20 Ranfurly Road, Epsom, 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 Vintage Kids are as follows:
Outcome Indicators(What the service knows about outcomes for learners) |
Whakaū Embedding |
Ngā Akatoro Domains |
|
Learning ConditionsOrganisational Conditions |
Whakaū Embedding Whakaū Embedding |
Vintage Kids is one of three services under the same ownership. The owner manages this service with the support of a head teacher. The community is culturally diverse, and many families speak more than one language. The service has made good progress towards improving curriculum planning and evaluation records since ERO’s 2019 review.
Reciprocal and responsive relationships between children, teachers and parents promote a strong sense of belonging for children. Infants and toddlers experience a calm and unhurried environment. Kai time is a familiar ritual of the service, and a chef whose emphasis is on good nutrition is an important part of this.
Storytelling is a special feature of the curriculum. Through these experiences, teachers skilfully support children’s literacy, mathematical knowledge and growing social competence. They encourage children’s oral language and imagination. These practices demonstrate the service’s philosophy and values.
Children’s home languages are acknowledged, respected, and spoken by teachers on a regular basis. Children have many opportunities to learn other languages including NZ sign language. Some children confidently share their cultures and use their languages with others.
Children experience a curriculum where teachers naturally weave Māori words, karakia and waiata into their interactions with children. Younger and older children have frequent opportunities to learn from each other in the mixed-aged setting.
Teachers and leaders tailor their practices to meet the needs of children with additional learning requirements. They notice and intentionally respond to individual children’s priorities for learning. Teachers need to more explicitly document how they extend children’s learning in relation to the learning outcomes of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum.
Leaders have established a culture of high-level relational trust with the teaching team. This is particularly evident in the service’s improvement-focused evaluation processes. A professional growth cycle for leaders and teachers is at the early stages of being implemented.
Vintage Kids will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:
To inquire into and evaluate how well teachers respond to and document children’s learning outcomes.
Embed systems for mentoring and coaching of teachers’ practice to further build their growing professional capability.
Before the review, the staff and management of Vintage Kids 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.
Since the onsite visit, the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliance:
Documenting how equipment, premises and facilities are checked on every day of operation for hazards for children (HS12).
Filivaifale Jason Swann
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki
17 November 2022
|
Early Childhood Service Name |
Vintage Kids |
|
Profile Number |
10168 |
|
Location |
Epsom, Auckland |
|
Service type |
Education and care service |
|
Number licensed for |
26 children, including up to 10 aged under 2 |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
|
Service roll |
36 |
|
Review team on site |
August 2022 |
|
Date of this report |
17 November 2022 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, March 2019; Education Review, June 2015 |
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Vintage Kids is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Vintage Kids is a well-established childcare centre in Epsom, Auckland. It is licensed for 26 children, including up to five under two years of age. The centre operates in a renovated bungalow in a residential neighbourhood. Vintage Kids offers full-day education and care in a mixed-age programme. Children come from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds and many speak more than one language.
The centre's philosophy is founded in children growing their creativity through storytelling. It emphasises children becoming creative, confident, curious, caring and communicative learners (the 5C's). This is underpinned by a commitment to biculturalism. Leaders and teachers value learning through play in a natural, home-like environment that inspires children's imagination.
This centre is one of two centres owned by an experienced early childhood operator. A head teacher provides leadership across both centres. At this centre a team leader works alongside three other qualified teachers. The cultures of the families are reflected in the teaching team.
The positive features identified in the 2015 ERO report have been maintained. These include children having a sense of belonging, a family-like environment, and good strategic management. Key next steps included continuing to refine assessment, programme planning and evaluation, responding to children’s individual learning dispositions in planning, and increasing the inclusion of the principles of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. The centre has made progress in some of these areas.
Children’s wellbeing is nurtured through positive, respectful relationships and strong connections with teachers and peers. Children are warmly welcomed by staff on arrival. The centre's calm and positive tone helps them settle quickly. Children show a strong sense of belonging to the centre.
Teachers provide nurturing and respectful care for infants and toddlers. Children benefit from a primary caregiving system that allows their individual preferences and care routines to be met. Infants are supported to develop independence and confidently explore suitable resources that are easily accessible to them. Teachers respond to infants' early attempts to communicate, and encourage children to engage in conversations.
Children are friendly, articulate and confident learners. They play cooperatively with and alongside their peers for sustained periods of time and benefit from playing in mixed-age groups. Teachers sensitively move in and out of children’s play, skilfully supporting children to develop social competencies, build strong friendships and learn independence. They provide good quality resources and learning environments that enable children to explore, experience challenges, and enjoy creative and imaginative play.
Leaders and teachers know their children and whānau well. Children's cultural backgrounds and knowledge are valued. Their home languages are incorporated into interactions with teachers to support their learning. Tikanga and te reo Māori are integrated into the centre's daily routines. Children are encouraged to support each other in tuakana/teina relationships, particularly with children under two years of age. Waiata, myths and legends bring a te ao Māori perspective to the storytelling programme. There is an ongoing commitment to biculturalism within the centre.
