Waiheke Community Childcare Centre

Education institution number:
20180
Service type:
Education and Care Service
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
35
Telephone:
Address:

3a Donald Bruce Road, Surfdale, Waiheke Island

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Waiheke Community Childcare Centre

ERO’s Akanuku | Assurance Review reports provide information about whether a service meets and maintains regulatory standards. Further information about Akanuku | Assurance Reviews is included at the end of this report.

ERO’s Judgement

Regulatory standards

ERO’s judgement

Curriculum

Meeting

Premises and facilities

Meeting

Health and safety

Meeting

Governance, management and administration

Meeting

Since the onsite visit, the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed non-compliances and is now taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.

Background

Waiheke Community Childcare Centre is a non-profit centre, owned by an incorporated society. A parent committee provides governance support. A qualified centre manager leads a team of eight qualified teachers and four unqualified staff, including a cook. A small number of Māori or Pacific learners are enrolled.

Summary of Review Findings

Adults providing education and care engage in meaningful, positive interactions to enhance children’s learning, and nurture reciprocal relationships. Teachers’ practices demonstrate an understanding of children’s learning and development, and knowledge of relevant theories and practice in early childhood education.

The service curriculum acknowledges and reflects the unique place of Māori as tangata whenua. Children are given the opportunity to develop knowledge and an understanding of the cultural heritages of both parties to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Leaders and teachers provide a language-rich environment that supports children’s learning. Positive steps are taken to respect and acknowledge the aspirations held by parents and whānau for their children.

Consistent monitoring of systems and practices is required to maintain regulatory standards.

Key Next Step

A next step to increase the extent to which teachers assessment of children’s learning reflects their cultures and languages.

Actions for Compliance

Since the onsite visit the service provided ERO with evidence that shows it addressed the following non-compliances:

  • Ensuring a written emergency plan includes details of the roles and responsibilities that will apply during an emergency situation, and having evidence of review of the plan on at least an annual basis (HS7).

  • Maintaining a record of relevant emergency drills that are carried out on at least a three-monthly basis (HS8).

  • Ensuring children’s workers are suitably police vetted and safety checked (GMA7A).

  • Maintaining attendance records that meet the requirements of the ECE Funding Handbook (GMA11).

Next ERO Review

The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.

Patricia Davey
Director of Early Childhood Education (ECE)

24 August 2023

Information About the Service

Early Childhood Service Name

Waiheke Community Childcare Centre

Profile Number

20180

Location

Surfdale, Waiheke Island

Service type

Education and care service

Number licensed for

30 children, including up to 8 aged under 2

Percentage of qualified teachers

80-99%

Service roll

46

Review team on site

July 2023

Date of this report

24 August 2023

Most recent ERO report(s)

 Education Review, March 2020; Education Review, June 2016

General Information about Assurance Reviews

All services are licensed under the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008. The legal requirements for early childhood services also include the Licensing Criteria for Education and Care Services 2008.

Services must meet the standards in the regulations and the requirements of the licensing criteria to gain and maintain a licence to operate.

ERO undertakes an Akanuku | Assurance Review process in any centre-based service:

  • having its first ERO review – including if it is part of a governing organisation

  • previously identified as ‘not well placed’ or ‘requiring further development’

  • that has moved from a provisional to a full licence

  • that have been re-licenced due to a change of ownership

  • where an Akanuku | Assurance Review process is determined to be appropriate.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

All early childhood services are required to promote children’s health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements. Before the review, the staff and management of a service 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.

As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO assesses whether the regulatory standards are being met. In particular, ERO looks at a 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 certification; ratios)

  • relevant evacuation procedures and practices.

As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO also gathers and records evidence through:

  • discussions with those involved in the service

  • consideration of relevant documentation, including the implementation of health and safety systems

  • observations of the environment/premises, curriculum implementation and teaching practice.

