Wymondley Early Learning Centre

1 Evaluation of Wymondley Early Learning Centre

How well placed is Wymondley Early Learning Centre to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Not well placed

Requires further development

Well placed

Very well placed

Wymondley Early Learning Centre is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

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

Background

Wymondley Early Learning Centre is one of two preschool services located on the grounds of Wymondley School, Otara. The centre is adjacent to the local kohanga reo. The centre is licensed for 50 children, including up to 10 aged under two years. The roll includes a small group of Māori, and two-thirds of the children enrolled have Pacific heritage.

The service's philosophy recognises the values and knowledge each child brings from their own life experiences. It identifies a strong commitment to fostering an interactive, fun environment where children can learn positively. The philosophy also acknowledges the integral role family and whānau play in furthering children's learning.

A board of trustees, consisting of local community members, governs the centre. The board is committed to providing children with good quality early childhood education. The supervisor is responsible for day-to-day operations.

Since the 2015 ERO report, several new teachers have been appointed. Most teachers are qualified. The report recommended that teachers access external support to help them strengthen self-review, programme planning and appraisal processes. Teachers continue to make progress in these areas.

The Review Findings

Children are happy and confident in the centre where their identity, language and culture are affirmed. They are warmly greeted on arrival and have positive relationships with teachers and each other. Children engage in play that interests them, communicate respectfully with each other, and develop social skills as they play cooperatively together. They confidently make choices from prepared activities and available resources. Older children develop tuakana/teina relationships with their younger peers and model independent learning.

Children up to the age of two years, benefit from a calm and peaceful environment with caring teachers. Education and care routines are appropriately individualised. Younger children have easy access to the outside area for exploration and play with the older children. Leaders could review the resources in the learning space for infants, to promote increased opportunities for exploration and investigation.

Children make full use of the learning environment. The outside play area is spacious and attractive. It offers a good range of interesting challenges to help develop children's physical skills and social competencies. The indoor area has some inviting spaces and displays that reflect the character of the centre.

Children are settled and well cared for by teachers who know them and their families well. Children hear te reo Māori and other home languages spoken by teachers and others. Teachers celebrate important cultural events with families, and the environment reflects children's cultures. Regular gatherings provide opportunities for children to sing, dance and celebrate together in different languages and cultures.

Teachers respond to children's individual interests. They are sensitive and responsive to children with additional learning needs. Adults' conversations with children encourage them to share their ideas. They support children to develop early literacy and numeracy skills in different contexts. Children trust teachers to be responsive and to encourage them in their learning. When needed, teachers make timely interventions to refocus children's interests and guide purposeful play.

Teachers plan activities from observing children's emerging interests. While this approach helps teachers to provide activities that reflect these interests, it does not yet identify specific teaching strategies or learning goals to extend children's learning. Teachers would benefit from support to strengthen their understanding of their role in extending children's learning, and supporting older children to develop their critical thinking skills.

With support from the new entrant teacher at the adjacent primary school, leaders are reviewing the transition to school programmes, with a clear focus on play-based learning.

The centre is well managed. Teachers' different strengths are valued and responsibilities are shared. They use the strategic action plan well to guide centre operations, and achieve goals that align with the board's expectations. Internal evaluation has been identified by leaders as an area to continue developing. The newly introduced appraisal system supports teachers to inquire into their own practice. Leaders are aware that deeper reflection and a more in-depth response to children's learning would enhance teaching practice, and contribute to improving positive outcomes for children's learning and wellbeing.

Key Next Steps

Key next steps for ongoing improvement include:

• using the centre's vision to clearly identify strategic goals for the centre

• developing a set of indicators to define what quality teaching practice should look like at this centre

• strengthening the consistency of planning, assessment and evaluation, so teachers clearly plan how they can support and extend children's learning.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Wymondley Early Learning 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.

Steve Tanner

Director Review and Improvement Services Northern

Northern Region

16 April 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

Location		Otara, Auckland
Ministry of Education profile number		45322
Licence type		Education & Care Service
Licensed under		Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008
Number licensed for		50 children, including up to 10 aged under 2
Service roll		38
Gender composition		Boys 22 Girls 16
Ethnic composition		Māori Samoan Tongan Indian Cook Island Māori other ethnic groups	6 10 9 7 5 1
Percentage of qualified teachers		50-79%
Reported ratios of staff to children	Under 2	1:4	Better than minimum requirements
	Over 2	1:6	Better than minimum requirements
Review team on site		February 2019
Date of this report		16 April 2019
Most recent ERO report(s)		Education Review	June 2015
		Education Review	May 2012

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.

