2 Wagener Place, St Lukes, Auckland
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Topkids St Lukes is licensed for up to 98 children including 45 up to two years of age. The centre is part of the national BestStart Education and Care Centres organisation, which provides an overarching governance and management framework as well as personnel to support individual centres.
The centre provides for children in four rooms: Nursery for under two year olds, Toddlers for two to three year olds, Preschool 1 for three to four years old and Preschool 2 for children from four years to school age. Nursery and Preschool 2 each have an outdoor play area, which are both separate from that shared by children in the Toddlers and Preschool 1 rooms. Each room is led by a head teacher who supports the room's teaching team.
At the time of the 2015 ERO review a number of staff and managers were new to their roles. Staffing is now stable. Leadership changes in the last year have mostly been internal promotions. A centre manager and assistant manager are supported by the BestStart professional services and business managers. The centre provides a high ratio of adults to children; it employs seven fully certificated teachers, and two provisionally certificated teachers, several teacher aides, a cook and administrators. The staff reflect the ethnic diversity of the community.
The 2015 ERO review identified key areas for development including the quality of the curriculum, leadership and management and non-compliance related to supervision practices and documentation of incidents. Centre managers worked with the Ministry of Education to develop an action plan to address these matters. Very good progress has been made to address the identified areas for improvement and to ensure compliance.
Teachers' interactions with children provide good opportunities for conversation and children's oral language development. Children are encouraged to participate, think and be independent. They are developing social skills and confidently engage with their peers and with adults. Children are increasingly supported to co-operate and collaborate.
Infants and toddlers up to two years of age receive caring and nurturing support. Each child is delegated a key teacher who takes overall responsibility for their care. Children experience a calm, unhurried pace and opportunities to explore indoor and outdoor environments. Teachers in the Nursery room continue to review the environment and resources to improve provision for children's specific stages of development. Managers agree that professional learning related to provision for infants and toddlers could help teachers to build on these improvements.
Managers have documented expectations for teaching and learning, which help to guide teachers' practice. Teachers have made good progress with how they document teaching strategies and programme planning, assessment and evaluation. Increasingly parents contribute to children's learning records. Teachers are working to enhance parent and whanau partnerships in learning and to respond more specifically to children's individual and group interests and dispositions.
A collaborative, inclusive process of internal evaluation has been established. Head teachers are supporting their teams to reflect on and improve through teaching practice. All teachers have contributed to a review of the environment in their rooms. This has resulted in teachers' better understanding how the philosophy is supported by the physical environment. Managers agree that teachers should continue to strengthen their evaluative practice.
Managers have established a positive team culture that promotes shared understanding and progress. Teachers have improved supervision and health and safety practices. Managers have established transparent communication systems and continue to develop the team's leadership skills and promote a shared vision.
BestStart has useful systems for monitoring centre operations. These include regular management meetings and an internal audit process (QEC), which is used to identify challenges and develop plans for improvement. In addition, the centre has a useful strategic plan that is linked to the BestStart vision and strategic plan, as well as the centre's philosophy statement, an annual management plan and QEC action plans for each room.
A new appraisal system that aligns with Education Council requirements has been implemented. BestStart has organised related professional learning and development for staff in 2017 that will introduce Tataiako - Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Maori Learners. Teachers in this centre need support to improve their bicultural practice.
The managers agree that key next steps are to build teacher capability, including:
improving the provision for children up two years of age and in all rooms
strengthening programme planning to respond to children’s individual interests and ideas
use of internal evaluation systems to identify the extent to which change results in improved outcomes for children
strengthening teachers' bicultural practice.
Before the review, the staff and management of Topkids St Lukes 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.
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 Topkids St Lukes will be in three years.
Graham Randell
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern
8 March 2017
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 |
St Lukes, Auckland |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
25343 |
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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 |
98 children, including up to 45 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
105 |
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Gender composition |
Girls 53% Boys 47% |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Indian Chinese Middle Eastern Samoan other ethnicities |
2% 28% 30% 15% 6% 4% 15% |
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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 |
1:3 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Over 2 |
1:8 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
December 2016 |
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Date of this report |
8 March 2017 |
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Most recent ERO report(s)
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Education Review |
March 2015 |
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Education Review |
March 2012 |
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Education Review |
March 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.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Topkids St Lukes requires further development to promote positive outcomes for children. This report identifies significant concerns about provisions relating to:
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Topkids St Lukes provides an education and care service for children from three months to five years of age. It is licensed for 98 children, including up to 45 children under two years of age. The centre is located in a semi-commercial area near the St Lukes shopping centre. Children and staff at the centre reflect its diverse ethnic community. The centre has three separate rooms, each catering for different age groups.
The centre operates under the umbrella of Kidicorp Ltd. Professional and administrative direction is provided by a Kidicorp professional services manager and a business manager. The organisation provides frameworks, policies, support and guidance to develop and monitor consistency of practice.
Centre leadership and management have been through a number of changes since the last ERO review in 2012. More recent centre-based staff changes include the appointment of a new centre manager and the temporary appointment of an acting head teacher. Changes have also occurred in Kidicorp personnel supporting the centre, with the recent appointment of a new business manager and professional services manager.
Plans are also in place for other staff changes across the centre, including the appointment of a new assistant centre manager. At the time of this 2014 review, the centre had three fully registered teachers, seven provisionally registered teachers and seven unregistered staff.
Since the 2012 ERO review, centre practices have continued to progress. Self-review processes have been strengthened and Kidicorp have recently developed a plan aimed at strengthening leadership and management processes across the centre.
Topkids St Lukes provides a well resourced, spacious environment that supports children’s play and learning. Children have access to a variety of activities and make their own choices about participation in the programme. A range of good teaching practices are evident, including:
The centre has also developed a useful appraisal process that supports teachers’ ongoing professional learning.
While children benefit from the above good practices, the centre's governance body identified that some recent behavioural incidents relating to the physical and emotional wellbeing of children in the toddlers’ room were not well managed. The centre’s governance body recognises that it must act with urgency to:
In order to improve management practices, centre management should ensure that:
The management team should also continue to develop the quality of teaching practices by fostering greater use of in-depth conversations that extend children’s thinking abilities. They should work with staff to build greater consistency in enacting the centre’s philosophy.
Before the review, the staff and management of Topkids St Lukes 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:
ERO identified areas of non-compliance relating to the wellbeing of children. To meet requirements the service needs to improve its performance in the following areas:
ERO recommends that the service consult with the Ministry of Education and plan to address the key next steps and actions outlined in this report.
The next ERO review of Topkids St Lukes will be within two years.
Dale Bailey
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern
16 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 |
St Lukes, Auckland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
25343 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
93 children, including up to 43 aged under 2 |
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|
Service roll |
103 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls 53, Boys 50 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori NZ European/Pākehā Chinese Indian Sri Lankan Fijian other |
5 46 17 15 5 4 11 |
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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 |
Meets minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
December 2014 |
||
|
Date of this report |
16 March 2015 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
March 2012 |
|
|
Education Review |
March 2009 |
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.