Douglas Street, Hawera
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 |
At the time of the review, ERO found the service was taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.
Tawhiti Kindergarten is one of 24 services governed and managed by Kindergarten Taranaki/Te Putahi Kura Pūhou o Taranaki. Approximately a third of learners identify as Māori and a small number are of Pacific heritage. There have been a number of staff changes. The service regained a full licence April 2021
Teachers engage in positive interactions to enhance children’s learning. The curriculum respects and supports children to be confident in their own culture and encourages them to understand and respect other cultures. Assessment, planning and evaluation demonstrate an understanding of children’s learning, interests, whānau and life contexts.
Children are provided with a range of opportunities and experiences to enhance their learning in a language rich environment. The curriculum supports their developing social competence.
An ongoing process of self review and internal evaluation helps the service maintain and improve the quality of its education and care.
Next steps include continuing to:
strengthen learning partnerships when seeking and responding to parent and whānau contributions to their children’s learning
improve the extent to which assessment information shows each child’s progress and learning over time.
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui
21 December 2022
|
Early Childhood Service Name |
Tawhiti Kindergarten |
|
Profile Number |
5236 |
|
Location |
Hawera |
|
Service type |
Free Kindergarten |
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Number licensed for |
40 children aged over 2 |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
100% |
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Service roll |
41 |
|
Review team on site |
December 2022 |
|
Date of this report |
21 December 2022 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, August 2018; Education Review, May 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.
having its first ERO review – including if it is part of a governing organisation
previously identified as ‘not well placed’ or ‘requiring further development’
that has moved from a provisional to a full licence
that have been re-licenced due to a change of ownership
where an Akanuku | Assurance Review process is determined to be appropriate.
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.
Tawhiti Kindergarten is located in Hawera. The service provides flexible sessions for children aged over two and of the 41 children enrolled, 10 are Māori. All teachers are fully qualified.
The kindergarten philosophy emphasises promoting an inclusive environment where children and whānau are valued and respected. The teaching team are planning to review the philosophy during 2018, in consultation with parents.
A parent committee supports the kindergarten with fundraising. The kindergarten is an enviroschool and is a member of the South Taranaki Kāhui Ako.
Tawhiti Kindergarten is one of 24 kindergartens governed and managed by Kindergarten Taranaki - Te Putahi Kura Pūhou Taranaki (the organisation). Day-to-day management of the organisation is the responsibility of the chief executive. A governing board sets the overall strategic direction. A professional manager and two professional leaders provide regular support and a range of learning and development opportunities for teachers. An operations manager supports kindergartens' policy development and compliance.
In 2017, the board developed a strategic plan with the intention for individual kindergartens to align their strategic plans to the organisation's goals and measures. The Quality Evaluation Tool was introduced in late 2017. The purpose of this document is for teachers to self-assess teaching and learning practices to inform internal evaluation and improve outcomes for children.
The May 2015 ERO report identified that the kindergarten's internal evaluation and parent partnership practices needed development. Progress is ongoing.
ERO also identified areas for the organisation to strengthen. These included:
developing the annual plan
strengthening systems and processes for performance management
consistent implementation of appraisal
reviewing and clarifying the role of the professional leaders in building teachers’ capability.
Progress in these areas is evident.
This review was part of a cluster of five reviews in Kindergarten Taranaki - Te Putahi Kura Pūhou Taranaki.
Teachers work collaboratively to provide a welcoming, inclusive learning environment for all children and parents. They continue to focus on seeking ways to invite families to share the aspirations they have for their child. Staff encourage and offer opportunities for families to contribute to their child’s learning.
The outdoor environment is thoughtfully organised, offers physical challenge and supports imaginative play. Inviting gardens extend on the sustainability and natural science learning that are a positive feature of the kindergarten.
Children enthusiastically engage in a range of child-initiated learning. Support from the professional leader helps teachers to develop and refine systems for programme planning. Staff provide inviting experiences across a range of curriculum areas. At times children revisit their previous activities and learning captured in their assessment portfolios. Teachers continue to strengthen how they notice and record immediate and emerging ideas and passions of individual learners.
The philosophy is due for review in 2018. Teachers agree that this work should include consideration of how their practices can be tailored to build on the special characteristics of two-year-old children.
Children's transition into the kindergarten is sensitively managed. Teachers use a good range of strategies to build and maintain relationships with local schools. They should continue to investigate ways to share information with new entrant teachers, so that children’s confidence and capability at the service is supported as they move on to school.
Teachers are increasingly responsive to the culture, language and identity of Māori children. This is supported by the organisation's environmental focus, consideration of localised bicultural values, and teacher development goals and professional learning opportunities. A number of new initiatives and systems have been developed by the organisation that should further develop these aspects of practice.
The kindergarten's strategic planning continues to require strengthening. Further consideration should be given to ensuring the plan identifies priorities and associated goals more closely aligned to the organisation's strategic plan and the service's annual plan.
The organisation generally provides useful governance and management support for this kindergarten. This includes:
purposeful support from the professional leaders to build teacher capability
effective and targeted teacher and leadership development through an appraisal process and a range of professional learning opportunities.
Organisation leaders are purposefully building teachers’ understanding of internal evaluation through ongoing mentoring. They should continue to support teachers to clearly measure the impact of practices on children’s learning.
ERO, the professional leader and kindergarten teachers agree the key next steps are to:
build their partnerships with parents and whānau
embed assessment, planning and evaluation practices to guide teacher practice
strengthen internal evaluation, teacher inquiry and strategic and annual planning.
ERO and Kindergarten Taranaki agree that the organisation should further develop:
quality assurance processes and guidelines linked to compliance with regulations and association expectations
a policy framework to support kindergartens.
Managers and leaders should consolidate newly introduced plans and processes and evaluate the effectiveness of practices and operation across all levels of the organisation.
Before the review, the staff and management of Tawhiti Kindergarten 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 Tawhiti Kindergarten will be in three years.
Alan Wynyard
Director Review & Improvement Services Central
Te Tai Pokapū - Central Region
15 August 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 |
Hawera |
|
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
5236 |
|
|
Licence type |
Free Kindergarten |
|
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
|
|
Number licensed for |
40 children aged over 2 |
|
|
Service roll |
41 |
|
|
Gender composition |
Boys 23, Girls 18 |
|
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori |
10 |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
80% + |
|
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
Review team on site |
June 2018 |
|
|
Date of this report |
15 August 2018 |
|
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
May 2015 |
|
Education Review |
July 2012 |
|
|
Education Review |
September 2008 |
|
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.