Busy Bees Havelock North

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

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

Background

Piccolini Private Nursery and Kindergarten Havelock North, provides education and care for 79 children in central Havelock North. In March 2020, the service was purchased by Provincial Education Group Ltd. Provincial Education Group Ltd oversees operations and provides ongoing guidance to kaiako and staff to support the change of management process.

Summary of Review Finding

Kaiako engage in meaningful and positive interactions to enhance learning and nurture reciprocal relationships. Children’s learning is shared with parents and whānau and opportunities are available for involvement in decision making concerning their child’s learning.

Children’s access to indoor licensed space is unnecessarily limited for long periods of time. The range of experiences and opportunities to enhance and extend children’s learning and development is reduced as a result. Opportunities for children to be involved in decision making about their learning is limited.

Actions for Compliance

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

• delivery of a curriculum consistent with Te Whāriki
• adults’ understanding of relevant theories and practices in early childhood education
• children’s preferences being respected and opportunities for their involvement in decisions about their learning experiences
• the range of experiences and opportunities to enhance and extend children’s learning and development indoors
• unnecessarily limiting children’s access to the indoor licensed space.

[Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, C1, C4, C7, C9, PF2]

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

• an accurate means of limiting hot water (PF24)
• ensuring that the temperature of water accessible to children is no higher than 40 degrees (HS13)
• ensuring that water stored in hot water cylinders is kept at a temperature of at least 60 degrees. (HS14).

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 Piccolini Private Nursery and Kindergarten - Havelock North will be in consultation with the Ministry of Education.

Phil Cowie

Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)

Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui

21 January 2021

Information About the Service

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.

1 Evaluation of Piccolini Private Nursery and Kindergarten Havelock North

How well placed is Piccolini Private Nursery and Kindergarten Havelock North to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Piccolini Private Nursery and Kindergarten Havelock North is very well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

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

Background

Piccolini Private Nursery and Kindergarten Havelock North is a privately owned and operated early learning service for up to 109 children, including 30 children aged up to two years. At the time of this ERO evaluation there are 83 children enrolled including 12 who identify as Māori.

Prior to 2018, there were two Piccolini services adjacent to each other in Havelock North. At the beginning of 2018 these services combined and moved to larger premises operating under one licence. Two distinct areas within the building cater for nursery and kindergarten children.

The Piccolini philosophy reflects the expectation of a values-based early learning service. It is expected that children will feel loved and accepted, have fun and learn and develop to their greatest potential.

Staffing has remained stable with high numbers of registered teachers employed. Governance and management has continued to develop since the 2016 ERO evaluation.

The Review Findings

Continuous improvement through internal evaluation focuses on positive outcomes for children. Their sense of belonging is highly promoted to support their developing confidence, competence and independence as successful lifelong learners.

Parents are valued partners in their children's education and care. Internal evaluation effectively provides the service with strategies to identify what is working well and where improvements are needed. Teachers have focused their recent internal evaluation on the effectiveness of the service in regard to parent aspirations. Ongoing daily discussions with parents and surveys provide teachers with valuable feedback to continue to develop processes. Information indicates that parents are satisfied with the quality of education and care their children receive.

Children make decisions and choices about their learning in a supportive and inclusive environment. Assessment, planning and evaluation practices enable teachers to know individual children well and to recognise and promote their strengths and interests. Teachers identify high quality teaching strategies that support individual children's learning needs.

The philosophy is highly evident in practice. The curriculum is well developed and reflects the underpinnings and intent of Te Whāriki. Through internal evaluation teachers identify what is working well and what more needs to be done.

Māori children and their whānau are respected by staff for the rich experiences they bring to their learning. Teachers have worked positively to provide an environment that respects and acknowledges te reo me ngā tikanga Māori. Leaders and teachers have identified that evaluating how well the service promotes children's language, culture and identity will further support Māori children's success as Māori.

Respectful practices are highly evident. Teachers are attentive to infants, toddlers and young children. They encourage all children to make choices which allows very young children to develop independence. Staff work closely with parents to ensure that children's routines and care needs are implemented to reflect home experiences as closely as possible.

Well considered and successful transition processes are embedded and promote children's sense of security and wellbeing. Within the centre, younger children interact positively and regularly with older children. The foundations for successful transitions from the nursery to the kindergarten environment are seamless. The service has developed and maintained a very strong working partnership with the local school. Teachers share children's learning to make transitions to school a positive experience for children and their families.

Collaborative leadership has a clear focus on supporting children to experience positive outcomes. Mentors provide appropriate support to provisionally certified teachers and student teachers. Focus on a professional learning culture to provide children with high quality education and care is evident.

The service's strategic goals are clearly focused on positive learning outcomes for children and the expectation for how this will happen. This links well with the service philosophy and is reflected in practice across all areas of the service's operation.

Key Next Steps

Continue to use effective internal evaluation to determine how well the service is meeting the needs of all children and their families and what ongoing steps can be taken to improve performance.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Piccolini Private Nursery and Kindergarten Havelock North 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 Piccolini Private Nursery and Kindergarten Havelock North will be in four years.

Phil Cowie

Director Review and Improvement Services

Central Region

1 February 2019

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.