- 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 |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Remuera Baptist Kindergarten is a well-established centre that provides full-day education and care programmes for up to 55 children over the age of two years. The children are grouped into two age-related rooms, each with their own indoor and outdoor play areas. Chinese children make up 25 percent of the roll and most of the children live locally.
The centre is located in the grounds of the Remuera Baptist Church. It is supported and governed by the Remuera Baptist Trust and the church community. The centre also has a management committee made up of staff and parent representatives.
A new centre manager was appointed at the end of 2017 and one teacher was promoted to team leader. The four teachers are fully qualified and come from diverse cultural backgrounds.
The centre's philosophy emphasises a Christian foundation and the importance of a loving and caring community for families. It promotes a commitment to children becoming confident, active learners with positive relationships and respect for the wider world.
The 2014 ERO review noted that the centre was delivering positive educational outcomes for children. Suggested improvements included more individually focused assessment processes, building teachers' capacity through professional learning, and reflection on their practice. Some good progress has been made in these areas.
Children have respectful, responsive relationships and interactions with adults and their friends. They know about making choices, are able to lead their own learning and independently select resources. They enjoy a programme that is unhurried and gives them long periods of time for exploration and play.
Children from two to three-and-a-half years of age have a spacious learning environment that provides good access to indoor and outdoor spaces and resources. They enjoy opportunities to interact with their peers and to explore the activities that teachers have provided for them. Leaders acknowledge that they are yet to review the environment and programme for the specific needs of this age group. This review should include how teachers respond to individual children, and challenge and extend their learning and physical development.
Teachers provide a welcoming and inclusive environment and have positive relationships with children. Frequent interactions affirm and promote children's oral language development and communication skills. Some teachers use open-ended questions well to facilitate reciprocal conversations and challenge children's thinking. Teachers have begun focusing on building children's confidence and social competence. They integrate early literacy well into children's learning experiences.
The teaching team have developed a new planning processes, using a 'notice, recognise and respond' approach. This is helping them to focus more on children's individual interests, and child-led inquiry learning. The team leader models planning and assessment practices for teachers and has a good understanding of effective practice. Teachers have accessed external professional learning to review and improve the quality of curriculum planning, assessment and evaluation. The manager has provided further opportunities for teachers to build their capability in effective curriculum planning, teaching, assessment and evaluation.
Staff are committed to supporting the partnership principle of the Treaty of Waitangi. An in-depth, recent internal evaluation has increased teachers' understanding, knowledge and use of te reo, tikanga and te ao Māori, and they are continuing to strengthen the integration of bicultural practices in the programme.
The manager has prioritised strengthening partnerships and improving communication with families. Parents have opportunities to participate in the programme and be aware of their children's progress. Teachers have plans to provide an online portfolio for parents to have more access to information about their children's learning. Parents appreciate the caring relationships in the centre, and the increasing focus on children's individual interests.
Inclusive, collaborative leadership is a noteworthy feature of the centre. Change management has been thoughtful, strategic and well paced. The manager knows teachers' strengths well and values their contributions and ideas. She works closely with the board to make improvements and set future direction and priorities. The manager is continuing to review appraisal processes to ensure that they meet the requirements of the Education Council.
The manager and trustees are working to improve the centre sustainability. The committee and manager commissioned external advisors to review the centre's operations, finances, personnel and overall viability. This review has been used well to develop a strong vision, and sound strategic and annual planning. The manager is prioritising the development of sound internal evaluation systems and processes to inform and sustain ongoing improvements in the centre.
Priorities for ongoing improvement include:
building teacher capability to challenge children's thinking and engage them in more complex play
improving the programme and learning approaches for younger children to increase teachers' responsiveness to their stages of learning and development
improving the consistency of effective practice across the centre.
Before the review, the staff and management of Remuera Baptist 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:
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 Remuera Baptist Kindergarten will be in three years.
Julie Foley
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)
Te Tai Raki - Northern Region
21 June 2018
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 |
Remuera, Auckland |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
20143 |
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Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
55 children, over 2 years of age |
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Service roll |
33 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 19 Girls 14 |
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Ethnic composition |
Pākehā |
23 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80% Based on funding rates |
80% |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Over 2 |
1:8 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
May 2018 |
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Date of this report |
21 June 2018 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
May 2014 |
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Education Review |
April 2011 |
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Education Review |
April 2008 |
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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.