The Garden Early Childhood Centre

Education institution number:
47346
Service type:
Education and Care Service
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
63
Telephone:
Address:

7a Prole Road, Omokoroa

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The Garden Early Childhood Centre

1 ERO’s Judgements

Akarangi | Quality Evaluation evaluates the extent to which this early childhood service has the learning and organisational conditions to support equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners. Te Ara Poutama Indicators of quality for early childhood education: what matters most are the basis for making judgements about the effectiveness of the service in achieving equity and excellence for all learners. Judgements are made in relation to the Outcomes Indicators, Learning and Organisational Conditions. The Evaluation Judgement Rubric derived from the indicators, is used to inform ERO’s judgements about this service’s performance in promoting equity and excellence.

ERO’s judgements for The Garden Early Childhood Centre are as follows:

Outcome Indicators

(What the service knows about outcomes for learners)

Whakatō Emerging

Ngā Akatoro Domains

 

Learning Conditions
Organisational Conditions

Whakatō Emerging

Whāngai Establishing

2 Context of the Service

The Garden Early Childhood Centre is one of two services under the same governance. Operational oversight and leadership are provided by the centre owner and a head teacher. A forest adventure program supports older children to learn about the natural world. Of the children enrolled, a small number identify as Māori or as Pacific. 

3 Summary of findings

Children engage in a program infused with nature, which is beginning to promote their learning and development. Children’s language and literacy skills, and their social and emotional competencies are extended. Curriculum, including the weekly forest adventure program supports the development of:

  • independence, confidence, and self-care skills

  • leadership capabilities

  • exploration, innovation, and creativity

  • listening and problem-solving

  • kaitiakitanga – respect and knowledge of the natural world.

Children and their families have strong relationships with teachers. Parents share information to support ongoing learning. A key teacher approach is enacted for younger children. This facilitates continuity of care. Leaders have recognised the need to plan intentionally for each child and include their families’ aspirations.

The reflection of children’s cultures through the curriculum is at an early stage. Sign language, te reo Māori and tikanga Māori are beginning to be woven into the program. Some cultures are recognised via shared events. Leaders acknowledge the need to build teachers’ cultural capabilities to ensure a curriculum is delivered that recognises children’s home cultures, languages, and identities.

Governors and leaders at the service are developing systems and processes to promote equity. Trust and collaboration between teachers, leaders and governance supports decision making. Teachers participate in professional learning and growth cycles to grow their practice. Internal evaluation is established and is used to work towards improvement. Governors provide aspects of equity through inclusion of children with additional learning needs, caps on groups sizes and lower teacher to child ratios. These organisational conditions are positively impacting on children’s learning outcomes. 

4 Improvement actions

The Garden Early Childhood Centre will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:

  • establish a planning system that uses the valued learning outcomes from Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum

  • strengthen internal evaluation processes to focus on the impacts of change and outcomes for children

  • further develop a curriculum that incorporates and supports all children’s home cultures, languages and identities.

5 Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of The Garden Early Childhood Centre completed an ERO 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.

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; safety checking; teacher registration; ratios)

  • relevant evacuation procedures and practices.

All early childhood services are required to promote children's health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.

Patricia Davey
Director Early Childhood Education (ECE)

11 May 2023 

6 About the Early Childhood Service

Early Childhood Service Name

The Garden Early Childhood Centre

Profile Number

47346

Location

Ōmokoroa

Service type

Education and care service

Number licensed for

45 children, including up to 15 aged under 2

Percentage of qualified teachers

80-99%

Service roll

71

Review team on site

March 2023

Date of this report

11 May 2023

Most recent ERO report(s)

Akanuku | Assurance Review, June 2019

The Garden Early Childhood Centre - 13/06/2019

ERO’s judgement

Regulatory standards

Curriculum

Meeting

Premises and facilities

Meeting

Health and safety

Meeting

Governance, management and administration

Meeting

At the time of the review, ERO found the service was taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.

Background

This is the first ERO review of The Garden Early Childhood Centre that opened in November 2017. The owners, one who is the centre manager leads a team of five qualified teachers. Two age-based areas cater for children from infants to school age.

Summary of review findings

The curriculum provides children with a language-rich environment and a range of experiences and opportunities to enhance their learning, both indoors and outdoors. Infants, toddlers and older children experience meaningful and positive relationships with their teachers and each other. Children’s preferences are respected and they are involved in decisions about their learning.

An ongoing process of internal evaluation helps the service improve the quality of its education and care for children. Health and safety systems are monitored and the learning environment is well-resourced and maintained. A system of teacher appraisal has been established. The current annual plan guides the services operations.

Next ERO Review

The next ERO review is likely to be an Education Review.

Phillip Cowie

Director Review and Improvement Services

Central Region

13 June 2019

Information about the service

Early Childhood Service Name

The Garden Early Childhood Centre

Profile Number

47346

Location

Omokoroa

Service type

Education and care service

Number licensed for

45 children, including up to 15 aged under 2

Percentage of qualified teachers

80%

Reported ratios of staff / adults to children

Under 2

1:4 Better than regulatory standards

Over 2

1:9 Better than regulatory standards

Service roll

33

Gender composition

Male 17 Female 16

Ethnic composition

Māori 4
NZ European/Pākehā 27 
Other ethnic groups 3

Review team on site

May 2019

Date of this report

13 June 2019

Most recent ERO report(s)

First ERO review of the service

General Information about Assurance Reviews

All services are licensed under the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008. The legal requirements for early childhood services also include:

Services must meet the standards in the regulations and the requirements of the licensing criteria to gain and maintain a licence to operate.

ERO undertakes an Assurance Review process in any service:

  • 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 Assurance Review process is determined to be appropriate.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

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 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:

  • 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 certification; ratios)

  • evacuation procedures and practices for fire and earthquake.

As part of an 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.