45 Waverley Street, Onerahi, Whangarei
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 |
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Curriculum |
Meeting |
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Premises and facilities |
Meeting |
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Health and safety |
Meeting |
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Governance, management and administration |
Meeting |
Since the onsite visit the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed non-compliances and is now taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.
Simply Kids Preschool is a privately owned and operated centre in a semi-rural area. The service provider/centre manager leads a team of two qualified staff and one unqualified staff. Approximately half of the children attending are Māori.
Adults providing education and care engage in meaningful, positive interactions that enhance children’s learning and nurture reciprocal relationships. The service curriculum acknowledges and reflects the unique place of Māori as tangata whenua. Children have opportunities to develop knowledge and an understanding of the cultural heritages of both parties to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. There is a sufficient quantity and variety of equipment appropriate for the learning and abilities of the children attending.
The service provider needs to monitor that processes and practices are implemented and maintained to meet regulatory requirements.
Since the onsite visit the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Steve Tanner
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki
12 May 2021
| Early Childhood Service Name | Simply Kids Preschool |
| Profile Number | 10227 |
| Location | Onerahi, Whangarei |
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Service type |
Education and care service |
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Number licensed for |
28 children, including up to 8 aged under 2. |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80%+ |
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Service roll |
24 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori 11 |
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Review team on site |
March 2021 |
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Date of this report |
12 May 2021 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, September 2016 Education Review, June 2013 |
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:
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO assesses whether the regulated 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:
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO also gathers and records evidence through:
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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.
Simply Kids Preschool is a privately owned, semi-rural, all day education and care centre. It caters for up to 28 children, including eight children under two years of age. The majority of the children attend less than a full week.
The centre’s philosophy emphasises children learning about themselves and their place in the world. Building relationships, celebrating cultural diversity and responsiveness to children and whānau are key values that underpin practice. Education and care is guided by Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. The extensive outdoor area promotes children's play. An enclosed space for a variety of small animals provides opportunities for children to learn about farm animals.
The owner/ manager employs four registered teachers, one provisionally registered teacher and three unqualified staff. Most teachers are part time and work on a roster of approximately three days a week.
The 2013 ERO report recognised many good aspects of the centre, including strong tuakana teina relationships among children, and the attractive learning environment. These aspects are still evident. Since the report the centre owner and teachers have made positive changes to the centre’s programme and the philosophy. Further work is required in planning long and short-term goals that clearly identify priorities and associated goals towards achieving the centre’s vision.
Children in this centre are happy and demonstrate a strong sense of belonging. Respectful, responsive relationships and interactions underpin the centre’s warm and welcoming tone. Teachers know children and their whānau well. Parents value the team’s strong commitment to supporting the needs of all families. Children with special learning needs are well supported in their learning and external support is provided when it is required.
Children are friendly and confident learners. They have fun, are encouraged to explore resources and are able to make choices about how and where they play. They initiate their own learning and enjoy imaginative play. Teachers could now put a stronger focus on empowering children to take increased responsibility for the wellbeing of themselves and others.
The environment provides opportunities for mixed-age play. Teachers care for infants and toddlers in a small separate space within the comfortable indoor learning area. Gentle, respectful teacher practice has allowed strong relationships to develop between children and their teachers.
Teachers make links to children’s home experiences and follow their interests to promote learning. Teachers ask children questions and wait patiently for them to respond. This respectful approach gives children time to think, helps them to develop oral language skills, and supports their wellbeing. It would now be timely for all teachers to consider ways to extend children's thinking and learning.
Learning programmes have a strong focus on increasing children's connections with nature. The centre is well resourced to engage the interest of children. Wall displays reflect the children’s learning and programme activities.
Teachers are committed to extending bicultural practice. They use basic te reo Māori in interactions with children and have learnt about the history of the Onerahi area. Cultural celebrations are evident in displays, and centre resources provide opportunities to extend children's knowledge of Māori culture.
Children’s portfolios are well used by children and their families. They provide a valued record of children’s learning journeys. There are some good examples of children's learning being extended.
The owner/manager promotes an inclusive and caring leadership model and supports a collective approach to teaching and learning. Teachers work collaboratively, sharing strengths. They have a strong commitment to continuously improving outcomes for children.
Recently reviewed policy and procedures provide good frameworks for centre operation. To enable the owner and teachers to achieve their shared vision of a high performing centre they could use current information about quality early childhood practices as they review their practice. In order to meet the Education Council requirements for endorsing teacher registration, further work is required.
ERO suggested and the centre owner/manager agreed that in order to sustain continuous improvement the next steps for centre management include:
strengthening self-review processes to include outcomes for children
developing an annual plan, and aligning this to the strategic plan to guide centre practices
consistently evaluating the effectiveness of the programme in order to further support children's learning
implementing robust, improvement focused staff appraisal, and including appraisal of management by an external appraiser.
Before the review, the staff and management of Simply Kids Preschool 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 Simply Kids Preschool will be in three years.
Graham Randell
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern
21 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 |
Onerahi, Whangarei |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
10227 |
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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 |
28 children, including up to 8 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
27 |
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Gender composition |
Girls 17, Boys 10 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā other |
12 9 6 |
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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 |
1:3 |
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 |
21 September 2016 |
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Most recent ERO report(s)
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Education Review |
June 2013 |
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Education Review |
March 2010 |
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Education Review |
March 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.