38 Corks Road, Tikipunga, Whangarei
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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.
Totara Grove Playcentre operates as a parent cooperative on the grounds of Totara Grove School in Tikipunga, Whangarei. Centre members are predominantly Pākehā families with a small number from other cultures. They base their practices on Playcentre philosophy of families learning and growing together.
The centre is open for three sessions a week and caters for up to 30 children, including up to 15 under two years. Children learn and play together as a mixed-age group. At present the centre has 10 children on the roll. Many families send their older children to the local kindergarten or childcare centre before they go to school. All members are engaged in Playcentre courses.
The centre is part of the Northland Playcentre Association. The Association is the umbrella organisation for 22 centres in Northland, many of which are semi-rural. The Association provides systems to help members manage their centres and support their children's learning. It also provides adult education programmes for Playcentre qualifications. As part of a national restructure of Playcentre Aotearoa there will be a new regional manager and new centre support roles.
This review was part of a cluster of six reviews in the Northland Playcentre Association.
There are trusting relationships between children and adults in the centre. Children happily play alongside and with each other in groups, and friendships are becoming evident. They share games successfully, and are settled and confident about making choices in their play. Adults carefully consider play spaces and resources to match children's play needs, including those of infants and toddlers.
Parents stay at the centre with children and encourage their play. It would be useful for parents to place a stronger focus on following children's lead in their play. Engaging children in open-ended conversations about what they are doing would help to identify their interests and support their oral literacy and competence as communicators.
Members are committed to learning and practising te reo and tikanga Māori. They include waiata and karakia at each session. The print-rich environment supports learning and displays reflect family cultures. Centre members receive good support from Association personnel.
The culture in the centre is welcoming and friendly, and transitions into the centre are well managed. Parents spoken to during the review have a sense of belonging and contribution that ensures the building of their professional knowledge and learning together.
Parents work well together and support each other to provide activities that children might enjoy. Centre members know the Playcentre vision and philosophy well and base their work together on these documents. They have developed well linked annual and strategic planning to guide their work.
Parents share information about their children to ensure that members know about each child's strengths and needs. The resulting Day Book, wall displays and portfolios for individual children demonstrate members' good intentions to understand all the children in the centre. As members proceed through adult education programmes, they could include children's dispositions and interests more clearly in written records.
Since the 2013 ERO review, centre members who held key roles have left and the majority of members are new to Playcentre. The group of new members has formed strong collegial relationships. Members currently have the required Playcentre qualifications to claim funding for one session each week. A more experienced member has been allocated a leadership role to fill this gap.
The Association management team takes responsibility for specific tasks relating to the efficient operation of Playcentres. They actively encourage emergent leadership to sustain the Association and centre viability. The Association provides support to help Playcentres remain well placed to provide positive learning outcomes for children.
Centre members agree that key next steps are to continue:
To help strengthen operations in all Northland centres, new regional support personnel should consider ways to:
Before the review, the staff and management of Totara Grove Playcentre 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 Totara Grove Playcentre will be in three years.
Steffan Brough
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)
12 May 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 |
Tikipunga, Whangarei |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
16585 |
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Licence type |
Playcentre |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
30 children, including up to 18 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
10 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 7 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
1 |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:3 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:3 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
March 2017 |
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Date of this report |
12 May 2017 |
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Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
September 2013 |
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|
Education Review |
April 2010 |
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|
Education Review |
June 2004 |
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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.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Totara Grove Playcentre is part of the Northland Playcentre Association. The playcentre is open two days a week and provides sessions for children up to six years of age.
The playcentre is a parent cooperative where parents and whānau take responsibility for their children’s education and for centre operations. Playcentre Association personnel provide professional support and organisational frameworks for centre parents and management.
The areas for review and development identified in ERO’s 2010 report have been addressed. Self-review systems have been established. A high number of parents are currently involved in playcentre training courses.
This review was part of a cluster approach to reviews of eight playcentre reviews in the Northern Playcentre Association.
Positive and caring relationships between children and adults are strongly evident. Aroha and whanaungatanga underpin a very good quality programme that reflects the playcentre philosophy of children and parents learning and growing together. Children up to two years of age enjoy mixed-age play opportunities. Older children have established inclusive, social friendships. They are capable, confident learners who create imaginative play situations.
Children benefit from a programme that is responsive to their interests. Members value children’s ideas and skilfully support their involvement in sustained play. They prompt children’s decision making, using high quality interactions that enable children to take the lead in their learning. Literacy and numeracy are promoted in meaningful ways. The natural integration of te reo and tikanga Māori is a feature of the programme. Centre members have developed strong links with one of the local schools.
Individual learning records are well developed and attractively presented. They clearly identify how children’s strengths and interests are supported and extended over time. Very good quality analysis shows how children learn in the context of child-initiated play.
Adults share skills and work collaboratively together. They make very good use of professional learning opportunities to improve centre-wide practices. Effective self review processes are well established. Centre-wide goals focus on improving learning outcomes for children.
ERO and centre members agree that that key next steps include:
Before the review, the staff and management of Totara Grove Playcentre 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 Totara Grove Playcentre will be in three years.
Graham Randell
National Manager Review Services
Northern Region (Acting)
4 September 2013
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 |
Tikipunga, Whangarei |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
16585 |
||
|
Licence type |
Playcentre |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
30 children, including up to 18 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
21 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls 13 Boys 8 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori NZ European/Pākehā Other |
12 8 1 |
|
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:3 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:3 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
July 2013 |
||
|
Date of this report |
4 September 2013 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
April 2010 |
|
|
Education Review |
June 2004 |
||
|
Accountability Review |
May 1999 |
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.