97 Glendale Road, Glen Eden, 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 Eden Cottage are as follows:
Outcome Indicators(What the service knows about outcomes for learners) |
Whakatō Emerging |
Ngā Akatoro Domains |
|
Learning ConditionsOrganisational Conditions |
Whakatō Emerging Whāngai Establishing |
Eden Cottage, previously known as VisionWest Christian Kindergarten, provides early childhood education to an ethnically diverse group of children. The curriculum is guided by Christian values and Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. A newly appointed centre manager is supported by the governance and management structure of the VisionWest Community Trust, and by qualified teaching staff and an administrator.
Children are provided with opportunities to explore in an environment that supports their physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing. Leaders and teachers maintain positive, respectful, and responsive relationships with children and families, which enhances children’s sense of belonging.
Teachers integrate the languages and cultures of Māori and Pacific children through the curriculum. They value te reo Māori and tikanga Māori in their teaching practices. Supporting children’s connections to, and fluency in their home languages and cultural identities require an increased focus from teachers.
Leaders and teachers give children feedback that recognises their efforts, challenges, and successes. Teachers have not yet established a shared understanding of how children can be best supported as capable, creative learners. This knowledge would support them to implement a curriculum that is more consistent with principles and practices as outlined in Te Whāriki.
Leaders and teachers have established appropriate processes for evaluation and improvement purposes. They have opportunities to develop their knowledge, skills, and confidence to improve outcomes for all learners. Relevant external expertise has been carefully selected and personalised to the service’s values and vision.
Those responsible for governance and management enact te Tiriti o Waitangi by strengthening whānau relationships, and through the promotion of manaakitanga and whanaungatanga. They recognise the importance of child, parent, whānau voice, and the need to draw on this to inform priorities for the service’s improvement.
Eden Cottage will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:
Before the review, the staff and management of Eden Cottage 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.
During and since the onsite visit, the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:
Filivaifale Jason Swann
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki
21 September 2022
|
Early Childhood Service Name |
Eden Cottage |
| Profile Number | 20056 |
| Location | Glen Eden, Auckland |
|
Service type |
Education and care service |
|
Number licensed for |
38 children over the age of 2 years |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
|
Service roll |
29 |
|
Review team on site |
June 2022 |
|
Date of this report |
21 September 2022 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, July 2018, Education Review, March 2015 |
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
VisionWest Christian Kindergarten in Glen Eden is overseen by the VisionWest Community Trust. The overarching vision of the trust is to see 'Transformed Lives and Healthy Communities'. The Trust provides a comprehensive range of community-based services for the local area and in the wider West Auckland community.
The kindergarten currently provides sessional and full-day early childhood education for up to 35 children over two years of age. The philosophy of the kindergarten is guided by Christian values and Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. It is guided by the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education.
A newly appointed centre manager is guided by the governance and management structure of the VisionWest Trust. She is also supported by qualified teaching staff and an administrator. The kindergarten has recently been relicensed to extend their opening hours.
The 2015 ERO report highlighted the positive difference the kindergarten was making to children's learning and development. This has been maintained.
Areas for development in the 2015 report included creating more meaningful assessment, planning and evaluation. Progress has been made in these areas.
Children are independent and confident learners who settle quickly upon arrival. They lead the direction of their play and are encouraged to explore areas of their interest. They use their imagination and creativity in their free play indoors and outdoors. Children and whānau are warmly welcomed into the centre. Parents spoken to report teachers provide high levels of support for them and their children and good information about their children's learning and development.
Teachers endeavour to know children well and provide learning experiences that engage children's interests and build on their capabilities. Children with additional needs are well catered for and are provided with suitable learning resources and experiences. Teachers participate in regular professional discussions about children's learning and wellbeing. They write learning stories for children that reflect their interests and strengths and identify next steps to support their learning.
Children's sense of belonging is well supported. Relationships between children and adults are warm and respectful. Children contribute to a curriculum that affirms and celebrates their cultural heritage. The VisionWest Trust and kindergarten staff have a commitment to work together for continuous improvement, and to strengthen bicultural practice.
Opportunities for ongoing and appropriate professional development are available for staff. A recently established planning framework allows teachers to respond effectively to individual children's interests. They have collaboratively strengthened planning to extend and support children's learning over time.
The wider VisionWest Trust provides the kindergarten with good governance, management and administrative support. Policies and procedures are well established and continue to be developed to align with current best practice. Internal evaluation for future improvement is prioritised and aims to produce positive outcomes for children. Strategic and annual plans support the kindergarten's future direction.