1 Evaluation of Wymondley Early Learning Centre

How well placed is Wymondley Early Learning Centre to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Not well placed

Requires further development

Well placed

Very well placed

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

Background

Wymondley Early Learning Centre (ELC) is one of two preschool services located on the grounds of Wymondley School, Otara. The centre is situated beside a kohanga reo. Wymondley ELC began as a playgroup operating from the school before becoming established as an early childhood centre in 2010. The centre is licensed for 30 children over two years of age. The board are in the process of applying to the Ministry of Education to increase centre numbers to 50 children.

The philosophy is focused on providing an innovative and holistic programme for children. It places value on the centre’s multi-ethnic community and partnerships with parents. Respectful relationships underpin the centre culture. The families are of Pacific and Māori heritages. Many of the Pacific children bring rich knowledge and experience of their culture and use their home language.

The centre continues to have a long-serving administrator/contact person. The teaching team have had a number of changes since the last ERO review. The supervisor was appointed in April 2014, and most of the team are more recent appointments. Staff turnover has hindered progress in areas for development identified in the 2012 ERO report.

A trust board consisting of local community members governs the centre. They include a representative from the Wymondley School Board and the centre administrator. The board have a number of experienced trustees who are committed to providing children with good early childhood education.

The Review Findings

Children have many opportunities to develop social skills through their play. They enjoy friendly relationships with each other. Children demonstrate responsibility. They initiate games with their peers and use equipment appropriately. The supervisor recognises the need to review the indoor and outdoor play areas to further promote opportunities for early literacy and mathematics learning. Teachers should also review the provision for appropriate learning challenges and extended play for children.

Staff are beginning to include approaches that support Māori children to enjoy success as Māori. Teachers help each other to use simple te reo Māori in their conversations with children. The programme includes some aspects of Māori culture. The supervisor agrees that teachers should now make more effective use of local knowledge and resources to affirm Māori children’s language, culture and identity through the daily programme.

Teachers are in the early stages of developing a shared understanding of a child-centred, bicultural curriculum. The supervisor provides sound curriculum leadership and has high expectations for teachers. Teachers are encouraged to share their strengths within the team and to grow their understanding of curriculum review. Teachers have begun to access external professional development that is strengthening their use of assessment to inform programme planning. These early developments are helping the new teaching team to provide a programme that is more consistent with the centre philosophy and Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum.

Teachers have developed new ways to encourage parents’ input to the programme. Parents often share feedback about children’s learning in their home languages and teachers transcribe this into English to provide records for children’s portfolios. The next step is for teachers to consider ways to document children’s progress in learning.

A shared understanding of the centre direction is driving improvement. The teaching team and board are developing self-review processes to ensure ongoing improvements for children. There are some good systems in place for regular review. Trustees, managers and teachers have made good progress towards increasing their consultation with parents. Positive relationships and teamwork are supporting centre developments. Trustees are continuing to access professional development to improve their understanding of their governance role and self review.

To further consolidate the and sustain the good progress that has been made, the board and managers could consider ways in which personnel management practices could further promote staff retention and stability. Teachers’ appraisals should be improved to better support teachers to meet their professional goals. The board should also ensure that the supervisor has access to a suitably qualified, professional mentor and appraiser. The centre agrees that documented self review should be enhanced through evaluation and the development of quality indicators.

Key Next Steps

ERO and the board agree that centre priorities for improvement include:

• furthering teacher professional development to enrich the programme to meet children’s learning needs
• accessing professional development to strengthen self-review processes
• reviewing staff appraisals and aligning these documents to the registered teacher criteria.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Wymondley Early Learning 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.

Next ERO Review

When is ERO likely to review the service again?

The next ERO review of Wymondley Early Learning Centre will be in three years.

Dale Bailey

Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern

10 June 2015

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	Otara, Auckland
Ministry of Education profile number	45322
Licence type	Education & Care Service
Licensed under	Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008
Number licensed for	30 children, including up to 0 aged under 2
Service roll	28
Gender composition	Boys 15 Girls 13
Ethnic composition	Māori Samoan Tongan Cook Island Māori Niue	5 11 8 3 1
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80% Based on funding rates	80%
Reported ratios of staff to children	Over 2	1:8	Better than minimum requirements
Review team on site	March 2015
Date of this report	10 June 2015
Most recent ERO report(s)	Education Review	May 2012

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 and Next Review

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:

• Very well placed – The next ERO review in four years
• Well placed – The next ERO review in three years
• Requires further development – The next ERO review within two years
• Not well placed - The next ERO review in consultation with the Ministry of Education

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.