- ERO evaluates and reports on the education and care of children and young people in early childhood services and schools.
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Pigeon Mountain Kindergarten requires further development to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
Pigeon Mountain Kindergarten teachers require support to provide a programme that leads to positive learning outcomes for all children, and to embed Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. Support is also required to build stronger leadership.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Pigeon Mountain Kindergarten provides education and care for a culturally diverse community in East Auckland. It is licensed for 40 children over two years of age and offers six-hour days. The kindergarten is situated at the foot of Ōhuiarangi. The Tūpuna Maunga o Tāmaki Makaurau Authority has invited the kindergarten staff and children to be part of the kaitiakitanga/guardianship of the mountain, to preserve its historical and archaeological value and mana.
A head teacher, three qualified teachers, a teacher aide, a teaching assistant and an administrator operate the kindergarten. The teaching team have worked together for some time. They have collaborated to develop the philosophy statement to reflect their ambitions for quality outcomes for children.
The positive aspects of teaching practice highlighted in the 2015 ERO report contribute to children's learning. The teaching team continues to address next steps around extending learning, assessment and strengthening self review.
The kindergarten operates as part of the Auckland Kindergarten Association (AKA). The association provides a framework of policies and operational guidelines, support personnel and programmes of professional learning and development. The AKA is establishing new roles and responsibilities at management and governance levels. Recruitment of appropriate personnel to fill identified roles is underway.
This review was part of a cluster of nine kindergarten reviews in the Auckland Kindergarten Association.
Teachers have established a culture that is respectful and friendly. Parents spend time with their children at the start of the day, and engage in conversations with teachers. The older children play together, are respectful with adults and each other, and join in group times.
Children and teachers respect the expectations of the Tūpuna Maunga o Tāmaki Makaurau Authority, and help to keep the maunga free of litter. Children's investigations into local Māori legends are helping to broaden their bicultural knowledge and understanding.
Children are familiar with and are able to use te reo Māori in their group interactions. Teachers have made efforts to increase their own use of te reo. It is now timely for teachers to consider ways of including aspects of tikanga Māori as part of daily practice, throughout the programme. There are many ways for children and their families to see their cultures represented and valued in the centre environment.
Some children settle quickly to play, making choices from a range of activities and experiences provided for them. However, a number of children do not engage in activities for any period of time and remain unsettled. Teachers could increase the extent to which children make decisions about what they want to do, and what they want in the environment to support and extend their play.
The planning cycle is not working effectively. Recorded assessment reflects the group events and activities that children experience. Portfolios are not yet a record of individual children's learning over time. Many portfolios have little content that explains children's learning, or the teaching strategies that help their learning. While teachers sometimes include children's ideas in planning, they have yet to establish processes to evaluate the quality of the programme for all children.
Teachers support children and their parents to prepare for transitioning to school. They invite primary teachers to talk to parents about ways of supporting their children to develop independence. Teachers support parents to understand about school enrolment procedures.
The head teacher has distributed leadership roles to the teachers. To improve her curriculum leadership, she should support teachers to share their thinking about children's learning experiences and outcomes. This would help them to plan collaboratively and provide a more cohesive learning programme for children. Professional development for teachers to learn about the 2017 revision of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, is yet to be reflected in documentation or teachers' evaluation.
Teachers find the professional development offered by the AKA useful and informative. This support has helped them to develop a vision and to contribute to the priorities for the kindergarten.
The key next steps for teachers are to:
It would be useful for AKA to:
Before the review, the staff and management of Pigeon Mountain Kindergarten 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:
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:
All early childhood services are required to promote children’s health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements
ERO identified areas of non-compliance relating to the programme in action and in documentation. To meet requirements the service needs to improve its performance in the following areas:
ERO recommends that the service, in consultation with the Ministry of Education, develops a plan to address the key next steps and actions outlined in this report.
The next ERO review of Pigeon Mountain Kindergarten will be within two years.
Steve Tanner
Director Review and Improvement Services Northern
Northern Region
14 February 2019
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.
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Location |
Bucklands Beach, Auckland |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
5630 |
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Licence type |
Free Kindergarten |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
40 children aged over 2 years |
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Service roll |
57 |
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Gender composition |
Girls 29 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
1 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
November 2018 |
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Date of this report |
14 February 2019 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
May 2015 |
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Education Review |
May 2012 |
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Education Review |
March 2009 |
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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:
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.
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:
ERO has developed criteria for each category. These are available on ERO’s website.
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.