12 Graham Street, Pukekohe
View on mapAkarangi | Quality Evaluation evaluates the extent to which this early childhood service has the learning and organisational conditions to support equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners. Te Ara Poutama- indicators of quality for early childhood education: what matters most are the basis for making judgements about the effectiveness of the service in achieving equity and excellence for all learners. The Akarangi Quality Evaluation Judgement Rubric derived from the indicators, is used to inform the ERO’s judgements about this service’s performance in promoting equity and excellence.
ERO’s judgements for Prickly Hedgehog Pre-School are as follows:
Outcome Indicators |
ERO’s judgement |
|
What the service knows about outcomes for learners |
Whāngai Establishing |
Ngā Akatoro Domains |
ERO’s judgement |
|
He Whāriki Motuhake The learner and their learning |
Whāngai Establishing |
|
Whakangungu Ngaio Collaborative professional learning builds knowledge and capability |
Whakaū Embedding |
|
Ngā Aronga Whai Hua Evaluation for improvement |
Whāngai Establishing |
|
Kaihautū Leaders foster collaboration and improvement |
Whakaū Embedding |
|
Te Whakaruruhau Stewardship through effective governance and management |
Whāngai Establishing |
Prickly Hedgehog Pre-School provides early childhood education and care in a mixed-aged centre. The service is located in central Pukekohe and is one of three privately owned and operated centres. A manager and head teacher lead a team of seven teachers. Prior to 2020 there had been significant staff changes.
The service is working towards implementing a responsive curriculum supporting children’s individual interests and learning needs. Teachers have opportunities to observe, interact and learn sustainable practices and environmental responsibility. They are attuned to the variety of ways children express and explore their working theories. Children are encouraged to think critically and explore through a variety of learning experiences. They benefit from responsive and reciprocal relationships with teachers.
Teachers are beginning to explore children’s learning and progress in relation to the intended outcomes of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. Parents have some opportunities to participate in and contribute to curriculum design and planning. Being more deliberate in gathering parent aspirations should contribute to parents’ knowledge and understanding about their child’s learning. Since the October 2015 ERO evaluation, a bi-cultural curriculum has been implemented. Teachers identify that a stronger focus on children’s language, culture and identity will further impact positively on children’s learning.
Teachers are beginning to work collaboratively to build their professional knowledge. Regular professional learning has been accessed to build teacher capability. Relational trust between teachers and leaders enables professional accountability and collective responsibility. Appraisal processes are designed to encourage and embed teachers’ reflective practice. Teachers ongoing professional development supports improved outcomes for children.
Established operational conditions support positive learning outcomes for children. The service’s philosophy, vision, and goals are reflected in everyday practice. Internal evaluation has been implemented, however ongoing review and improvement of this process is required. Policies and procedures guide centre operations promoting positive learning outcomes for children and their families.
Prickly Hedgehog Pre-School will include the following actions in its quality improvement planning:
Before the review, the staff and management of Prickly Hedgehog 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:
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.
Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui
9 March 2021
| Early Childhood Service Name | Prickly Hedgehog Pre-School |
| Profile Number | 10224 |
| Location | Pukekohe |
|
Service type |
Education and care service |
|
Number licensed for |
30 children, including up to 15 aged under 2. |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80%+ |
|
Service roll |
29 |
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori 3, NZ European/Pākehā 23, Other ethnic groups 3 |
|
Review team on site |
December 2020 |
|
Date of this report |
9 March 2021 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, October 2015; Education Review, June 2013. |
How well placed is Prickly Hedgehog Pre-School to promote positive learning outcomes for children?
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Prickly Hedgehog Pre-School provides very good education and care for children. The centre is located in a renovated bungalow in central Pukekohe and is one of three centres owned and managed by the same long-serving director. All three centres are in close proximity on the same residential street. Prickly Hedgehog Pre-School and Little Pukekos Pre-School both cater for children from birth to four years of age. When children turn four, parents can choose for them to move to Flying Turtles Preschool until they are ready to attend school.
Prickly Hedgehog Pre-School is licensed for 30 children, with a maximum of 10 children under 2 years of age. The centre promotes a mixed-age programme, which supports younger and older children to play and learn together. Younger children also have their own enclosed space that provides them with the option to play and rest in a smaller quiet area. Teachers are responsive to children’s home sleeping and eating routines. They provide nutritious morning and afternoon tea for all children, and parents bring healthy food from home for children’s lunches.
