409 Bellot Street, Pirongia
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
PORSE Waikato Q1 is a home-based education and care network operating under the umbrella of PORSE In-Home Childcare Network (NZ) Ltd. It is one of three PORSE networks in the Waikato area. Of the 110 children enrolled, 29 are Māori.
Qualified and registered Programme Tutors (PTs) work alongside educators and nannies to implement and support learning programmes for children in homes with a focus on care and education. A national team provides governance and management support for all PORSE services.
The PORSE vision is, 'expanding the hearts, minds and wellbeing of a nation through nurturing childcare in-home'.
PORSE offers two options for education and care: the home educator model where the educator works in their own home; and the nanny educator model, where an educator work in a family's home. In this network all educators have at least a level three qualification in early childhood education and care.
Since the June 2011 ERO report, PORSE in-home childcare has changed from a franchise-based service to a national body which is owned by Evolve Education Group Limited (EEG Ltd). The existing structures for national and community team management have continued. The PORSE senior leadership team, who are responsible for the operations, report to the EEG Ltd board of directors.
This review is one of a cluster of three home-based network reviews of PORSE In-Home Network (NZ) Ltd.
Parents and PORSE work collaboratively to place children in suitable homes. PTs' monthly visits, regular communication and health and safety processes in homes are robust and focused on meeting requirements. There is clear documentation and support for PTs and educators to meet these expectations. Appropriate systems and monitoring processes are in place to provide assurance at management level that PORSE requirements are being met.
Children participate in a wide range of learning experiences both in and out of homes. PORSE playschools and organised excursions provide a range of experiences to extend children's participation in the programme. Planning for the playschools is not sufficiently focused on the learning outcomes PORSE has identified. The planned national review of playschools should define best-practice outcomes to enable the measurement of quality and decision-making for improvement.
PTs support educators to identify children’s interests and develop activities to extend experiences. Children’s journals record special times, and, along with educator notes, provide some useful information for parents about their child’s play and learning. Educators are encouraged to link children’s experiences to the goals and strands of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum.
Management and PTs should strengthen their support for educators' assessment practice, including:
providing feedback to enable them to more effectively record and respond to children's strengths, interests and learning
improving guidelines for curriculum and assessment to ensure educators understand expectations for their practice
developing a programme evaluation process to inform decisions about next steps for teaching and learning
extending opportunities for children to revisit their learning and achievements.
Management continues to develop plans and resources to increase the bicultural perspective across the organisation. Accessing support and using Ministry of Education resources that build understanding of ways to work with Māori learners and whānau, is a next step.
Promoting more ways for parent and whānau participation is an ongoing focus. An online portal have been successful for some families to contribute to policy review and their child's learning plans.
PORSE supports educators and families to attend professional development focused on transitions to school. Further consideration should be given to developing relationships with schools and sharing of information to promote continuity of learning.
Improving resources to support education programmes in homes is an identified next step. A range of policies, activities and templates provide guidance for educators, families and PTs. A review of these and the philosophy, in consultation with educators, parents and whānau, is a next step.
The service values the importance of professional development for educators and PORSE staff. A range of opportunities and workshops supports educators and the teaching team to strengthen their practice. Career pathways and personal growth plans are in place to support professional development and leadership skills.
The PTs' appraisal process incorporates the Practising Teacher Criteria. Formal observations of practice and constructive feedback from appraisers requires strengthening. This should assist in promoting consistency of practice and shared understanding of the endorsement of teachers' practising certificates.
Understanding of internal evaluation by PTs and coaches needs considerable development to be used effectively to inform decision making for improvement. Documented internal evaluation guidelines are needed to strengthen the team's understanding and implementation of PORSE's approach.
PORSE management and ERO agree that local and national priorities are to strengthen:
the focus of PTs on building educators' understanding of approaches to assessment, planning and evaluation
the bicultural perspective across the network's operation
understanding and use of internal evaluation to better inform decision making about improvement
reflecting the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi across its operation
improving the guidance for aspects of teaching and learning.
Before the review, the staff and management of PORSE Waikato Q1 completed an ERO Home-based Education and Care 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:
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.
The next ERO review of PORSE Waikato Q1 will be in three years.
Patricia Davey
Deputy Chief Review Officer Central (Acting)
Te Tai Pokapū - Central Region
2 November 2017
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 |
Hamilton |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
55423 |
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Institution type |
Homebased Network |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
80 children, including up to 80 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
110 |
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Standard or Quality Funded |
Quality |
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Gender composition |
Boys 61, Girls 49 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
29 |
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Number of qualified coordinators in the network |
4 |
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Required ratios of staff educators to children |
Under 2 |
1:2 |
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Over 2 |
1:4 |
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Review team on site |
September 2017 |
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Date of this report |
2 November 2017 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
June 2011 |
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Education Review |
August 2006 |
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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 the draft methodology for ERO reviews in Home-based Education and Care Services: July 2014
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.
