Victory Playcentre

Education institution number:
65110
Service type:
Playcentre
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
34
Telephone:
Address:

255 Vanguard Street, Nelson

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Victory Playcentre - 30/09/2019

1 Evaluation of Victory Playcentre

How well placed is Victory Playcentre to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Not well placed

Requires further development

Well placed

Very well placed

Victory Playcentre is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.

Background

Victory Playcentre is one of 78 playcentres in the upper South Island region. It operates for four morning sessions each week and is licensed for 25 children, including up to 15 aged up to two years. At the time of this review, most families enrolled were very new to the service.

At the time of its May 2015 ERO review the centre was one of 13 administered by the Nelson Playcentre Association, under the umbrella of The New Zealand Playcentre Federation Inc. In June 2019, the 32 associations nationwide amalgamated into one new entity, a charitable trust, Playcentre Aotearoa (the organisation). Nelson playcentres are now managed as part of a regional hub of the new organisation.

A recently-appointed centre support worker (CSW), employed by the organisation, regularly visits the playcentre and provides professional advice and feedback to strengthen the programme for children. A centre administrator (CA) works with parents and caregivers (members) to support compliance with regulations. Day-to-day management is the role of centre-elected office holders. Some office holder roles are yet to be filled. A paid session facilitator, with recognised levels of training, provides ongoing support for the implementation of the daily programme.

Playcentre philosophy recognises the importance of parents working together, alongside their children, to support their self-initiated play and promote their learning.

The May 2015 ERO report identified several areas for improvement. These included strengthening Māori perspectives in the programme; Māori success as Māori; acknowledging children's language, culture and identity; self review; appraisal and strategic direction.

This review was one of five in Playcentre Aotearoa, Nelson region.

The Review Findings

Children's sense of belonging and independence are nurtured within a strongly play-based programme. They freely access resources and are offered a breadth of opportunities for exploration, physical challenge and creative self-expression. Regular local excursions extend the curriculum. Infants benefit from sensory play experiences and designated exploration areas.

Kaiako are attentive and responsive to children's interests. Centre leaders model responsive teaching and open-ended questions. They support children's social competence and perseverance with respectful and positive strategies.

A next step is to consult with families and community about the learning outcomes that matter most at this playcentre, in order to establish localised priorities and support decision-making. Accessing professional learning related to the revised early learning curriculum Te Whāriki should support this development.

Members acknowledge that building parents' understanding of assessment, planning and evaluation practice is a priority next step. They are using deliberate strategies to involve parents in these processes. As this develops, assessment practice should continue to be improved by:

  • documenting and evaluating planned strategies that are specific and focus on extending children's learning dispositions
  • ensuring that children's unique cultures, languages and identities, and families' aspirations, are reflected in documentation
  • capturing significant progress, and related strategies, that support children with diverse learning needs.

Kaiako should consider ways to share key information about older children with school staff, in order to further support transitions.

Te reo me ngā tikanga Māori are valued by centre leaders. Members agree that the organisation's acknowledgement of the importance of bicultural partnership has yet to be consistently reflected in centre practice. This should remain a strategic priority for the new organisation.

A core group of members and the session facilitators are working alongside the CSW to provide strong support for this parent collective. They prioritise support for parents' growing understanding of early childhood education and the promotion of a sense of community. Nelson-based CSWs are receiving targeted professional learning and development from the organisation linked to regional priorities for improvement. A more constructive approach to CSW support for centres, including reporting that is more responsive to needs, is in the early stages of implementation.

An appraisal process is in place to support the development of the CSW and session facilitators' practice. Implementation of the process should be strengthened to ensure there is sufficient rigour in goal setting, observations of practice and feedback. The CA should have an opportunity to participate in appraisal and targeted training opportunities.

A comprehensive range of Nelson Playcentre Association policies continue to support centre operation. Many are past their review date and no longer reflect current legislation. When the new policy guidelines, developed by the organisation in 2018, are adopted at centre level, they should support a shared understanding of the organisation's expectations and accountabilities.

Implementation of internal evaluation is being strongly supported by the organisation. Understanding and use of this more improvement-focused approach is at an early stage. Members demonstrate a good ability to work systematically and collaboratively to examine the impact of their practice on children's outcomes. The format of the annual plan should be further developed, including strengthening links to ongoing internal evaluation.

The restructure of Playcentre operation is being carefully worked through to support a new and more sustainable future for the organisation. The regional office provides a range of valuable support including a new role designed to redistribute the management of compliance and administration. There is also improved assistance for members to implement curriculum, internal evaluation, adult education, and manage marketing and property matters. Leaders report that recent changes are already resulting in increased collaboration between centres and interest in Playcentre philosophy.

