
where an Akanuku | Assurance Review process is determined to be appropriate.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

All early childhood services are required to promote children’s health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements. Before the review, the staff and management of a service 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.

As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO assesses whether the regulated standards are being met. In particular, ERO looks at a 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 certification; ratios)
evacuation procedures and practices for fire and earthquake.

As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO also gathers and records evidence through:

discussions with those involved in the service
consideration of relevant documentation, including the implementation of health and safety systems
observations of the environment/premises, curriculum implementation and teaching practice.