PORSE Hamilton Q1 (55423) is a quality funded network that provides home-based care and education children and their families in Hamilton East. It caters for 117 children of whom 20% identify as Māori. The network operates alongside two other networks under the same franchise management. The national office of PORSE provides comprehensive documentation and operational guidelines.
Educator and programme tutor interactions with children are affectionate, caring and respectful. Educators provide good to high quality support for the development of English and Māori language, social skills, and mathematical concepts. They also place a strong emphasis on early literacy learning. Children are confident communicators and demonstrate a strong sense of belonging in their home-based care environments. They regularly interact with other children and participate in PORSE music and movement sessions, playschools, excursions and social gatherings.
PORSE personnel provide a wide range of programmes and workshops on aspects of early childhood education for educators, families and the wider community. Educators are expected to participate in training, and programme tutors closely monitor educator progress and celebrate their achievements.
Affirming and mutually respectful relationships are very evident between the licensee/franchisee, tutors, educators and parents. Families are kept well informed of events and activities and their children’s participation in them.
The licensee/franchisee continues to provide clear direction and strong professional leadership for programme tutors and other staff. The next step is for tutors to more consistently share good practice guidelines with educators on programme planning, assessment and some aspects of the curriculum. This should help strengthen the educational leadership role of tutors and assist educators to further improve the quality of education for children.
ERO is confident that the service is being managed in the interest of the children. Therefore ERO will review the service again within three years.
Before the review, the management of PORSE Hamilton Q1 was invited to consider its priorities for review using guidelines and resources provided by ERO. ERO also used documentation provided by PORSE Hamilton Q1 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 service (including self-review information) and the extent to which potential issues for review contributed to positive outcomes for children atPORSE Hamilton Q1.
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.
PORSE Hamilton Q1 is a quality-funded network that provides home-based education and care for children and families in Hamilton East. Educators, with Level 3 training or higher qualifications in early childhood education and care, are regularly visited by qualified tutor teachers. Home-based options include educators working in their own or children’s homes, and nannies. Reviewers visited ten percent of the educators in this network, and the services’ nature playschool. They observed interactions among children, educators and programme tutors, and also evaluated the quality of learning environments, programmes and planning and assessment documentation.
Professional leadership: The licensee/franchise holder continues to provide strong professional leadership for tutors and staff. She articulates a clear vision and sense of direction for the network, and provides effective coordination between the network and the national organisation. The licensee acts as a regional manager and her leadership style is motivational, supportive and inclusive. As a result, staff work collaboratively as a team. Staff are encouraged to take leadership roles and develope a learning community through shared professional development, readings and monthly coaching meetings.
Vision, principles, philosophy and values: PORSE national office provides high quality documentation that sets out the philosophy, vision and values of the organisation. These principles are consistently shared and accepted by staff, educators and families. They are also reflected in national guidelines and expectations for all aspects of network programmes and practices, including marketing, recruitment, induction and staff and educator training.
Training and support: A feature of PORSE is the quantity, high quality and accessibility of local, regional and national support training programmes for staff, educators and to some extent families. There is a consistent expectation that educators will participate in training courses and experiences as part of their career development. Educators receive ongoing support for their training from programme tutors, who also coordinate the recognition and celebration of educator achievement and progress. Tutors model good practice in early childhood education, especially during playschools and collective activities. Programme ideas and achievements are shared through informative newsletters and magazines.
Relationships: Affirming and mutually respectful relationships are a particular strength of the service. These relationships are evident between management, staff, tutors, educators, families, children and several community groups. Factors that facilitate development of positive relationships include:
Programme-in-action: Educators provide good to high quality education and care in spacious and well resourced learning environments. Their interactions with children of all ages are respectful, caring and affectionate. Child management strategies are effective. Educators provide good to high quality support for development of children’s oral language, mathematical concepts and social skills, and read frequently to children. Some educators are very skilled at using questions to foster independent thinking and imaginative play.
Outcomes for children: Children demonstrate a strong sense of belonging and are very settled in their home-based care environments. They are developing a sound basis for future learning about literacy and mathematical concepts. Children have regular opportunities to interact with other children though shared activities, such as library visits, playschools, nature playschools, movement and music sessions, visits to places of interest in the community and family fun days.
Self review: Self-review processes across the organisation inform educator and staff performance appraisal and ongoing decision making. Families provide feedback to educators through annual appraisals of their children’s education and care programmes. The appraisal system is based on staff empowerment models and includes self review and monitoring of progress against agreed monthly and yearly goals.
Building on good practices: PORSE Hamilton Q1 could consider developing shared good practice criteria, and using these to more effectively evaluate and improve educator practice. Special consideration could be given to using criteria that:
Sharing of criteria for good practice should help strengthen the educational leadership role of programme tutors and assist educators to further improve the quality of home-based education and care.
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:
This network caters for 117 children, including 20% who identify as Māori. The 2006 ERO report acknowledged the programme manager’s and tutors’ commitment to strengthen biculturalism in educational programmes and organisational practices. The organisation and individuals have since undertaken several actions to increase staff and educator knowledge of te reo and tikanga Māori.