Key Next Steps

ERO and regional leaders agree that the organisation should continue to prioritise:

  • support for the CSW and session facilitators to promote playcentre members' understanding of programme planning and evaluation, individual children's assessment, internal evaluation, te ao Māori and implementation of a bicultural curriculum

  • development of CSW support and reporting

  • review and further development of the appraisal process for the CSWs and session facilitators.

The continuing focus on strengthening leadership, growing a sense of community, parent participation and collaboration between playcentres should continue.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

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:

  • 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.

To improve current practice, the service provider should ensure that the service has a complete set of up-to-date policy guidelines which members are supported to implement. Currently practice does not match all the requirements of the new policies in the following areas hazard management, risk assessment for excursions, emergency management. In addition, the following needs attention:

  • clarify police vetting requirements for centre administration personnel.

Dr Lesley Patterson

Director Review and Improvement Services Te Tai Tini

Southern Region

30 September 2019

The Purpose of ERO Reports

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.

2 Information about the Early Childhood Service

Location

Nelson

Ministry of Education profile number

65110

Licence type

Playcentre

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

25 children, including up to 15 aged under 2

Service roll

18

Gender composition

Females 13, Males 5

Ethnic composition

Māori
NZ European/Pākehā
Other ethnic groups

4
12
2

Reported ratios of adults to children

Under 2

1:5

Meets minimum requirements

Over 2

1:5

Meets minimum requirements

Review team on site

August 2019

Date of this report

30 September 2019

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review

May 2015

Education Review

February 2012

3 General Information about Early Childhood Reviews

ERO’s Evaluation Framework

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.

ERO’s Overall Judgement

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.

Review Coverage

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.

Victory Playcentre - 11/05/2015

1. Evaluation of Victory Playcentre

How well placed is Victory Playcentre to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

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.

Background

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 Review Findings

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.

Key Next Steps

The association, supervisors and parents identified, and ERO agrees that the key next steps to further improve learning outcomes for children include:

  • strengthening aspects of the self-review process and evaluation
  • increasing parents' contribution to children’s assessment and making stronger links to learning overtime
  • continuing to increase the inclusion of te reo and tikanga Māori in the programme
  • reviewing how the environment can further support the parents' roles and responsibilities and the playcentre's expectations for play-based learning.

Nelson Playcentre Association

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:

  • the playcentre philosophy
  • cooperative ways of working and sharing responsibilities
  • the best ways to promote the learning and development of infants, toddlers and children.

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.

Key Next Steps for the association

The association executive and ERO agree that the key next steps for the association to continue to provide positive outcomes for all children include:

  • sustaining and strengthening of Māori perspectives in the curriculum and supporting Māori children to experience success as Māori
  • developing ways to ensure that children of Pacific heritage and other cultures maintain connections to their cultural identity and language
  • establishing an ongoing, well understood self-review process that monitors progress in achieving the strategic goals and improving learning and teaching
  • reviewing and strengthening the appraisal process for liaison officers and supervisors to ensure all children experience high-quality learning
  • establishing strategic direction for the organisation that clearly shows the association's priorities for its long-term development and sustainability.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

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:

  • 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.

Next ERO Review

When is ERO likely to review the service again?

The next ERO review of Victory Playcentre will be in three years.

Graham Randell

Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern

11 May 2015

The Purpose of ERO Reports

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.

2. Information about the Early Childhood Service

Location

Nelson

Ministry of Education profile number

65110

Licence type

Playcentre

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

25 children, including up to 15 aged under two

Service roll

44

Gender composition

Girls 28; Boy 18

Ethnic composition

Māori

NZ European/Pākehā

Asian

Other ethnicities

8

20

11

5

Reported ratios of staff to children

Over 2

1:5

Better than minimum requirements

Review team on site

March 2015

Date of this report

11 May 2015

Most recent ERO reports

These are available at www.ero.govt.nz

Education Review

February 2015

 

Education Review

July 2007

 

Education Review

December 2004

3. General Information about Early Childhood Reviews

ERO’s Evaluation Framework

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.

ERO’s Overall Judgement and Next Review

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:

  • Very well placed – The next ERO review in four years
  • Well placed – The next ERO review in three years
  • Requires further development – The next ERO review within two years
  • Not well placed - The next ERO review in consultation with the Ministry of Education

ERO has developed criteria for each category. These are available on ERO’s website.

Review Coverage

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.