Waiheke Community Childcare Centre - 13/03/2020

1 Evaluation of Waiheke Community Childcare Centre

How well placed is Waiheke Community Childcare Centre to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Not well placed

Requires further development

Well placed

Very well placed

Waiheke Community Childcare Centre requires further development to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

Waiheke Community Childcare Centre needs to introduce effective evaluation processes to strengthen programme planning and teacher appraisal and to ensure policies meet current legal requirements.

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

Background

Waiheke Community Centre is licensed for 30 children, including eight children up to the age of two years. Small numbers of Māori children attend. The well-established centre provides all-day education and care for children in a mixed-age setting. There are many opportunities for children to explore and learn from the local environment through the bush school excursion programme.

The centre’s philosophy emphasises building strong partnerships with whānau and nurturing each child. Centre priorities are for children to become confident, competent learners who learn and grow at their own pace. The natural environment is seen as the third teacher and used to foster responsible future citizens.

The centre is governed by a parent management committee. The senior teacher leads an experienced team of qualified teachers and part-time staff.

The 2016 ERO report identified positive aspects of good practice that have been sustained. The report also identified areas that needed to be strengthened. These next steps have not yet been fully addressed.

The Review Findings

The centre's philosophy is evident in practice. Children settle well, are friendly and confidently interact with adults. Friendships and collaboration are nurtured and tuakana/teina relationships encouraged. Children are actively involved, self-motivated and play imaginatively in small groups. There are multiple opportunities for children to explore, make choices and develop their physical skills.

Teachers know the children well. They deliberately use conversations to promote children's language and positive social development, and to encourage exploration. Learning portfolios record children's interactions and capture the development of their social and emotional competencies. However, documentation does not yet include a focus on children's learning. Increasing teachers' depth of knowledge and understanding of planning for learning is now needed to demonstrate children's progress.

Te reo me ngā tikanga Māori is evident in the centre environment and in some practices, including karakia, waiata and conversation with some teachers. Teachers could enrich the programme by making connections to te ao Māori within the local curriculum when planning for learning.

Parents are actively involved. There is a strong emphasis on responsive and reciprocal relationships with children, parents and whānau, which promotes a sense of belonging. Children transition well from home to centre and are well supported when transitioning to other early childhood centres. Many children still under five years return in the school holidays to participate in the programme.

Internal evaluation for accountability and improvement is developing. Educators now need to build their knowledge, practice and use of evaluation with a focus on positive learning outcomes for children.

Strengthening teacher inquiries and goal setting through the appraisal process should help identify and address their professional learning and development needs.

Key Next Steps

Key next steps include:

  • planning for learning that is responsive to individual children and promotes more complex thinking

  • strengthening planning, teaching practices and documentation to increase te ao Māori within the curriculum

  • aligning teaching and learning, appraisal and internal evaluation to the annual and strategic plans to support improved outcomes for all children

  • developing understanding of the purpose and process of internal evaluation to recognise what is working for children's learning and to inform ongoing improvement.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Waiheke Community Childcare Centre 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.

Actions for compliance

Since the onsite visit, the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliance:

  • any windows or other areas of glass accessible to children are either made of safety glass, covered by an adhesive film or effectively guarded by barriers.

Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, PF7.

Development Plan Recommendation

ERO recommends that the service, in consultation with the Ministry of Education, develops a plan to address the key next steps and actions outlined in this report.

Steve Tanner

Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)

Northern Region - Te Tai Raki

13 March 2020

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

Surfdale, Waiheke Island

Ministry of Education profile number

20180

Licence type

Education & Care Service

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

30 children, including up to 8 aged under 2 years

Service roll

46

Gender composition

Girls 31 Boys 15

Ethnic composition

Māori
NZ European/Pākehā
other ethnic groups

10
27
9

Percentage of qualified teachers

80% +

Reported ratios of staff to children

Under 2

1:2

Better than minimum requirements

Over 2

1:5

Better than minimum requirements

Review team on site

January 2020

Date of this report

13 March 2020

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review

June 2016

Education Review

December 2012

Education Review

November 2009

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.