Teachers and leaders collaboratively enact a shared philosophy for children's learning based on the 5C's. They regularly review programme planning and processes to establish deeper understandings of what the philosophy looks like in action. Aligning programme planning with Te Whāriki would allow them to develop a more individualised, richer curriculum for each child in partnership with whānau.
Teachers maintain portfolios of learning that record children's participation in the programme. They regularly observe children and plan activities based on the interests of groups of children. Teachers should now focus on making these learning records more individualised.
The centre is managed effectively. Leaders work collaboratively with staff to build shared understandings and effect change across centres. They provide good opportunities for staff growth through well targeted internal and external professional development. Leaders are beginning to foster emergent leadership opportunities for staff. The teacher appraisal process is currently under review.
Centre leaders work collaboratively to provide quality outcomes for children. The philosophy and vision have been developed to guide the centre's direction. Sound policy frameworks and systems are in place for the efficient management of the centre. The strategic goals guide the centre's direction and link to the annual plan. Internal evaluation is aligned to the philosophy and contributes to improved learning outcomes for the children.
Centre leaders agree that key next steps include:
continuing to develop programme planning processes
developing a process for programme evaluation to show deeper engagement with Te Whāriki
strengthening risk management processes for centre excursions.
Before the review, the staff and management of Vintage Kids 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
22 March 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.
|
Location |
Epsom, Auckland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
10168 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
26 children, including up to 5 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
34 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys 18 Girls 16 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Pākehā |
15 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% + |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:4 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:8 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
January 2019 |
||
|
Date of this report |
22 March 2019 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
June 2015 |
|
|
Education Review |
April 2012 |
||
|
Education Review |
November 2008 |
||
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.
St Francis Kindergarten & Childcare Centre is a well established service in Epsom, Auckland. Following the retirement of the former owner, the centre has a new owner and a new head teacher. The centre is licensed for 26 children, including up to five children aged under two years. It provides full day programmes in a home-like environment. Children can attend sessions that finish mid-afternoon, or for the centre’s extended day option.
The indoor learning areas and the recently rebuilt outdoor learning environment are shared by infants, toddlers and older children. Children interact and play for periods of time in mixed age groups.
The centre’s philosophy focuses on using the environment for children to develop their creativity through storytelling and to become creative, confident, curious, communicative and caring learners. The philosophy links to Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, and to the teaching team’s commitment to the all round development of children. A team of four qualified teachers is led by the centre manager. There are good ratios of staff to children.
The centre’s 2012 ERO report commented on its settled and calm learning environment and on the respectful relationships between teachers and children. These good practices have been sustained, and the owner and teaching team are continuing to address areas for further development outlined in this report by strengthening self review processes and extending children’s learning and interests. Recent professional development focusing on self review, and the recent appointment of an experienced head teacher, are likely to help teachers to extend children’s learning and interests.
Relationships between children, parents and staff are warm and respectful. On arrival, children settle quickly into indoor play or join teacher initiated art activities, and many sustain their interest in these creative activities. Throughout the day children access resources and activities in accordance with the centre’s timetable and well established routines.
Teachers have established sensitive and responsive relationships with children. Children’s trust in teachers is evident in their conversations with teachers, and in the way that children and teachers work together.
Many staff have been with the centre for a number of years and have a deep understanding of the centre’s history and the local community. Parents appreciate the centre’s family-like environment, the calm and relaxed approaches of staff. Unhurried parent and staff interactions also help foster children’s sense of wellbeing and belonging.
Children enjoy a range of activities and choices available in the centre’s attractive and well designed outdoor learning area. Although children’s access to the area is governed by the timetable, it is particularly inviting, offering children a variety of play options to capture their interest and to help them learn about the natural world.
Consideration should now be given to:
Teachers understand and provide well for the immediate needs of infants and toddlers. They are attentive and responsive to infants individual preferences. Children aged under two years join the older children in mat time and storytelling. In these sessions teachers include aspects of music, role play and drama, te reo Māori, literacy and mathematics.
The owner and head teacher are reviewing many of the centre’s existing operations. They are implementing change in a considered and strategic manner. Team approaches are being strengthened, providing new leadership and professional development opportunities for all teachers and support staff.
Work has also begun on strengthening and better documenting planning and assessment procedures. A new web-based programme is being introduced. This will help teachers to record individual learning stories that better show each child’s interests and growth.
Self review is valued by the team and teachers are currently involved in a long term professional development programme to strengthen their practice in this area. Considerable progress has recently been made to improve self review. A number of policies and procedures have been reviewed. Staff and parents have been consulted and feedback has been gathered formally through parent surveys.
Centre leaders have identified appropriate next steps, which include:
Before the review, the staff and management of St Francis Kindergarten & Childcare Centre Ltd 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 St Francis Kindergarten & Childcare Centre Ltd will be in three years.
Dale Bailey Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern
24 June 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 |
Epsom, Auckland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
10168 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
26 children, including up to 5 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
33 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls 17 Boys 16 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Pākehā Chinese others |
19 6 8 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80% Based on funding rates |
80% |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:5 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:7 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
April 2015 |
||
|
Date of this report |
24 June 2015 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
April 2012 |
|
|
Education Review |
November 2008 |
||
|
Education Review |
September 2005 |
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.