267 Newell Road, Hillcrest, Hamilton
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 (PDF 3.01MB) are the basis for making judgements about the effectiveness of the service in achieving equity and excellence for all learners. The Akarangi Quality Evaluation Judgement Rubric (PDF 91.30KB) derived from the indicators, is used to inform the ERO’s judgements about this service’s performance in promoting equity and excellence.
ERO’s judgements for Waikato Montessori Early Education Centre are as follows:
Outcome Indicators |
ERO’s judgement |
|
What the service knows about outcomes for learners |
Kia rangatira ai te tipu Excelling |
Ngā Akatoro Domains |
ERO’s judgement |
|
He Whāriki Motuhake The learner and their learning |
Whakawhanake Sustaining |
|
Whakangungu Ngaio Collaborative professional learning builds knowledge and capability |
Kia rangatira ai te tipu Excelling |
|
Ngā Aronga Whai Hua Evaluation for improvement |
Whakawhanake Sustaining |
|
Kaihautū Leaders foster collaboration and improvement |
Kia rangatira ai te tipu Excelling |
|
Te Whakaruruhau Stewardship through effective governance and management |
Whakawhanake Sustaining |
Waikato Montessori Early Education Centre service is governed by The Golden Beads Charitable Trust. Children learn in two mixed-age classrooms and a recently built classroom for two-year-olds. The principal provides leadership and support with an experienced programme manager overseeing daily operation. The centre continues to promote the Montessori philosophy and curriculum.
Children’s learning and development are effectively supported by intentional teaching in a child-led environment. Children are viewed as highly competent, confident learners, strong in their culture and identity. The well-resourced environment supports self-directed, hands-on learning and collaborative experiences. Children work individually and in groups to discover and explore, increasing their knowledge of the world and developing working theories. Children’s learning and development is enhanced by a rich and responsive curriculum.
Children’s agency and decision making are well supported, encouraging a high level of independence. Guides who work with toddlers are respectful of children’s cues. Children learn in a culturally responsive way. Tikanga Māori practices are embedded in centre-wide practice. Children are encouraged by guides to explore their working theories through meaningful conversations. They are well supported in their oral language development. Children and their families experience a calm, unhurried pace and younger children lead their own learning.
Children’s learning and wellbeing in the context of whānau relationships are primary considerations in decision making. Whānau contributions influence and enrich the curriculum and experiences provided for children. Assessment practices inform whānau of the children’s increasing capabilities in relation to the learning outcomes in Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. During the pandemic lockdown periods there has been an increased amount of parent / whānau engagement with the service. Leaders are committed to continuing this, as parent and whānau participation is strengthening. Children’s developing social competence and emotional wellbeing is supported through strong reciprocal relationships.
Leaders provide equitable and inclusive opportunities for children to learn. The strategic plan provides an effective framework to guide teaching, learning and centre operation. Teachers and leaders benefit from effective systems and processes that support equitable conditions for learning. They have self-identified that there is a need to draw on children and whānau voices to inform priorities for improvement. Engagement in internal evaluation has led to ongoing improvement and innovation that promotes positive learning outcomes for children.
Waikato Montessori Early Education Centre will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning.
Continue to deepen and develop:
Before the review, the staff and management of Waikato Montessori Early Education 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:
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.
ERO found areas of non-compliance in the service relating to:
[Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, GMA7a]
Since the onsite visit the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:
ERO recommends the Ministry follows up with the service provider to ensure non-compliances identified in this report are addressed.
Shelley Booysen
Acting Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui
14 January 2022
|
Early Childhood Service Name |
Waikato Montessori Early Education Centre |
|
Profile Number |
30285 |
|
Location |
Hamilton |
|
Service type |
Education and care service |
|
Number licensed for |
60 children |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
100% |
|
Service roll |
54 |
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori 2, Chinese 25, NZ European/Pākehā 21, Other Asian 5, Other ethnic groups 1. |
|
Review team on site |
September 2021 |
|
Date of this report |
14 January 2022 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, December 2017; Education Review, June 2014. |
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Waikato Montessori Early Education Centre is a privately owned service situated at Tamahere east of Hamilton. The centre is licensed for 60 children over two years of age. At the time of this ERO review there were 47 children enrolled at the centre of whom six identify as Māori. Twenty three children are from Asian families.
Children learn in two mixed-age classrooms. A covered verandah with gardens is available for all-weather activities. Further outdoor areas are provided for physical activity at designated times throughout the day. Since the centre opened in 2006, governance and management personnel have remained the same.
The centre continues to strongly promote the Montessori philosophy and curriculum, which fosters children's self-management, curiosity and understanding of their community and wider world. Teachers at this centre are qualified and trained in both the Montessori and Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum.
Children benefit from respectful, responsive interactions and relationships with teachers. Teachers know children and families well and use positive guidance strategies to foster children's self-management and independence. Written and oral language skills along with mathematics concepts are developed in a variety of equipment-based ways. Tuakana teina relationships are deliberately encouraged. Older children play well with younger children and support their learning. Children engage in a wide range of sustained, self-selected learning experiences.
Routines are well established. These provide structure for the programme and support children in developing a sense of wellbeing and belonging. Parents and families support their children in developing individual pepeha that recognise family and cultural backgrounds. Children are taught waiata and have access to bicultural resources. Transition into the centre and to the adjacent school is smoothly facilitated, according to the needs of children and their families.
Attractive, spacious indoor environments reflect the kindergarten’s philosophy. A wide variety of readily accessed resources are appropriate for the range of age groups. The shared verandah area provides space for painting, gardening, carpentry and other practical activities. Children are able to make choices about their use of indoor and outdoor equipment. A calm, settled tone is evident throughout the centre.
Planning is informed by children’s strengths, capabilities and preferences for learning. Presentations of learning in children's portfolios show that children engage with increasingly sophisticated equipment, including natural resources, as they develop new knowledge and skills. Children’s success is regularly monitored by all teachers. Records of learning are shared with parents through formal six-monthly interviews. Children have opportunities to revisit and discuss their learning through continual access to a range of materials and resources.
The head of school maintains a strong focus on implementing the Montessori philosophy and its links with Te Whāriki. Leaders and teachers create a warm welcoming culture where parents/whānau feel valued. Teachers have engaged in professional development including presentations about the revised Te Whāriki.
Planned and spontaneous reviews have focussed on strengthening policies, teacher induction, portfolio documentation, and the outdoor area. The annual plan is well aligned to strategic goals and regularly reviewed. Leaders have established a good system for staff appraisal, which is focused on teachers' reflections about their practice and meeting regulatory requirements. Teachers appreciate the professional staff culture underpinned by clear expectations for curriculum, planning and delivery, centre operations and positive outcomes for learners.
In accordance with the recently revised Te Whāriki statement, managers and teachers should now review and revise:
assessment planning and evaluation to include:
how children’s dispositions and social development are extended over time
bicultural and multicultural references that show how children's culture, language and identity are valued
self review processes so that they include contributions from parents and children to enhance the programme.
Before the review, the staff and management of Waikato Montessori Early Education 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:
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.
The next ERO review of Waikato Montessori Early Education Centre will be in three years.
Lynda Pura-Watson
Deputy Chief Review Officer
Te Tai Miringa - Waikato / Bay of Plenty Region
1 December 2017
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 |
Hamilton |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
30285 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
60 children, including 0 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
47 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls 28 Boys 19 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori |
6 |
|
|
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 |
September 2017 |
||
|
Date of this report |
1 December 2017 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
June 2014 |
|
|
Education Review |
March 2011 |
||
|
Education Review |
February 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:
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.