64 Miller Rd, Mangere, Auckland
View on mapAkarangi | 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 Miller Nest Early Learning Centre are as follows:
Outcome Indicators(What the service knows about outcomes for learners) |
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Ngā Akatoro Domains |
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Learning ConditionsOrganisational Conditions |
Whāngai Establishing |
The Miller Nest Early Learning Centre is a well-established service that is privately owned and operated. A centre manager leads a team of six teachers and a cook. The effects of COVID have had a significant impact on centre operations and staffing. Children are from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds. A small number of children are Māori.
Children experience a holistic learning environment which encompasses values such as aroha and respect. Whakawhanaungatanga is evident in the positive and respectful relationships between staff, children, and their whānau. As a result, children have a strong sense of belonging at this service.
Children experience an inclusive curriculum that promotes diversity. Pacific language weeks are an opportunity for children from different Pacific ethnic groups to celebrate and be proud of their cultural identities. Children of other diverse cultures are supported to connect with their cultural identity.
Teachers offer a calm and unhurried learning environment for infants and toddlers. They respond to infants’ and toddlers’ verbal and non-verbal cues. Children are encouraged to explore, investigate, and express themselves freely.
Leaders support children with additional needs by removing barriers to attendance and quickly identifying when support is needed.
Children of Māori heritage experience a curriculum that positively promotes their culture. Teachers’ commitment to te ao Māori is evident. They are building their capacity to increase the use of te reo Māori in the daily curriculum.
Relevant professional learning and development for teachers has impacted positively on curriculum planning processes. Teachers could further strengthen their practice by documenting learning that:
reflects children’s identities, languages, and cultures;
shows children's progress over time and;
responds to parents' aspirations for their child’s learning.
The centre manager is improvement focused. She should now work with teachers, including those recently appointed, to:
strengthen curriculum planning and assessment processes and records
systematically monitor centre operations, including compliance with licensing requirements.
increase the rigour of internal evaluation and establish systematic processes to guide ongoing improvement.
The Miller Nest Early Learning Centre will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:
Strengthen current assessment processes to build on individual children’s cultural identity, languages and cultures.
Continue to build shared understandings of internal evaluation with a focus on identifying the impact of improved teaching practices on outcomes for children.
Before the review, the staff and management of The Miller Nest Early Learning 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.
During the review, the service provided ERO with evidence that shows it had addressed the following
non-compliance:
A record of emergency drills carried out and evidence of how evaluation of the drills has informed the annual review of the service’s emergency plan (HS8).
Filivaifale Jason Swann
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki
30 March 2023
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Early Childhood Service Name |
The Miller Nest Early Learning Centre |
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Profile Number |
45355 |
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Location |
Mangere Bridge, Auckland |
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Service type |
Education and care service |
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Number licensed for |
35 children, including up to 10 aged under 2 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
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Service roll |
32 |
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Review team on site |
November 2022 |
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Date of this report |
30 March 2023 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, May 2019; Education Review, March 2015 |
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
The Miller Nest Early Learning Centre is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
The Miller Nest Early Learning Centre in Mangere Bridge, Auckland, is licensed for 35 children, including up to 10 under two years of age. The centre operates in a renovated residential property. The learning environment is open plan and has a separate area for infants and toddlers. The centre serves the local multicultural community.
New owner operators took over the centre, formerly Bizzy Kids Childcare, in 2017. The owner is a qualified early childhood teacher and full member of the teaching team. She takes responsibility for the day-to-day centre management and leadership. She is supported by a recently appointed head teacher.
The centre's philosophy emphasises the values of love and respect. It also promotes positive relationships, children's identity, and authentic learning. The vision is to "work in partnership with families to promote successful outcomes for all children".
The strengths of the centre identified in the 2015 report have been maintained. There is ongoing progress in relation to the next steps, which included developing a curriculum leadership role and improving planning, assessment and evaluation.
Teachers welcome children into the centre and successfully nurture children's sense of belonging. Children settle at their own pace as teachers engage in conversations with parents about children's wellbeing and development. The attractive, calm and inclusive environment also supports children's sense of belonging and their learning.
Teachers' responsive caregiving supports infants' and toddlers' need for strong and secure attachments. There is a calm, slow pace for younger children which gives them the space and time to explore and discover their environment and lead their learning. Children in the preschool work cooperatively, see themselves as competent learners, and are supported to solve problems.
Leaders and teachers are developing good connections, including partnership with local kaumātua, to help them strengthen bicultural practices. Te ao Māori is reflected in the learning programme and environment.
Children's diverse cultures are valued and affirmed. There is a growing use of children's home languages. Diversity is celebrated with families through language weeks and festivals. Teachers' and leaders' practices reflect the rights of all children to responsive, inclusive early childhood education.
Teachers are collegial. They share information about children and support each other in their work. They are consistent in their guidance and support for children to develop social competence. Leaders' plans to undertake professional learning about Te Whāriki, the revised early childhood curriculum, is likely to increase consistency of teaching practice across the teaching teams.
Leaders and teachers are strengthening their use of internal evaluation to guide changes in practices and improved outcomes for children. Good examples are the ongoing reviews of the environment, children's assessment portfolios, and transitions through and beyond the centre. Leaders and teachers are strengthening parent, whānau and community contributions to children's learning and the evaluation of centre operations.
