56 Hamatana Road, Snells Beach
View on mapERO’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.
Regulatory standards |
ERO’s judgement |
|
Curriculum |
Meeting |
|
Premises and facilities |
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.
Bush Babies Childcare provides education and care for infants, toddlers and older children. A qualified owner has oversight of governance and curriculum. Children experience regular nature walks in alignment with the centre’s nature-based philosophy. A small number of children enrolled are Māori or have Pacific heritage. This is the first ERO review of the service since a change of ownership in January 2020.
Teachers and leaders engage in meaningful, positive interactions to enhance children’s learning and nurture reciprocal relationships. 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 language-rich environment supports children’s learning. The service curriculum is consistent with Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. Children are provided with a range of experiences and opportunities to enhance and extend their learning and development – both indoors and outdoors, individually and in groups.
Consistent implementation and monitoring of practices is required to maintain regulatory standards.
ERO found an area of non-compliance relating to:
the premises being located in a building that has a current fire evacuation scheme which is approved by the New Zealand Fire Service.
[Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, (HS4)].
Since the onsite visit, the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:
Advising parents on how to access information concerning their child and the most recent Education Review Office report regarding the service (GMA2).
Providing information to parents about how they can be involved in the service; the amount and details of the expenditure of any Ministry of Education funding received by the service (GMA3).
Providing parents of children attending the service and adults providing education and care with opportunities to contribute to the development and review of the service’s operational documents (GMA4).
ERO recommends the Ministry follows up with the service provider to ensure that the non-compliance identified in this report is addressed promptly.
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Filivaifale Jason Swann
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki
15 December 2022
|
Early Childhood Service Name |
Bush Babies Childcare |
|
Profile Number |
46009 |
|
Location: |
Snells Beach |
|
Service type |
Education and care service |
|
Number licensed for |
34 children, including up to 8 aged under 2 |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
|
Service roll |
42 |
|
Review team on site |
September 2022 |
|
Date of this report |
15 December 2022 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Previously reviewed as Sandcastles Early Childhood Centre: Education Review, November 2018; Education Review, March 2015 |
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.
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.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Sandcastles Early Childhood Centre is a small, privately owned service in the coastal community of Snells Beach. Infants and toddlers are nurtured in the Toi Toi room and older children play and learn in the Pohutukawa space. All children have good access to outdoor play areas.
The service's philosophy and practices are underpinned by Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. The teaching team includes eight qualified teachers.
ERO's first review of Sandcastles in 2015 noted that the leadership team had established a sound foundation for high quality teaching and learning and centre operations. There are strong relationships with families and with schools and services in the area. The owner-operator has also now established a second Sandcastles centre in nearby Matakana.
Children's wellbeing is nurtured by warm and caring relationships at all levels. Teachers foster a comfortable, family feel. Children are settled, calm and engaged in their exploration of the environment. They play harmoniously with their peers, and strong friendships are established.
Separate Toi Toi and Pohutukawa areas and designated teachers foster learning and provide appropriate care. Children show a strong sense of belonging in their environment. They confidently make choices about their play. They appear secure and relaxed in the familiar daily routines. Resources are accessible, inviting and well presented to stimulate exploration.
The curriculum provides a breadth of opportunities for children to develop science, artistic, literacy and mathematical concepts. Children sustain engagement in their activities. Strong tuakana/teina relationships are evident between children as they investigate and play together. Teachers look for opportunities to stimulate children's thinking and promote their decision making about learning programmes.
Learning stories notice key moments as children learn through play, and explain their significance in relation to Te Whāriki. Teachers could enhance these assessments by planning deliberate ways to facilitate and promote deeper learning, based on each child's interests, needs and strengths.
The team demonstrate a strong commitment to bicultural practices. Purposeful professional development (PLD) for teachers continues to support growing shared practices, with deep respect for social and cultural connections. Teachers' confidence in te reo Māori is developing. There is a strong emphasis on incorporating natural materials and representing te ao Māori in the programme, values and practices.
Parents are kept well informed about the programme and their children's interests and achievements. A digital platform is used to share children's learning and wellbeing with families and to seek feedback. Parents' aspirations are valued and incorporated into planning.
Transition practices are well considered and prioritise children's sense of security. When younger children are ready to move through from Toi Toi into Pohutukawa, the period of transition is unhurried and highly flexible to suit the pace of the child. Positive community relationships, including with local schools, strengthen the network of support for children.
Leaders have worked towards achieving the next steps identified in the 2015 ERO review. The philosophy, curriculum, strategic and other guiding documents have been reviewed collaboratively. Leaders have prioritised PLD and have implemented an internal evaluation framework that is focused on improvement. More robust appraisal and mentoring support systems are now required.
More purposeful alignment of strategic and annual plans, appraisal, PLD and internal evaluation would provide clearer guidance for a more streamlined approach to improvement. Leaders are well positioned to create coherence between these key elements. This step would foster the team's collective understanding of the service's goals and support the team to achieve its valued outcomes.