Most teachers, including the head teacher, have worked together in the centre for some years. They are mostly very experienced and well qualified. Teachers take pride in the presentation and cleanliness of the indoor and outdoor environments, which are spacious, attractive and well resourced.
The centre’s philosophy is underpinned by Te Whariki, the New Zealand early childhood curriculum. It is based strongly on respecting children as capable, competent learners and parents as first teachers. The philosophy is supported by the theories and practices of Magda Gerber and promotes trust in children to be initiators, explorers, and self learners.
The centre director continues to provide very good governance and management support for all three centres with the aid of a capable centre manager. The centre’s 2009 and 2012 ERO reports recognised the positive relationships within the centre, strong partnerships with parents and good child-initiated programmes. The 2012 ERO report noted that the centre’s self review and strategic planning needed strengthening. Very good progress has been made in these areas.
Children are confident and content in their centre environment, settling easily into different areas of play in their own time and at their own pace. The calm, child-focused environment supports children to create meaningful friendships and play well with each other. Teachers communicate effectively with parents and whānau, and engage them as partners in their children’s learning. The move to eportfolios makes the sharing of learning stories with parents more immediate and meaningful. It encourages parents to contribute to their children’s learning, and supports teachers as they respond to children’s emerging interests, strengths and needs.
As skilled practitioners, teachers notice, recognise and respond effectively to children’s care and learning needs. They are gentle, nurturing and affectionate with children, and listen respectfully and carefully to children’s ideas and concerns. Babies and toddlers receive very good quality care and learning opportunities. One teacher acts as the primary caregiver for these younger children and she is joined by a different teacher from the centre each week. This good practice ensures that younger children have consistency of care and know all teachers in the centre.
Children’s free access to all areas of play and resources is very well managed by teachers. Older and younger children play well together, with older children caring and taking responsibility for their younger friends. Teachers follow children’s lead in their learning, moving with children to areas in the centre that appeal, and supporting and extending their individual and emerging interests. They promote children’s oral language, encouraging good opportunities for children to express themselves and pose questions. Teachers are continuing to strengthen their use of te reo Māori naturally with children throughout the day, supporting children’s familiarity with the bicultural heritage of Aotearoa/New Zealand.
Children’s creativity, writing and mathematics are promoted and valued in the context of children’s play. A number of animals are included in the centre’s attractions, helping to support children’s curiosity about and knowledge of the living world. Teachers are also keen to explore how they might increase the inclusion of science experiences in learning programmes. They value and promote meaningful and ongoing improvements so that children’s enjoyment in play and learning are continually enhanced.
The head teacher provides strong professional leadership that is focused on promoting child-centred learning. She has high expectations of herself and teachers to reflect on and improve their teaching practices and to ensure that the centre’s philosophy is evident in practice. Other aspects of self review are also very well understood and used throughout the centre as a tool for ongoing improvement. Strategic planning is well aligned to a meaningful teacher appraisal process and to teacher professional learning.
The director resources the pre-school generously, enabling managers and teachers to achieve their shared vision of a high performing centre. The management team work collaboratively to promote centre-wide improvements and sustainable practices. This approach includes deliberately recognising and growing teacher strengths, and providing opportunities for them to lead in different ways.
The director, centre leaders and ERO agree that using the Ministry of Education resource Tātaiako - Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners, would strengthen the teachers’ appraisal process. This useful next step would also help the centre to meet the new requirements of the Education Council, further promote success for Māori, and help provide children with access to a stronger bicultural curriculum.
Leaders also recognise that they could reduce the number of centre policies and enhance self-review processes by using indicators of effective practice.
Before the review, the staff and management of Prickly Hedgehog 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:
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.
The next ERO review of Prickly Hedgehog Pre-School will be in four years.
Graham Randell
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern
14 October 2015
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.
|
Location |
Pukekohe |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
10224 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
30 children, including up to 10 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
38 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys 26 Girls 12 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā other European other |
1 30 5 2 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80% Based on funding rates |
80% |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:2 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:4 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
September 2015 |
||
|
Date of this report |
14 October 2015 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
June 2012 |
|
|
Education Review |
April 2009 |
||
|
Education Review |
March 2006 |
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.
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.