Current reviews of curriculum planning, evaluation and assessment processes, aim to focus on improving planning for individual children. It is timely for leaders to work with staff to establish a framework of learning priorities for the centre. These priorities would usefully inform assessment and planning so that children's learning progress would be more clearly evident over time.
The centre owner/manager has a clear vision for centre development and is committed to providing a quality service for the local community. She has developed cohesive strategic and annual plans, policies and processes. These are well aligned to the centre's philosophy. It is now time to embed these new systems to sustain and build on the good practices and ongoing centre operations.
The key next steps to build on current good practice are to:
embed new governance and management processes to support the service's sustainability
delegate some curriculum and operational leadership responsibilities to build teacher capability
explore ways to increase parent and whānau contributions to centre operations and internal evaluation
strengthen the links between teachers' appraisal and inquiry, and teacher certification processes.
Before the review, the staff and management of The Miller Nest Early Learning 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.
Steve Tanner
Director Review and Improvement Services Northern
Northern Region
10 May 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 |
Mangere Bridge, Auckland |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
45355 |
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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 |
35 children, including up to 10 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
35 |
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Gender composition |
Girls 26 Boys 9 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
5 |
|
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
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 |
1:7 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
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Review team on site |
March 2019 |
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Date of this report |
10 May 2019 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review as Bizzy Kids Childcare |
March 2015 |
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Education Review |
May 2012 |
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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 will depend on how well the service promotes positive learning outcomes for children. The categories are:
Very well placed
Well placed
Requires further development
Not well placed
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.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Bizzy Kids Childcare is a privately owned centre that operates from a refurbished and modernised house in Mangere. It provides an attractive open-plan learning environment. There are separate areas for the over two year olds and the younger infants and toddlers. The centre is licensed for 35 children, including up to ten under two years of age.
The centre’s philosophy places priority on ensuring children are provided with a caring, safe environment that provides meaningful learning experiences. Centre managers provide a high ratio of adults to children. Staff have created a welcoming, family-focused centre. Parents appreciate the respectful and responsive care that staff provide. They also value the multicultural dimension of the centre and its staff.
The centre owner/managers have recently opened a second early childhood centre. This development has led to some recent staffing changes and a period of transition within the Bizzy Kids Childcare organisation. As a result, the managers are reflecting on ways to effectively support staff at both centres.
The strengths of the centre identified in the 2012 ERO report have been sustained and continue to strengthen. Findings of this 2015 review indicate that self-review processes are more robust. The centre owner/managers and staff are committed to providing high quality care and education for children.
Children and their families are warmly welcomed by staff. They demonstrate a strong sense of belonging in the centre. Children chat happily with their peers and adults, and enjoy opportunities throughout the day to participate in mixed age play. They particularly enjoy opportunities to make some choices in their play. During these times, children are focused and teachers are more successful at encouraging their engagement in centre activities.
Infants and toddlers receive nurturing care in a calm, unhurried environment. Staff interact happily with children and are responsive to their care needs. They provide the infants and toddlers with a good quality, well resourced learning environment.
Records of children’s time at the centre show them participating in a range of purposeful activities. Recent programme changes are however, limiting children’s choices in play. The programme is currently too routine-driven. This is reducing its capacity to respond to the needs of all children, particularly the four year olds. It would be useful for centre managers and teachers to now review the programme. They should focus on how the programme can better respond to children’s needs and interests, and better engage older children through complex play and challenge.
Staff have made good progress in establishing a bicultural curriculum. They integrate aspects of te reo me ona tikanga Māori to centre practice and the programme. Children participate keenly in waiata and powhiri. They demonstrate understanding in their use of some basic te reo Māori. These actions help embed the cultural identity of Māori children.
Teachers are well supported with professional development. Internal expertise is used well to support children with special needs. Teachers are committed to working alongside families and external agencies to meet children’s individual goals. They continue to develop reflective teaching practices. Self review looks at the centre's progress in relation to its annual plan goals and the centre’s philosophy.
Centre managers are aware that the new teaching team needs continuing support to enhance children’s creativity, exploration and thinking through self directed play. Centre managers have begun to lead the team through a self-review process. They aim to strengthen this aspect of the programme. ERO has confidence that managers can make progress the areas requiring further development.
Centre managers demonstrate a thoughtful, strategic approach to centre progress and development. There is a strong sense of shared direction and mutual respect amongst managers, staff and families. Managers have completed their qualifications. They continue to place priority on further growing teachers’ capability and professional practice. The owner/managers model professional leadership and the expectations that they have of staff.
Managers agree that the centre’s priorities are to further develop child-led learning by:
Before the review, the staff and management of Bizzy Kids Childcare 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 Bizzy Kids Childcare will be in three years.
Dale Bailey
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern
6 March 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 |
Mangere, Auckland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
45355 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
35 children, including up to 10 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
33 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls 18 Boys 15 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Tongan Samoan other |
6 14 6 3 4 |
|
|
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 |
|
Over 2 |
1:8 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
January 2015 |
||
|
Date of this report |
6 March 2015 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
May 2012 |
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.