17 Marsden Point Road, Ruakaka
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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 |
At the time of the review, ERO found the service was taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.
Small Poppies has been part of the nationwide Provincial Education Group since 2017. Approximately 25 percent of the children attending are Māori. The centre manager leads a team of eight qualified teachers and eight untrained staff, including a centre cook.
Teachers plan and implement a programme that is consistent with Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. The service’s curriculum is inclusive and responsive to children as confident learners. Adults engage in meaningful, positive interactions that enhance children’s learning and nurture reciprocal relationships. Teachers provide a range of experiences and opportunities to enhance and extend children’s learning and development.
A philosophy statement and annual plan guide centre operations. Appropriate policies and procedures are in place to support children’s and adults’ health and safety. An ongoing process of review keeps the service focused on improving outcomes for children.
Next steps include:
The next ERO review is likely to be an Education Review.
Steve Tanner
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki
25 September 2019
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Early Childhood Service Name |
Small Poppies |
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Profile Number |
20223 |
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Location |
Ruakaka |
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Service type |
Education and care service |
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Number licensed for |
58 children, including up to 25 aged under 2 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80%+ |
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Reported ratio of adults to children under 2 |
1:4 - Better than regulatory standards |
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Reported ratio of adults to children over 2 |
1:8 - Better than regulatory standards |
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Service roll |
77 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 43 Girls 34 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori 19 |
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Review team on site |
August 2019 |
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Date of this report |
25 September 2019 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review September 2016 |
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 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 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.
Small Poppies is licensed to provide full day education and care for up to 50 children, including 25 aged children under two years. Infants and toddlers have a separate play space but periodically all children are able to play together and explore the whole outdoor and indoor environments. Children aged two to five years are catered for in the Tall Poppies room. The service operates from a purpose-built facility with extensive grounds.
The centre is privately owned. One of the owners is a qualified teacher who works alongside the centre manager and the teaching team. Six qualified teachers and one teacher in training are included in a staff of thirteen overall. Teachers come from a range of diverse cultural backgrounds.
The service's philosophy is underpinned by the four principles of the early childhood curriculum: empowerment, holistic development, family and community, and relationships. Teachers are recognised as facilitators of children's learning, empowering them to learn and grow.
The 2013 ERO report highlighted the good quality interactions with children and strong relationships with parents. The teaching team was seen as collaborative and reflective. Significant progress was noted in planning and assessment practices. Children were seen to be confident and to enthusiastically engage in the programme.
Areas identified in 2013 for ongoing review and development were self review, planning and assessment processes and bicultural practices. Centre leaders have responded positively and focused on strengthening these aspects of their practice.
Children settle easily into their play. Relationships are well established with their teachers and strong friendships amongst the children are evident. Easy access to resources allows children to engage in play of their own choosing.
Teachers in the Tall Poppies room are particularly good role models in supporting the development of children's language and vocabulary. They work well with children in small informal groups and support their social development. Teachers focus strongly on children's development of skills that will support their successful transition to school.
Good teacher to child ratios support infants and toddlers. Teachers work with parents to maintain individual routines and preferences for their child's day. Children of all ages benefit from the service's inclusive practices and the opportunities to share play spaces. Science, mathematics, technology and literacy feature strongly in the programme. The outdoor environment has undergone extensive revitalisation.
Effective relationships are established with whānau. Teachers actively seek, and respond to, feedback from their families. Parents who communicated with ERO appreciated the teachers' responsiveness to the individual needs of their children. The team is working to establish a whānau group that would enable whānau input in programme planning, appraisal and review processes.
Teachers have established an effective process of self review, and are committed to the ongoing use, and continued development of, self review to enhance their programme, as well as the ongoing development of their bi-cultural practice. ERO supports these ongoing initiatives.
Teachers and children use te reo Māori in their conversations and throughout the programme. The team are deepening their knowledge of tikanga Māori through consultation with local hapu, iwi, whānau, and learning the history of the land they occupy. As part of their strong bi-cultural development it would be useful now to teachers to explore the Māori concept of ako.
Assessment and planning processes are well established. An on-line resource supports documentation of learning and encourages parent responses to learning stories. Children can access their learning journals and share these with others through the use of available technology.
The centre is well managed. Up to date policies and procedures guide centre practices. All teachers contribute to the establishment of an annual plan, which aligns with self review and appraisal goals. Centre leaders are focused on building the knowledge and practice of teachers to improve outcomes for children.
ERO recommends that key next steps for development include:
ongoing review of programme planning processes to allow children more opportunities to share their ideas and to make significant contributions to the programme
continuing to build teachers' understanding of how children learn, and how this information can be used to plan a more responsive programme
providing professional development opportunities for teachers of infants and toddlers to enhance the quality of care and education for children aged under two years.
Before the review, the staff and management of Small Poppies 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 Small Poppies will be in three years.
Graham Randell
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern
30 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 |
Ruakaka, Whangarei |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
20223 |
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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 |
50 children, including up to 25 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
65 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 38 Girls 27 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Cook Island Māori Samoan other |
22 31 2 2 8 |
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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 |
1:8 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
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Review team on site |
June 2016 |
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Date of this report |
30 September 2016 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
April 2013 |
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|
Education Review |
July 2009 |
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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.