Centre managers and staff work collaboratively with VisionWest Trust to build the quality of teaching and learning. They demonstrate a strong commitment to the philosophy and vision of the kindergarten to provide high quality childcare for the local community.
The management team agree the next steps are to:
continue strengthening curriculum planning and assessment to focus on children's individual learning dispositions, interests and capabilities
develop and embed an inquiry-focused appraisal system
review the centre philosophy and practice to align it with the 2017 version of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum.
Before the review, the staff and management of VisionWest Christian Kindergarten 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.
In order to improve practice, the centre manager should report to parents the amount and details of the expenditure of any Ministry of Education funding received by the service.
The next ERO review of VisionWest Christian Kindergarten will be in three years.
Julie Foley
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)
Te Tai Raki - Northern Region
30 July 2018
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 |
Glen Eden, Auckland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
20056 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
38 children over the age of 2 years |
||
|
Service roll |
37 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys 22 Girls 15 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori |
1 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% + |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Over 2 |
1:4 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Review team on site |
June 2018 |
||
|
Date of this report |
30 July 2018 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
March 2015 |
|
|
Education Review |
June 2012 |
||
|
Education Review |
April 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.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
VisionWest Christian Kindergarten, in Glen Eden, provides sessional and full day early childhood education and care for up to 35 children over two years of age. It is governed by the VisionWest Community Trust as part of a comprehensive range of services it provides for the local community. A committee of parents also contributes to decision-making about aspects of the centre.
VisionWest Community Trust is guided by a strong Christian vision. This vision and the centre philosophy, provide a framework for the promotion of Christian values for its diverse community.
The 2012 ERO report noted that the centre had recently gone through a number of staff changes and was in the process of inducting a new centre manager. It also highlighted a number of key next steps relating to the provision of appropriate teaching and learning programmes for children. Many of ERO’s recommendations are under review at present.
In 2015 the centre is again inducting a recently appointed manager. The majority of staff in the centre are fully registered teachers. The manager, who works closely with the senior teacher and the teaching team, reports to the community services manager. The community services manager then reports to the CEO of the trust.
The kindergarten is making a positive difference to children’s learning and development. Teachers warmly welcome children and their families at the start of their day, settling children and providing opportunities for families to talk. This friendly and pleasant start to the day encourages children to have a strong sense of belonging and wellbeing. The partnership teachers have with parents contributes to open sharing of information about children’s learning.
Teachers are creating an environment that provokes children’s interest and inspires exploration and discovery. This inspiration, developed from aspects of the Reggio Emilia philosophy has a positive effect on children’s interest in resources and activities. They independently choose from the wide range of attractively arranged resources, and stay for good periods of time to explore activities.
Children are encouraged to make choices about their play during the day. They are also grouped at times to work on projects that arise out of children’s interests. Teachers use group times to reinforce basic skills and knowledge relating to school readiness. They are beginning to talk about ways of integrating opportunities for children to explore concepts of literacy and mathematics in meaningful contexts as part of play. This is a positive move.
Children are relaxed and friendly with adults and their peers. Conversations between children are frequent. Teachers could increase the focus on engaging children in conversations about their thinking and ideas. This useful next step would make it easier for teachers to be sure that group times more clearly reflect what children want to learn.
The majority of the teachers have been in the centre for some time. The teaching team is collegial and works effectively to support children’s comfort and pleasure in their time in the centre. The manager has built sound relationships with teachers, valuing their strengths and supporting necessary changes with sensitivity and appropriate pace.
The centre community includes a number of Māori and Pacific families. In recent times teachers have placed a strong focus on making visible in the centre their commitment to supporting these families, and particularly the children. Children respond positively to the teachers’ use of te reo me ngā tikanga Māori. Signs, labels and other displays affirm and celebrate children’s cultural heritage.
Management of the centre is efficient. Review of policies is on-going and personnel management is effective. Teacher appraisal is regular and supports teachers to consider and improve their practice. The manager has identified self review of teaching practice as a worthwhile next step for teachers.
Management identified their next key steps as supporting teachers to:
Before the review, the staff and management of VisionWest Christian Kindergarten 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 VisionWest Christian Kindergarten will be in three years.
Dale Bailey
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern
6 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 |
Glen Eden, Auckland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
20056 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
35 children, including up to 0 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
63 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys 34 Girls 29 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Samoan other |
6 38 5 14 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80% Based on funding rates |
80% |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
Review team on site |
February 2015 |
||
|
Date of this report |
6 March 2015 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
June 2012 |
|
|
Education Review |
April 2009 |
||
|
Education Review |
April 2006 |
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.