Wairoa Kindergarten

1 Evaluation of Wairoa Kindergarten

How well placed is Wairoa Kindergarten to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Wairoa Kindergarten is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

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

Background

Wairoa Kindergarten provides early childhood education and care for up to 43 children aged over two years. Of the 37 children currently enrolled, 24 are Māori. All teachers are fully qualified. A new head teacher was appointed in November 2017.

The philosophy promotes natural creativity, place-based learning and aroha. It is currently under review.

The kindergarten is a member of the Enviroschools programme and of Mata Nui o Kahungunu Kāhui Ako.

Wairoa Kindergarten is one of 16 kindergartens operating under the governance and management of the Napier Kindergarten Association (the association). The governing board is responsible for setting the overall strategic direction for the organisation. The day-to-day operation of the association is the role of the general manager. Two education managers provide teaching and learning support for teachers. The board employs a Pou Whakarewa Mātauranga (Professional Practice Advisor Māori) to work alongside all association personnel to continue to strengthen cultural responsiveness.

The April 2016 ERO evaluation identified significant areas for development including provision of a responsive curriculum, assessment, planning and evaluation, appraisal and internal evaluation. These areas have been progressed well.

This review was part of a cluster of 16 kindergarten reviews in the Napier Kindergarten Association.

The Review Findings

Children lead their own learning through a curriculum that is based on their interests and highly reflective of their community. They are supported to explore their thinking about the world and often share what they know. Regular excursions give children meaningful opportunities to visit places of local significance. Children display a sense of self and belonging.

A holistic approach to teaching and learning effectively promotes children's wellbeing as a platform for further learning. Routines and strategies to support social competence are consistently implemented to foster children's sense of security.

Māori children's identities are valued as the foundation for their educational success. Teachers acknowledge and make connections to individual children's pepeha. They are building understanding of kaupapa Māori approaches to teaching and learning and make these visible within the curriculum.

Positive connections between teachers, parents and whānau encourage consistent approaches to children's learning between home and the kindergarten. Teachers make good use of community organisations to promote children's engagement and ongoing learning. Children with additional learning needs are well supported to participate in the programme. Teachers recognise that developing formal plans to monitor and evaluate progress towards these children's learning goals is a next step. ERO's evaluation confirms this.

Learning portfolios build a picture of children's strengths, interests and capabilities. Children treasure these books and use them often to revisit their learning. Teachers are exploring how individual planning and assessment can be further strengthened to support children's learning. Building consistent assessment practice that shows progress in learning and effectively gathering and responding to parent aspirations should be part of this process.

Leaders take a carefully considered approach to improvement. Since the previous ERO evaluation teachers have progressed their knowledge and use of internal evaluation. Strengthening the focus on how effective current practices are in promoting positive outcomes for children should enhance decision making for improvement. Education managers should continue to grow their own knowledge and practice of internal evaluation to better support this process.

The governing board is future-focused and has developed a clear strategic direction to meet the diverse needs of its communities. Board members value diversity of viewpoints and gather community and staff voice to inform decision-making. Regular reporting by the education managers is useful in identifying how strategic teaching and learning goals are being addressed.

The board places importance on developing teachers' capabilities. Targeted and deliberate building of cultural responsiveness supports Māori children and their whānau to experience success. An association-wide appraisal process is in place to support teacher practice in promoting positive learning outcomes for children. Further strengthening of the appraisal process, including targeted observations, should assist teachers to determine how well they are progressing and actively encourage them to improve their effectiveness.

Key Next Steps

ERO and leaders agree that teachers at Wairoa Kindergarten should continue to strengthen:

• the implementation and monitoring of plans to support children with additional learning needs

• assessment, planning and evaluation to clearly progress learning of individual children

• internal evaluation to enhance decision making.

Education managers should continue to promote sustained improvement and innovation through strengthening:

• evaluation, inquiry and professional guidance

• the appraisal process.

Recommendation

Education managers should strengthen their understanding and use of internal evaluation to systematically evaluate their practices and the impact of these on outcomes for children.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Wairoa 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:

• 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.

ERO identified an area of non-compliance.

The service provider must ensure that parents have given written approval of the proposed adult:child ratio for all excursions.
[Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, HS17]

Phil Cowie

Director Review and Improvement Services Central

Central Region

23 October 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

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.