Apsley Drive, Russley, Christchurch
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Russley Playcentre is very well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Russley Playcentre operates as a parent cooperative under the governance and management of the Playcentre Federation, Upper South Island Region. This centre is licensed for up to 25 children, including 20 children under two. The centre is open four mornings a week and offers a separate session one morning a week for infants and their parents called 'Babies can play'.
The playcentre employs a coordinator. Parents are rostered to help at each session. The Upper South Island Region employs a centre support person and an administrator who regularly visit the playcentre to support the parents and coordinator.
The centre's philosophy places a strong emphasis on the important role of parents in their children's learning and wellbeing. It identifies the significance of play for children to become confident and capable learners and leaders. The philosophy promotes respect for New Zealand's bicultural heritage and children's home cultures. It states that the centre environment should be a safe and stimulating place that offers a variety of learning experiences.
Since the 2014 ERO review, the parent cooperative has continued to provide high quality education and support for all children and whānau. The recommendations in that report have been met and have resulted in further improvements to assessment and planning, and internal evaluation.
This review was part of a cluster of six playcentre reviews in the Playcentre Federation, Upper South Island Region.
Children are confident, capable learners who lead their own learning. They are well supported by adults who are respectful and knowledgeable about the ways children learn best. Adults work effectively as a cooperative, sharing their skills, knowledge and interests with each other and the children. They effectively empower children to problem solve and learn in a variety of ways. Children's learning is well supported, diverse, interesting and challenging.
Children are happy, settled and engaged in meaningful self-chosen learning. Adults establish strong supportive relationships with all children. The high ratio of adults to children helps to ensure that children can always be well supported in their learning and wellbeing. The learning environment is well resourced and easy for children to access and select resources and activities.
Children enjoy an inclusive environment where their home culture is valued and included in the programme. Te reo and tikanga Māori are a regular part of the programme. Parents are well supported to increase their skills and knowledge in this area. Older children are actively encouraged to support and play with younger children. Adults model effectively the behaviours they expect of children. They skilfully help children to listen, respect and include others in their play and learning.
Infants and toddlers are well supported. Many parents participate in 'Babies can play' as a transition into the playcentre sessions, and bring the wide range of skills they have learnt in this programme to the daily sessions.
Children's learning benefits from a local curriculum that encompasses their interests and links to home and centre learning. Parents' skills and knowledge are well used within the programme. Good use is also made of the local community and environment. This includes a strong relationship with the local primary school.
Assessment and planning effectively guide the ways adults work with children to promote their learning and wellbeing. Parents' aspirations for their children are regularly identified and well used to develop children's goals, learning programmes and to evaluate progress. Parents are active partners in all aspects of their child's assessment and planning. This ensures home and centre learning is well integrated and complements each other.
The strategic plan, internal evaluation and coordinator appraisal are closely linked. This is ensuring goals are well met and the quality of learning and teaching continues to improve.
The centre parents and coordinator are well supported by the Upper South Island Region. There is a high level of parent participation in the playcentre parent education programme. The parent cooperative successfully promotes ongoing improvement for children's learning and the operation of the playcentre.
The parent cooperative identified, and ERO's evaluation confirms, that a key next step is extending the use of te reo and tikanga Māori, and increasing the visibility of children's home cultures in assessment and planning and other centre documents.
There continues to be significant change occurring with the playcentre's governance and management at regional and federation levels.
Before the review, the staff and management of Russley Playcentre 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.
Alan Wynyard
Director Review and Improvement Services
Southern Region
30 May 2019
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 |
Christchurch |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
70114 |
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Licence type |
Playcentre |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
25 children, including up to 20 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
69 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 28, Girls 41 |
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Ethnic composition |
NZ European/Pākehā |
57 |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:1 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Over 2 |
1:5 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
February 2019 |
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Date of this report |
30 May 2019 |
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Most recent ERO reports |
Education Review |
October 2014 |
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Education Review |
March 2012 |
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Education Review |
May 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:
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 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.
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.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Russley Playcentre is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
This playcentre operates under the guidance of the Canterbury Playcentre Association. The playcentre is a parent cooperative with parents encouraged to be involved in all aspects of the programme and centre operation.
Russley Playcentre has five morning sessions a week. ‘Babies Can Play’, a special programme for infants and their parents also operates from this centre.
Since the 2012 ERO review, the centre has made good progress towards meeting the recommendations in the ERO report. The commitment to including te reo and tikanga Māori has increased. Plans to help sustain the playcentre long term are being put in place.
This review was part of a cluster of 11 playcentre reviews in the Canterbury Playcentre Association.
Children learn in an environment that is stimulating and supports their learning and wellbeing. Parents have an in-depth knowledge of each child. They make good use of this information and their playcentre parent training to help children develop their language, problem-solving and leadership skills.
The children and parents are welcoming and inclusive of all children and families. Parents make sure families with children with special needs or from other cultures are well supported in the programme and the wider community.
The centre provides children with a wide range of experiences within the centre and the community. Children have access to an extensive range of resources to extend their interests and learning. Literacy and mathematics are evident in a variety of learning areas and activities.
Parents are increasing the inclusion of te reo and tikanga Māori. They are making good use of playcentre parent training and members of the wider community to improve their knowledge and confidence. Centre plans reflect the parents’ commitment to improve this area of the curriculum for all children.
Good systems and practices are in place to help parents participate effectively in child assessment and programme planning. Centre training, led by the coordinator and other experienced parents, is closely linked to the playcentre association parent training. This helps to make assessment and planning relevant to parents.
The centre operates effectively as a parent cooperative. The parents have well-established systems and practices for the daily operation of the playcentre. They successfully encourage new parents to take leadership positions and participate in the parent education programme.
A programme called ‘Babies Can Play’ is effectively used to introduce parents to playcentre and enrol their children. Many of these families continue to send their children to playcentre until they transition to school.
The centre parents and ERO agree that their next steps include:
strengthening child assessment and planning by focusing more on the role of the adult in promoting learning and showing the development of children’s learning, particularly in mathematics
continuing to refine the long-term planning process and making closer links between goals, self review, and learning outcomes for all children.
This is the third cluster review of a number of playcentres that ERO has undertaken in collaboration with the association. Each of the previous cluster reviews has identified emerging strengths from all the playcentres reviewed. This process has resulted in key next steps for the association to further support playcentres to improve learning outcomes for children.
The association has made some good progress in addressing the recommendations from the previous two cluster reviews. This includes:
Further work is required to develop a stronger understanding of the government’s focus on priority learners so that the association can better support parent groups to respond to these children.
There continues to be significant change occurring in the structure of governance and management at association and federation levels. This has had a major impact on the association’s positive response to ERO’s recommendation from the previous cluster review, to document future planning.
During this cluster review the association has identified, and ERO agrees, that the next steps for the association include:
Before the review, the staff and management of Russley Playcentre 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 Russley Playcentre will be in three years.
Graham Randell
National Manager Review Services Southern Region
29 October 2014
|
Location |
Christchurch |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
70114 |
||
|
Licence type |
Playcentre |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
25 children, including up to 10 aged under two |
||
|
Service roll |
41 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys 23; Girls 18 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori NZ European/Pākehā European/Chinese Chinese Irish |
0 36 3 1 1 |
|
|
Reported ratios of adult to children |
Under 2 |
1:1 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:5 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
July 2014 |
||
|
Date of this report |
29 October 2014 |
||
|
Most recent ERO reports |
Education Review |
March 2012 |
|
|
Education Review |
May 2008 |
||
|
Education Review |
June 2004 |
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.