6 Crown Street, Royal Oak, Auckland
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 (PDF 3.01MB) 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 (PDF 91.30KB) 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 Royal Oak Childcare Centre are as follows:
Outcome Indicators |
ERO’s judgement |
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What the service knows about outcomes for learners |
Whakaū Embedding |
Ngā Akatoro Domains |
ERO’s judgement |
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He Whāriki Motuhake The learner and their learning |
Whāngai Establishing |
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Whakangungu Ngaio Collaborative professional learning builds knowledge and capability |
Whāngai Establishing |
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Ngā Aronga Whai Hua Evaluation for improvement |
Whakatō Emerging |
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Kaihautū Leaders foster collaboration and improvement |
Whāngai Establishing |
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Te Whakaruruhau Stewardship through effective governance and management |
Whakatō Emerging |
Royal Oak Childcare Centre provides education and care for children up to three years of age. Children aged over two years have a separate play space designed to cater for their needs. They transition to the sister centre to continue their learning journey through to school age. There are 11 staff including six registered teachers.
Children have a strong sense of belonging in the centre. They settle quickly with familiar adults who are responsive to their needs. Established friendships are evident between teachers and children and their families. Children engage in a variety of learning activities in an inviting environment that provides opportunities for them to visit friends and siblings between learning spaces.
Children’s preferences and choices are respected. They receive nurturing care based on their individual needs. Teachers recognise that opportunities for play are a crucial part of children’s development and learning. They interpret and respond to the cues offered by infants and toddlers, including body language and their non-verbal cues. Meaningful interactions support children’s independence and learning.
A commitment to te reo Māori is evident at mat-times, including the use of waiata and karakia mō te kai. Some teachers use waiata for story time in the context of children’s play. Leaders and teachers could consider designing a local curriculum consistent with te ao Māori perspectives and reflective of the service’s philosophy.
Teachers reflect children’s cultures and can speak children’s home languages. This enhances opportunities for parents and whānau to communicate about their children’s needs. The service is beginning to explore the learning outcomes of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, and how these can be more widely used in programme planning and assessment.
Leaders provide opportunities for professional learning. This has impacted positively on growing teaching practice and developing children’s learning. They prioritise the wellbeing of children and whānau when making strategic decisions. Leaders and teachers are strongly focused on providing a positive working environment that builds and sustains adult:child relationships. The service is at an early stage of developing processes to use evaluation for improvement purposes.
Royal Oak Childcare Centre will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:
Before the review, the staff and management of Royal Oak Childcare Centre 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.
Since the onsite visit the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:
Phil Cowie
Acting Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki
13 July 2021
| Early Childhood Service Name | Royal Oak Childcare Centre |
| Profile Number | 20011 |
| Location | Royal Oak, Auckland |
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Service type |
Education and care service |
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Number licensed for |
47 children, including up to 25 aged under 2 years |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80%+ |
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Service roll |
31 |
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Ethnic composition |
NZ European/Pākehā 21 |
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Review team on site |
April 2021 |
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Date of this report |
13 July 2021 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, September 2016 |
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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.
Royal Oak Childcare Centre is a well-established centre that has been owned and managed by the same family group for fifteen years. It caters for babies and toddlers in a renovated bungalow at the front of the property, and for children until they are about three and a half years old in an adjoining facility behind the main house. When children are ready, they move on to the neighbouring preschool centre owned by the same group.
The centre's philosophy promotes respectful and nurturing approaches where children have the freedom to play and learn at their own natural pace. It highlights the value teachers place on play and their vision for children as capable and competent learners. Teachers operate a primary caregiver system for children in each of the three rooms.
The owner and manager have worked together in the centre for a long period of time. They are joined by a team of well qualified teachers, most of whom who have completed respectful infant care training with a well-known early childhood specialist. The centre's 2013 ERO report recognised many strengths including respectful interactions within the calm, nurturing environment. Some next steps identified in the report included focusing more on children's emerging interests, and increasing the use of bicultural practices. ERO is satisfied that the mangers and teachers have addressed the development priorities identified in the 2013 ERO report.
Children experience a peaceful and calm environment in which to play and learn. This reflects the centre philosophy. Children have friendly, caring and respectful interactions with adults and other children. Older children move freely between the indoor and outdoor spaces, accessing resources independently to support their play needs.
Throughout the centre, rooms are uncluttered and well organised. Children's work and photographs of them learning are well displayed in the environment and in portfolios. These good records allow children, parents and teachers to revisit and celebrate children's learning successes.
Babies and toddlers benefit from teachers' affectionate, gentle and nurturing approaches. Teachers are skilled in designing learning experiences that support the personal needs of each child. They value parents as their children's first teachers, and work in partnership with parents, aligning the centre's programmes to children's rhythms and home routines. Children's portfolios highlight the focus that teachers place on children's thinking and interests, and show the learning progress that children make over time.
Teachers support children's oral language development with lots of conversation, through music and song and reading together. Teachers are highly responsive to the questions older children have about their learning and the world. Some teachers are also able to support children's home language development.
Teachers are increasingly confident in enacting a bicultural curriculum and in their use of te reo Māori in the programme. Relevant professional learning is building teachers' and leaders' bicultural competencies. The centre's practices align well with the Māori concepts of whanaungatanga, manaakitanga and ako.
Teachers design learning programmes based on children's interests, preferences and dispositions. They observe children's play carefully, intervening only when necessary to extend learning or to ensure children's safety. They use resources and equipment to promote children's imaginative play. These good approaches allow children to collaborate with others and to play uninterrupted for significant periods of time.
Centre managers are committed to the child-centred principles that underpin the centre's philosophy. They invest in relevant professional learning for teachers and ensure that it is strategically aligned to the centre's philosophy and to improving outcomes for children. Internal evaluation focuses purposefully on ensuring that professional practice has a positive impact on children's learning.
Teachers and leaders are reflective, value each other's strengths and work well as a team. In addition, centre leaders promote opportunities for parents to learn about child-centred principles, and to enhance peaceful and nurturing practices for their children.
Centre managers are continuing to review and improve the teacher appraisal system and align it to the Practising Teacher Criteria.
Centre managers agree that key next steps include:
Before the review, the staff and management of Royal Oak Childcare Centre 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 Royal Oak Childcare Centre will be in four years.
Graham Randell
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern
1 September 2016
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 |
Royal Oak, Auckland |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
20011 |
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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 |
47 children, including up to 25 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
48 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 24 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
2 |
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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 |
Under 2 |
1:4 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Over 2 |
1:6 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
July 2016 |
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Date of this report |
1 September 2016 |
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Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
October 2013 |
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Education Review |
November 2010 |
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|
Education Review |
July 2007 |
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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:
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.