Rockmybaby Homebased Childcare - 03/02/2021

• On this page:

• 1 Evaluation of Rockmybaby Homebased Childcare
• 2 Information about the Home-based Education and Care Service
• 3 General Information about Early Childhood Reviews

How well placed is Rockmybaby Homebased Childcare to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Rockmybaby Homebased Childcare is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

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

Background

Rockmybaby Homebased Childcare is an all-day education and care service operating in the Auckland region. It is a quality-funded network licensed for 80 children, including 35 children aged under two years. This network is one of eight networks under the same private ownership operating through the North Island. The organisation's head office is in Havelock North.

All visiting teachers are qualified early childhood teachers and bring a variety of experience to the role. Most educators are nannies who care for up to four children at any one time in children's homes.

The service's philosophy makes a commitment to providing high quality education and care for each child. It promotes the values of collaborative partnership, nurturing, respectful relationships and empowering children to be lifelong learners.

ERO’s 2017 report acknowledged a variety of positive features which have been sustained. There has been a focus on strengthening the network's bicultural practice, assessment and planning practices, and internal evaluation to support continuous improvement of the service.

The Review Findings

Children's learning records show that they are well supported to develop their interests, strengths and preferences through everyday experiences. Infants and toddlers benefit from individualised nurturing and care. Visiting teachers and educators support children to experience different environments where they have opportunities to play and learn alongside others.

The senior visiting teacher provides effective curriculum leadership. She skilfully guides visiting teachers to improve educator practices. Programme planning frameworks align with Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. A library of useful resources supports and expands educators' in-home programmes.

Visiting teachers maintain clear and useful records of their visits to educators. They identify how well educators interact with children and focus on children's care and wellbeing. Visiting teachers encourage educators to support children's learning by modelling good teaching practices.

There is a commitment to embedding bicultural practice and affirming Māori as tangata whenua. Good progress has been made to strengthen bicultural practices and use te ao Māori to guide termly topics. Continuing to deepen bicultural understandings and practices at all levels remains a priority. Integrating te reo and tikanga Māori into daily practices will build educator confidence to use te reo Māori.

The service has a strong commitment to Pacific education. Leaders and teachers value the importance of exposing children to values and knowledge significant to Pacific learners.

Effective communication between the service and home is fostered by the visiting teacher. Parents and whānau have good access to information about children's participation in the programmes. They have opportunities to contribute to and be involved in their children's learning.

Leaders work well in an established structure where relationships are respectful and collaborative. Visiting teachers are well resourced to be effective in their work and to continually improve. A well-considered induction process supports ongoing improvement in educators' practice.

A clear framework and process for internal evaluation has been developed. The appraisal system is focused on strengthening practices. A distributive leadership model draws on the strengths of the team and develops leadership capability. Visiting teachers and educators have good access to ongoing professional learning opportunities.

Leaders are focused on continuous improvement. The organisation's strategic plan guides network operations. A clear policy framework and a system to regularly review policies and procedures are in place. Health and safety practices are effectively managed in homes in the network.

Key Next Steps

Key next steps include continuing to:

• strengthen programmes by evaluating the effectiveness of teaching strategies and learning outcomes for children

• explore ways to reflect individual children's language and cultural identity in their learning experiences and journals

• strengthen internal evaluation by assessing service progress towards strategic goals over time.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Rockmybaby Homebased Childcare 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:

• 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.

Steve Tanner

Director Review and Improvement Services Northern

Northern Region

3 February 2021

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 Home-based Education and Care Service

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 the draft methodology for ERO reviews in Home-based Education and Care Services: July 2014

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.