Lalaga Preschool

Education institution number:
65088
Service type:
Education and Care Service
Definition:
Samoan ECE service
Total roll:
23
Telephone:
Address:

37 Brougham Street, Addington, Christchurch

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Lalaga Preschool

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

Meeting

Premises and facilities

Not 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

Lalaga Preschool is governed by the South New Zealand Seventh-day Adventist Education Trust and owned in partnership with the Samoan Addington Seventh-day Adventist Church. A newly appointed centre manager oversees daily operations. Most teachers are qualified. Children who attend have diverse ethnic backgrounds, including those who have Pacific heritage. Almost half are Filipino.

Summary of Review Findings

Adults providing education and care engage in meaningful, positive interactions to enhance children’s learning and nurture reciprocal relationships. The service curriculum respects and supports the right of each child to be confident in their own culture and encourages children to understand and respect other cultures. It provides a language-rich environment that supports children’s learning.

The curriculum is inclusive, and responsive to children as confident and competent learners. Children’s preferences are respected, and they are involved in decisions about their learning experiences. A philosophy statement expresses the service’s beliefs, values, and attitudes.

Consistent monitoring of systems and processes by leaders is required to maintain regulatory standards.

Actions for Compliance

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

  • ensuring furniture and items intended for children to sleep on, that will be used by more than one child over time, are securely covered with or made of a non-porous material (that is, a material that does not allow liquid to pass through it)

  • consistently maintaining records of the time each child attending the service sleeps, and checks made by adults during that time

  • ensuring the written child protection policy is reviewed every three years.

[Licensing Criteria for Centre Based Education and Care Services 2008 PF30, HS9, HS31]

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 is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.

Patricia Davey
Director of Early Childhood Education (ECE)

15 June 2023

Information About the Service

Early Childhood Service Name

Lalaga Preschool

Profile Number

65088

Location

Addington, Christchurch | Ōtautahi

Service type

Education and care service

Number licensed for

38 children, including up to 12 aged under 2

Percentage of qualified teachers

50-79%

Service roll

30

Review team on site

May 2023

Date of this report

15 June 2023

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review, July 2019; Education Review, July 2016

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 regulatory 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; safety checking; teacher certification; ratios)

  • relevant evacuation procedures and practices.

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.

Lalaga Preschool - 18/07/2019

1 Evaluation of Lalaga Preschool

How well placed is Lalaga Preschool to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Not well placed

Requires further development

Well placed

Very well placed

Lalaga Preschool is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

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

Background

Lalaga Preschool provides education and care for up to 35 children from 7.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday. This includes up to 12 children under two years old. At the time of the July 2016 ERO review, the centre was licensed as Puna ole Malamalama Aoga Amata.

The philosophy supports children to be nurtured and to grow in the love of Christ, be cared for and supported in a warm and inclusive environment, and learn biblical principles and Samoan cultural values.

Core values of tautua (service and responsibility), alofa (aroha, love and commitment) and fa'aaloalo (respect, dignity and relationships) are embedded and underpin the centre's philosophy.

Four of the seven teachers are early childhood trained and certificated, one is primary trained and certificated, and two are in training. They are committed to developing their bicultural practice and recognise the importance of integrating Te Whāriki (2017), the early childhood curriculum, across the teaching and learning programme.

The centre is governed by a trust board of church, parent and teacher representatives. The centre manager oversees the day-to-day running of the centre, a head teacher has oversight of the curriculum and teaching and learning, and two senior teachers are responsible for each classroom.

The centre has responded well to addressing the key next steps in the 2016 ERO report. This includes the development of a new framework for assessment, planning and evaluation.

The Review Findings

Children learn in an environment where Samoan language, culture and identity are valued. This language development is nurtured and sustained through meaningful interactions with peers and adults. They benefit from a range of learning opportunities that are responsive to their interests, abilities and strengths.

Infants and toddlers experience positive, sensitive and responsive interactions with their teachers. Adults maintain a calm and unhurried pace, in which younger children have space and time to lead their learning. Experienced teachers provide ongoing support with the extension of the Samoan language in the programme.

Aspects of te ao Māori are meaningfully integrated into the programme and align with the centre's philosophy and core values. Te reo me ōna tikanga Māori practices have been strengthened over time through an ongoing commitment from leaders and teachers. These are embedded and enacted by children and adults.

The curriculum is broad, well-structured and managed across the service. Each learning area is resourced appropriately to cater to the diverse needs and ages of all children. Opportunities for children to take part in meaningful and purposeful experiences are well promoted. Early literacy and numeracy are suitably promoted by teachers, with a strong focus on building children's oral language skills.

Leaders and teachers have a strong commitment to improvement that contributes to positive outcomes for children. Good use is made of professional learning and development opportunities to support and strengthen systems and processes. There is purposeful integration of Te Whāriki, in assessment and planning.

Teachers are reflective and collaborative. They know children and their families well and use focused observations as a way to identify their strengths and interests, plan their goals, and as a basis for discussions about their learning and progress.

Leaders and teachers work in partnership with parents of children with additional needs to improve their learning opportunities. Well considered strategies support culturally diverse learners to participate in the programme.

The service is welcoming to all parents and families. There are responsive and reciprocal relationships between children, teachers, families, and the wider community. Links between the centre and homes are well established. Parent's input and families' aspirations for their children's learning are valued and regularly sought to guide planning.

The board, leaders and teachers share a strong commitment to the philosophy, vision and goals of the centre. Policies and procedures guide inclusive practice at all levels of the service. Leaders are responsive to issues, concerns and questions from parents and families.

Leaders and teachers are improvement focused and use internal evaluation to inform next steps for ongoing improvement. They should undertake a deeper analysis of the information gathered and use this to make judgements about the effectiveness of the curriculum and teaching practice with respect to children’s learning.

Transition processes are well-managed within and beyond the service. Careful consideration is given to supporting those children getting ready to go to school to develop the social and self-management skills they need to adapt well to a new environment.

Key Next Steps

Lalaga Preschool leaders, the Trust Board, and ERO agree that the key next steps to improve outcomes for children are to:

  • continue to develop and build on recently introduced systems for assessment, planning and evaluation

  • continue to develop and build on the appraisal system

  • ensure the safety system upgrade is completed.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Lalaga Preschool 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.

Lesley Patterson

Director Review and Improvement Services Southern

Southern Region

18 July 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

Location

Christchurch

Ministry of Education profile number

65088

Licence type

Education & Care Service

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

35 children, including up to 12 aged under 2

Service roll

36

Gender composition

Girls 18, Boys 18

Ethnic composition

NZ European/Pākehā
Samoan
Indian
Filipino
Other Pacific groups
Other ethnic groups

5
9
8
7
6
1

Percentage of qualified teachers

80% +

Reported ratios of staff to children

Under 2

1:4

Better than minimum requirements

Over 2

1:8

Better than minimum requirements

Review team on site

May 2019

Date of this report

18 July 2019

Most recent ERO reports

Education Review

July 2016

Education Review

October 2011

Education Review

November 2008

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

The overall judgement that ERO makes will depend on how well the service promotes positive learning outcomes for children. The categories are:

  • Very well placed

  • Well placed

  • Requires further development

  • Not well placed

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.