Woolston Preschool Inc

Education institution number:
70505
Service type:
Education and Care Service
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
33
Telephone:
Address:

52 Glenroy Street, Woolston, Christchurch

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Woolston Preschool Inc

1 ERO’s Judgements

Akarangi | 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 Woolston Preschool are as follows:

Outcome Indicators

ERO’s judgement

What the service knows about outcomes for learners

Whakaū Embedding

Ngā Akatoro Domains

ERO’s judgement

He Whāriki Motuhake

The learner and their learning

Whakaū Embedding

Whakangungu Ngaio

Collaborative professional learning builds knowledge and capability

Whakaū Embedding

Ngā Aronga Whai Hua

Evaluation for improvement

Whakaū Embedding

Kaihautū

Leaders foster collaboration and improvement

Whakaū Embedding

Te Whakaruruhau

Stewardship through effective governance and management

Whakawhanake Sustaining

2 Context of the Service

Woolston Preschool is a small, community-based centre that is governed by a board of three external centre managers and whānau. The preschool provides education and care for infants to school age children. Since the 2019 ERO report, there has been several staff changes. A new centre manager has responsibility for day-to-day service operation.

3 Summary of findings

Leaders, kaiako and trustees view the Treaty of Waitangi as foundational for partnerships with parents and whānau. They advocate for children, parents and whānau to ensure Māori, and all children, have access to inclusive, good quality education and care. Leaders and kaiako are implementing a more bicultural curriculum which is based on working closely with whānau and community. As an outcome of an internal evaluation, they recognise that there needs to be further work done to embed Māori values, te reo me ngā tikanga Māori.

Children play and learn in two separate areas that are spacious and very well resourced. Their mana and identity as capable learners are valued and promoted by kaiako. Children have many opportunities to explore their interests alongside kaiako who deliberately foster their developing social competence within the inviting learning-based, play environments.

Infants and toddlers benefit from nurturing relationships with kaiako who know them well and are responsive to each child’s preferences and non-verbal cues. Kaiako provide a calm, well-paced environment that allows time for meaningful attachments to develop.

Kaiako are increasingly intentional about using the learning outcomes from Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, to foster children’s learning and progress. There are some good examples of documented assessment and planning for learning. Kaiako deliberately focus on children’s learning dispositions to support each child’s identity as they become more competent learners. They acknowledge and value children’s diverse languages and cultural heritages. Leaders and kaiako acknowledge that there is some variability in the quality of assessment, planning and evaluation documentation.

Centre leaders maintain trusting relationships to enable collaboration and develop capability across the teaching team. They provide relevant opportunities and engage in professional learning and development that builds shared understandings and collective responsibility for children’s learning and achievement.

Those in governance, leaders and kaiako use systematic internal evaluation processes to identify service priorities, carefully plan for improvement and to engage in meaningful decision making. They are very aware of what children, whānau and the service’s community need to increase equity. The board makes well-informed decisions based on relevant information to progress centre priorities.

4 Improvement Actions

Woolston Preschool will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning. These are to:

  • further develop initial work to embed Māori values and strong, confident use of te reo me ngā tikanga Māori across the curriculum
  • monitor assessment, planning and evaluation for learning processes to promote better consistency of practice among kaiako.

5 Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Woolston Preschool 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.

Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini

25 February 2022 

6 About the Early Childhood Service

Early childhood service name

Woolston Preschool Inc

Profile number

70505

Location

Christchurch

Service type

Education and care service

Number licensed for

39 children, including up to 15 aged 2 years and under

Percentage of qualified teachers

80-99%

Service roll

36

Ethnic composition

Māori 9, NZ European/Pākehā 11, Other ethnicities 16.

Review team on site

25 November 2021

Date of this report

25 February 2022

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review, April 2019; Education Review, August 2016.

Woolston Preschool Inc - 24/04/2019

ERO’s judgement

Regulatory standards

Curriculum

Meeting

Premises and facilities

Meeting

Health and safety

Meeting

Governance, management and administration

Meeting

At the time of the review, ERO found the service was taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.

Background

Woolston Preschool Inc is a community-based service. The centre provides spaces for older and younger children. ERO’s previous report found the service was not well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children. Since then, a new governance board has been elected and a new manager appointed.

Summary of review findings

The service curriculum is consistent with the principles and strands of Te Whāriki (2017), The Early Childhood Curriculum. Children are provided with a range of experiences and opportunities to extend their learning and development. The service has a focus on supporting children’s social competence. Parents have regular opportunities to contribute to their child’s learning. The design and layout of the service supports indoor and outdoor experiences.

Systems and processes are used to guide centre operations. Policies and practices promote the health and safety of children. An annual plan and budget guides the service’s operation. Ongoing self review is supporting improvements to practice.

Next ERO Review

The next ERO review is likely to be an Education Review.

Alan Wynyard

Director Review and Improvement Services Southern

Southern Region

24 April 2019

Information about the service

Early Childhood Service Name

Woolston Preschool Inc

Profile Number

70505

Location

Christchurch

Service type

Education and care service

Number licensed for

39 children, including up to 15 aged under 2

Percentage of qualified teachers

80%

Reported ratios of staff / adults to children

Under 2

1:5 Meets regulatory standards

Over 2

1:9 Better than regulatory standards

Service roll

41

Gender composition

Girls 22, Boys 19

Ethnic composition

Māori 11

NZ European/Pākehā 16

Filipino 4

Other ethnicities 10

Review team on site

March 2019

Date of this report

24 April 2019

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review

August 2016

Education Review

May 2013

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:

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 Assurance Review process in any 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 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 Assurance Review ERO assesses whether the regulated 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; police vetting; teacher certification; ratios)

  • evacuation procedures and practices for fire and earthquake.

As part of an 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.