26 A Symonds Street, Auckland CBD, Auckland
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Symonds Street Early Childhood Centre is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Symonds Street Early Childhood Centre is one of six early childhood centres including two kōhanga reo that are owned and operated by the University of Auckland. The centre is licensed for 36 children over two years of age.
Children attending the centre have diverse ethnic backgrounds and heritage languages. The centre's philosophy is underpinned by Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, and the Treaty of Waitangi. Teachers aim to adapt philosophical approaches to suit their culturally diverse community.
The University of Auckland's early childhood reference group is responsible for governance and management of the centre. The teaching team includes a centre manager who provides professional leadership, six other registered teachers, and one teacher in training.
The 2015 ERO report noted how well teachers supported children and families to develop a sense of belonging. It also noted that teachers engaged children in meaningful interactions and conversations. These positive practices continue to be present. Areas for development included philosophy review, assessment, transitions, and bicultural practice. Good progress has been made in these areas.
Children are supported to settle, and they demonstrate a sense of belonging at the centre. Interactions among children and teachers are warm, caring, nurturing and responsive. Children are confident and strong communicators, sharing their ideas and making choices about their play. They consider other children's ideas, and look after each other's wellbeing.
Teachers use the indoor and outdoor spaces to create a thoughtfully prepared environment for learning. Children move freely within the learning spaces, choosing from a wide variety of accessible resources. They benefit from opportunities to sustain their play, and they can play cooperatively for long periods of time.
Teachers are intentionally inclusive of children with additional learning needs. They particularly support children and families from diverse cultures. They know children and families well, and work in individual ways with them. Teachers promote te reo Māori in the programme and in their documentation for children, whānau and the teaching team.
Parents who spoke to ERO reported their appreciation of the support their children have received to settle, grow, develop and learn. Transitions into the centre and to school are well supported. Teachers aim to educate parents about the values of play-based learning, and how they implement Te Whāriki. Wall displays and programme books provide opportunities for children and parents to revisit centre events and celebrations.
Teachers use Te Whāriki to guide programme planning and assessments. Individual and group learning stories form a part of children's portfolios. Teachers use a 'notice, recognise and respond' format to document the assessment of children's learning. Some portfolios show children's learning progress over time. Teachers should ensure that each child's individual learning progress is documented.
Internal evaluation is well developed. Teachers are collaborative, and have a shared understanding around prioritising actions to result in positive changes. They could now focus evaluations more on the impact of centre practices on outcomes for children and whānau.
Leadership changes have been well managed. The newly appointed centre manager is supported well to grow her leadership skills. She is establishing improved systems and processes, and leading a review of the centre's philosophy. A sound framework of policies and procedures guides centre operations. The strategic plan could be more centre specific and aligned with the annual plan to provide a shared vision and direction for the centre.
Teachers have opportunities to access relevant professional learning to help them to improve their teaching practice. They could evaluate the effectiveness of their teaching practice against the newly reviewed philosophy.
Leaders and teachers agree that key next steps include:
making the role of the teacher in supporting children's learning more visible in centre documentation
providing children with more opportunities to think critically and lead their learning
recording the impact of internal evaluation on children's outcomes
evaluating progress towards achieving the centre's strategic goals.
Before the review, the staff and management of Symonds Street 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.
To improve current practice, leaders and teachers should improve the recording of:
medication administration and parent signatures
earthquake drills
the involvement of parents and teachers in policy review.
Steve Tanner
Director Review and Improvement Services Northern
Northern Region
22 February 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 |
Auckland CBD |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
20009 |
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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 |
36 children aged over 2 years |
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Service roll |
40 |
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Gender composition |
Girls 20 Boys 20 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
1 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% + |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Over 2 |
1:6 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
January 2019 |
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Date of this report |
22 February 2019 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
May 2015 |
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Education Review |
May 2012 |
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Education Review |
August 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:
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.
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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.
The Symonds Street Early Childhood Centre is one of six licensed centres operated by the University of Auckland. The centre is well positioned in relation to the campus, providing flexible services for children of staff and students from the university.
Children attending the centre are between two and five years of age. Most children transition into this centre from the nearby infant and toddler centre. It operates under the same management and leadership team and has some of the same teachers.
The University of Auckland is the licensee and the person responsible is the new centre manager who was appointed in 2014. Some teachers have had a long association with the centre. Recently appointed staff include a new centre leader and a head teacher.
ERO’s 2012 report acknowledged the friendly and inclusive culture underpinning the child-focused programme. The report also identified several areas for further development and the new leadership and management team are taking positive steps to address these.
Children and their families are welcomed into the centre. They have diverse cultural backgrounds and several have home languages other than English. Children are well supported to make friends and quickly develop a sense of belonging.
Children are considered to be capable and competent learners and are able to make decisions about their play. They have extended periods of uninterrupted play. This allows them to persist with activities in groups and individually. Relationships between children and teachers are respectful and inclusive.
Many of the positive care and education practices identified in the 2102 ERO report are still evident. The learning programme is clearly aligned to Te Whāriki, early childhood curriculum and is well resourced. The free flowing and relaxed tone of the centre enables children to engage in purposeful learning and socialising activities.
Children enjoy the programme and are confident to ask teachers for support. Many teachers engage children in interactions and conversations that extend children’s interests and ideas. Teachers are exploring different ways to organise the learning environment so that children can use and return to resources more independently.
Centre staff are currently reviewing many of their existing operations. The new manager and centre leaders are consulting teachers and parents as they review policies, develop plans and evaluate practices. Changes are being well communicated and shared with families and children.
New systems have been introduced to support children to become more self managing. Children can make decisions about their play and when they having morning tea. Lunch is now provided by a catering service. Bi-cultural practices are evident in resources, at group times, meal times and in planned cultural events. Teachers should continue to make te reo and tikanga Māori more visible throughout the programme.
Greater use is being made of digital technologies. Children can use i-Pads to photograph and video their learning activities. Teachers assist children to access information via the internet. Parents have welcomed the centres’ new digital communication system that enables their child’s progress and interests to be more easily shared with them.
Professional learning and development is planned so that teachers can continue to improve the way they evaluate outcomes for children. New approaches to planning and assessment will allow teachers to better recognise and respond to children’s interests and developments. Centre leaders agree that teachers could do more to increase the engagement and levels of challenge for older children.
Long term plans and goals have been developed to guide centre improvements. Goals are shared with staff and built into appraisal systems to embed new directions. Teachers are benefitting from the new centre leadership and opportunities to contribute to self review and centre-wide improvement.
ERO is confident that the new centre managers have the expertise and experience to lift the quality of the services through consistent leadership and ongoing self review.
Centre managers have identified useful next steps to continue centre development. Their priorities include:
ERO agrees these are well-selected goals. In addition, ERO would encourage centre managers to continue evaluating how effectively the current individual learning portfolios document children’s progress and development.
Before the review, the staff and management of Symonds Street 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 Symonds Street Early Childhood Centre will be in three years.
Dale Bailey
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern
29 May 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 |
Auckland, Central |
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|
Ministry of Education profile number |
20009 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
36 children over two years of age |
||
|
Service roll |
47 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls 24 Boys 23 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Malaysian other European Middle East Chinese Indian Pacific other |
1 14 10 7 4 3 3 2 3 |
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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 |
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Over 2 |
1:7 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
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Review team on site |
April 2015 |
||
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Date of this report |
29 May 2015 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
May 2012 |
|
|
Education Review |
August 2008 |
||
|
Education Review |
August 2005 |
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.