Building relationships: At every level of the organisation there is strong emphasis on building positive, respectful and supportive relationships with educators and families, including Māori. This commitment is reflected in the recent appointment of a Māori professional ECE educator as a programme tutor. She brings a strong knowledge and confidence in te reo and tikanga Māori. As a result, tutors more proactively approach Māori families and community organisations to inform them about the opportunities for home-based education and care that reflect whānau values and aspirations. Links with local school cultural groups have been strengthened which has increased opportunities for whānau, educators and children to attend associated events.
Training and workshops: The Māori programme tutor contributes strongly to staff training on Māori language and culture. This has helped to increase awareness of bi-cultural practice and staff confidence and competence in using te reo Māori. Some good to high quality modelling of Māori language and culture was observed in educator homes and Nature Playschool contexts. Activities, informative newsletters and resources also support the celebration of Matariki and Te Wiki o te Reo Māori.
Meeting whānau aspirations: Whānau appreciate the increased opportunities to place their children with educators who are whānau members or who provide Māori immersion, bilingual or bicultural programmes. These educators often participate with the children in Māori community and whānau events and maintain children’s contact with whānau kuia and kaumatua. Some children’s journals reflect the use of Māori language and children’s involvement in whānau experiences.
Strategic plan and tangata whenua policy: The strategic plan and tangata whenua policy are core documents that guide aspects of bicultural practice in the PORSE organisation. A next step for PORSE is to review how strongly these documents reflect organisational commitments to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the principles of Ka Hikitia: Managing for Success -Māori Education Strategy 2008-2012
Areas for consideration could include:
Before the review, the management and staff of PORSE Hamilton Q1 completed an ERO Home-Based CareManagement Assurance Statement and Self-Audit Checklist. In these documents they have attested that they had taken all reasonable steps to meet their legal obligations related to:
During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on outcomes for children:
In order to improve current practice the managers should continue to review organisational quality assurance practices in regard to home health and safety compliance checks, as identified in the previous ERO report.
ERO agrees with the licensee/franchisee and the programme tutor team that they should:
5.1 continue to inform the community and parents of the educative role of home-based care;5.2 review and share good practice guidelines to further strengthen the quality of education and care experienced by children; and 5.3 review planning, policies and practices related to education of Māori children and biculturalism, in consultation with the Māori whānau and tangata whenua.
ERO is confident that the service is being managed in the interest of the children. Therefore ERO will review the service again within three years.
Richard Thornton
National Manager Review Services
Northern Region
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Licence type |
Home-Based Care |
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Chartered under |
Education (Home-based Care) Order 1992 |
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Number licensed for Roll number |
80 children, including up to 80 aged under two years 117 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 61, Girls 56 |
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Ethnic composition |
New Zealand European/Pākehā 72 New Zealand Māori 23 Other European 8 Other 8 Indian 8 Chinese 1 Cook Island Māori 1 Other Asian 1 Pacific 1 |
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Review team onsite |
February 2011 |
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Date of this report |
01 June 2011 |
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Previous ERO reports |
Education Review August 2006 |
These are the findings of the Education Review Office’s latest report on PORSE Hamilton Q1.
PORSE Hamilton Q1 (55423) is a quality funded network that provides home-based care and education children and their families in Hamilton East. It caters for 117 children of whom 20% identify as Māori. The network operates alongside two other networks under the same franchise management. The national office of PORSE provides comprehensive documentation and operational guidelines.
Educator and programme tutor interactions with children are affectionate, caring and respectful. Educators provide good to high quality support for the development of English and Māori language, social skills, and mathematical concepts. They also place a strong emphasis on early literacy learning. Children are confident communicators and demonstrate a strong sense of belonging in their home-based care environments. They regularly interact with other children and participate in PORSE music and movement sessions, playschools, excursions and social gatherings.
PORSE personnel provide a wide range of programmes and workshops on aspects of early childhood education for educators, families and the wider community. Educators are expected to participate in training, and programme tutors closely monitor educator progress and celebrate their achievements.
Affirming and mutually respectful relationships are very evident between the licensee/franchisee, tutors, educators and parents. Families are kept well informed of events and activities and their children’s participation in them.
The licensee/franchisee continues to provide clear direction and strong professional leadership for programme tutors and other staff. The next step is for tutors to more consistently share good practice guidelines with educators on programme planning, assessment and some aspects of the curriculum. This should help strengthen the educational leadership role of tutors and assist educators to further improve the quality of education for children.
ERO is confident that the service is being managed in the interest of the children. Therefore ERO will review the service again within three years.
When ERO has reviewed an early childhood service we encourage management to inform their community of any follow up action they plan to take. You should talk to the management 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 service or see the ERO website, 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 service’s self review.
ERO’s framework for reviewing and reporting is based on four review strands.
ERO reviews do not cover every aspect of service 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 service.
Most ERO reports include recommendations for improvement. A recommendation on a particular issue does not necessarily mean that a service 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 service.