How well placed is Victory Playcentre to promote positive learning outcomes for children?
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Victory Playcentre is well placed to promote learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Victory Playcentre operates under the guidance of the Nelson Playcentre Association. The playcentre is a parent cooperative. Parents are encouraged to be involved in all aspects of the programme and centre operation. A feature of Nelson Playcentres is the provision of a whānau room. These rooms are well used by parents to rest, socialise, care for very young children and participate in training.
Victory Playcentre operates five morning sessions and two afternoon, one of which includes a Japanese immersion session once a week. The supervisors hold playcentre qualifications. Some of the parents have also completed a number of the playcentre certificate parent-training courses.
Since the 2012 ERO review, the supervisors and parents have developed a better understanding of self review, made good progress in child assessment and programme planning and strengthened aspects of the Japanese culture in the programme.
This review was part of a cluster of 14 reviews in the Nelson Playcentre Association.
The parents and the supervision team foster a friendly, welcoming, and inclusive culture. The playcentre has spacious areas of play for infants, toddlers and young children. Parents enjoy spending time with their children in a relaxed and calm environment.
The experienced supervision team members know the families well. They are responsive and caring to individual children and their families. These strong, respectful relationships support the playcentre’s philosophy of growing parent understanding and involvement in children’s learning through play.
The programme caters well for children’s diverse needs. The supervision team members value and make good use of adult knowledge, skills and interests to enhance the programme offered to children. Children have good opportunities to learn te reo and tikanga Māori, sign language, the Japanese language and culture, and environmental practices such as gardening.
The supervision team members, model practices that engage children in play, extend their language and support children’s social interactions.
The supervision team and parents are collecting some good individual information about children’s interests and possible learning directions. This information includes some useful contributions from children and their parents.
Children are actively involved in a good range of play-based learning experiences. These experiences particularly focus on sensory and creative play. The adults foster a sense of family and children enjoying playing together.
The supervision team and parents have used self review to extend children’s learning within the programme and to further embed the playcentre philosophy in the community.
The supervision team and most parents make good use of the professional development and education courses offered by the association.
The Nelson Playcentre Association runs a programme called ‘Supporting Parents Alongside Children’s Education’ (SPACE). This playcentre uses this programme well to support new parents transitioning into the playcentre. Older children and their parents receive good support from the supervision team when they transition into school.
The association, supervisors and parents identified, and ERO agrees that the key next steps to further improve learning outcomes for children include:
The playcentres, with support from the association are increasing their interest in te reo and tikanga Māori, and getting to know Māori parents and their aspirations better. The re-establishment of Te Rōpū, a special group for Māori parents, is beginning to grow Māori parents’ confidence and pride in being Māori.
Playcentre environments are inviting, attractively presented, well resourced and spacious. Good use is made of self review to ensure the wide range of equipment and resources are regularly updated and build children’s creativity, confidence and resourcefulness. Centres often have a strong focus on literacy, mathematics and science.
Families are valued and provided with considerable support in their parenting role. Parent-education courses are held during playcentre sessions and the majority of parents attend. A high percentage of parents are progressing quickly through the education courses.
Children and parents are well supported by experienced and long-serving supervision team members, who have also been or still are playcentre parents. Supervision team members provide considerable support to parents to understand and put into practice:
Individual centres are well supported by the association executive and the liaison officers who have a good knowledge of children’s wellbeing and learning, and playcentre operation. They are committed to making playcentres work well for families.
The association and centres have a good range of policies and procedures to guide the day-to-day operation of individual playcentres. The liaison officers use their extensive knowledge of playcentre to ensure the centres provide high standards of health and safety, are well maintained and activities are well presented and interesting for children.
There continues to be significant change occurring in the structure of governance and management at association and federation levels.
The association executive and ERO agree that the key next steps for the association to continue to provide positive outcomes for all children include:
Before the review, the staff and management of Victory 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 Victory Playcentre will be in three years.
Graham Randell
Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern
11 May 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.
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Location |
Nelson |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
65110 |
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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 |
25 children, including up to 15 aged under two |
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Service roll |
44 |
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Gender composition |
Girls 28; Boy 18 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori NZ European/Pākehā Asian Other ethnicities |
8 20 11 5 |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Over 2 |
1:5 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
March 2015 |
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Date of this report |
11 May 2015 |
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Most recent ERO reports These are available at www.ero.govt.nz |
Education Review |
February 2015 |
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Education Review |
July 2007 |
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Education Review |
December 2004 |
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.