Centre leaders agree that further developments include:
continuing to review and implement culturally responsive practices
refining and streamlining strategic and annual planning, and related actions
formalising appraisal processes with regular, robust opportunities for feedback and goal setting
strengthening the visibility of planning and evaluation in children's individual learning stories.
Before the review, the staff and management of Sandcastles Early Childhood 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:
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 Sandcastles Early Childhood Centre will be in three years.
Violet Tu’uga Stevenson
Director Review and Improvement Services
Te Tai Raki - Northern Region
29 November 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.
|
Location |
Snells Beach, Warkworth |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
46099 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
34 children, including up to 8 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
52 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls 30 Boys 22 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori |
3 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% + |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:4 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:7 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
October 2018 |
||
|
Date of this report |
29 November 2018 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
March 2015 |
|
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.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Sandcastles Early Childhood Centre is a privately owned centre in Snells Beach, Warkworth. The centre opened in January 2013. It is owned and operated by an experienced early childhood teacher and most of the teachers are qualified. The premises have been thoughtfully renovated and resourced. This has created an attractive and stimulating learning environment for children from birth to five years. The centre is licensed for 34 children including eight under the age of two. This is the centre’s first ERO review.
The centre’s philosophy is guided by the principles of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. The centre’s curriculum has a strong focus on the use of natural resources and learning in and about the local community. Teachers provide an environment where children are valued as individuals, and where their curiosity is encouraged and extended. Children’s wellbeing and learning is the priority in centre decision-making.
The centre has an inclusive, family-oriented approach. Staff are committed to developing strong relationships and effective communication with families/whānau. Parents give positive feedback about the sense of family and the care and education provided for their children
Children at Sandcastles benefit from the warm, loving and caring relationships that characterise their interactions with teachers. They are supported to explore, grow and learn at their own pace within an environment that is stimulating and challenging.
Children are settled and engaged in their play. They are confident and articulate in interactions with each other and with adults. Children’s language skills are extended through meaningful play experiences and through the sustained conversations they have with teachers. High quality teaching practices; build on child-directed play, stimulate children’s thinking and creativity, and facilitate sustained, complex play.
Children are well supported to develop independence, self management and social skills. Teachers effectively incorporate early literacy and numeracy learning in meaningful ways.
Learning programmes are based on children’s emerging interests. Teachers make good use of the notice, recognise and respond model to assess and plan children’s learning. Children’s individual and group interests are regularly updated and evaluated. Good quality portfolios provide specific information about each child’s learning.
The centre is very well resourced with many natural materials. Children are able to use these in a variety of imaginative ways. The spacious environment is organised into discrete areas of play. This allows children to play independently or co-operatively. Indoor and outdoor areas provide many opportunities for exploration, choice and challenge. There are good opportunities for children of all ages to extend their physical skills.
Separate rooms and outdoor areas provide age appropriate care and learning activities. Children can interact with all staff and other children and enjoy the varied learning areas that the environment offers. Children of different ages are able to establish positive relationships. Older children support younger ones in their play and routines. Siblings are able to enjoy being with each other. Transition within the centre is well-considered and responsive to individual children’s requirements. Staff are building good relationships with local schools. This helps them to support older children’s transition from the centre.
Parents receive good information about their children's learning. They are encouraged to take an active part in centre events. Staff are continuing to increase opportunities for parents to contribute to the learning programmes. An electronic system for sharing children’s learning is about to be introduced. This should enhance communication with parents and enable them to have greater input into their children’s learning.
Centre leaders have identified that they want to strengthen how well the centre reflects New Zealand’s bi-cultural heritage. This could include increasing whānau and community voice as they work towards developing the centre’s bicultural practices.
Staff work collaboratively and have a culture of reflection. They are committed to ongoing improvement. The owner and head teacher provide high quality professional leadership. They are considering ways to further promote shared leadership opportunities. This would help to build sustainability.
Professional learning and development is purposeful and well considered. The centre owner has redesigned the staff appraisal process. She is continuing to refine this good system to incorporate more formal teacher reflection practices.
Useful self review processes have been established and the centre leaders are continuing to refine and strengthen these. ERO and centre leaders agree that further development could include improving documentation of review processes and outcomes.
The centre owner has developed a clear vision and strategic direction. This is informed by current best practice research and supported by well-aligned systems and practices. ERO supports centre leaders’ intentions to further develop strategic planning processes.
Sound foundations have been established for high quality teaching and learning and operational practices. Centre leaders are considering how best to sustain their good practices, continue to build capacity and improve outcomes for children.
ERO affirms the centre’s plans to:
Before the review, the staff and management of Sandcastles Early Childhood 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 Sandcastles Early Childhood Centre will be in three years.
Dale Bailey
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern
11 March 2015
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.
|
Location |
Snells Beach, Warkworth |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
46099 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
34 children, including up to 8 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
47 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls 25 Boys 22 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā |
6 41 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80% Based on funding rates |
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 |
January 2015 |
||
|
Date of this report |
11 March 2015 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
No previous ERO reports |
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.