31 Crown Crescent, Otara, Auckland
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Yendarra Kindergarten is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
Yendarra Kindergarten is licensed for up to 30 children over two years of age. It offers seven-hour days and serves a culturally diverse community. Most of the children enrolled have Pacific heritage.
The kindergarten is staffed by a newly appointed head teacher and two other registered teachers, a teaching assistant, teacher aide and administrator. Teachers have sustained many of the good teaching practices noted in ERO’s 2015 report.
The kindergarten philosophy is based on manaakitanga and whanaungatanga. Teachers aim to provide an environment that encourages children to learn, create, invent, construct and problem solve. They also encourage children to become risk takers, independent communicators and socially confident.
The programme is underpinned by Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, and a commitment to the Treaty of Waitangi. The indoor and outdoor learning environments have had significant improvements since the 2015 ERO report.
The kindergarten is part of the Auckland Kindergarten Association (AKA), which provides leadership, a framework of policies and operational guidelines, support personnel and programmes of professional learning and development for staff. A new AKA structure and new leadership roles have been established, and new personnel appointed.
This review was part of a cluster of eight reviews in the Auckland Kindergarten Association.
Children show a strong sense of ownership, responsibility and belonging in the kindergarten. They enjoy opportunities to explore, make choices and share their achievements with others. Children are accepting and respectful towards others of differing backgrounds, ages and abilities. They are confident and eager learners.
Children learn in a vibrant and welcoming environment that fosters their curiosity, responds to their interests and supports their sustained engagement in play. Resources, displays and equipment reflect the cultures of the children and community. Teachers ensure children have many opportunities to explore, learn about the natural world and be physically active in the spacious outdoor area. Children have fun, make choices and learn though intentional play.
Curriculum planning and implementation includes children's interests, strengths and ideas. Te reo and tikanga Māori are included in meaningful ways. Pacific children and families are well supported, and their languages and cultures are respected. Children engage in multi-cultural celebrations that include art, music and dance.
Teachers are culturally responsive. They foster equity and inclusion within the kindergarten in sensitive, caring ways. They have a strong focus on promoting children’s physical and emotional wellbeing. Children are well supported as they transition to school.
Documentation shows how teachers include children’s ideas and parents' aspirations in the programme. Children’s portfolios are good records of their engagement in the programme. Teachers are aware that they could increase their focus on planning for individual children and make the depth and continuity of their learning more visible over time.
Teachers know children well and encourage them to share their thoughts and ideas. They engage children in sustained conversations, sometimes using their home languages. Teachers’ caring and supportive interactions help children to use literacy, mathematics, science and technology concepts in meaningful ways. They encourage problem-solving, investigation and independence. Children are becoming self-managing learners.
Teachers have respectful and reciprocal relationships with children and their families and are building strong connections with the local community. They encourage parent and whānau engagement in their children's learning and invite them to share their knowledge and skills.
Kindergarten operations are guided by a comprehensive strategic plan and a shared vision, linked to the AKA’s strategic goals. The head teacher provides supportive professional leadership and encourages all staff to have leadership roles. Collaborative working relationships contribute to the developing team culture of trust, respect and ongoing improvement.
The AKA continues to provide support for kindergartens to strengthen bicultural practices. In many instances this has made a significant difference to teachers' confidence and capability. Specialist support impacts positively on teachers’ inclusion of children with additional learning needs. Priority is being given to re-establishing and supporting Parent Whānau Groups in all kindergartens. The strategic direction being established by new AKA leaders is providing a positive framework for kindergartens’ annual planning.
The teaching team has identified some useful next steps. These include:
Strengthening their assessment of children's learning, programme planning and evaluation
strengthening the documentation of internal evaluation to more clearly show teachers' evaluative thinking and outcomes for children, and to guide kindergarten developments.
continuing to enrich bicultural practices in the kindergarten.
It would be useful for AKA managers to:
clarify new roles and engage teaching teams in the implementation of the new structure across the AKA
increase the rigour of monitoring and quality assurance, and strengthen Internal evaluation at all levels of the AKA
Identify and implement strategies for achieving greater consistency of the practices that are strengths in some kindergartens, across the AKA.
Before the review, the staff and management of Yendarra 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:
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 - Te Tai Raki
13 February 2020
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.
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Location |
Otara, Auckland |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
5114 |
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Licence type |
Free Kindergarten |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
30 children, aged over 2 years of age |
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Service roll |
27 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 16 Girls 11 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori NZ European/Pākehā Samoan Cook Island Māori Tongan |
2 1 10 9 5 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% + |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
October 2019 |
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Date of this report |
13 February 2020 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
May 2015 |
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Education Review |
March 2012 |
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Education Review |
February 2009 |
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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.
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.
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.
How well placed is Yendarra Kindergarten to promote positive learning outcomes for children?
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Yendarra Kindergarten serves a multicultural community in Otara, Auckland. The Kindergarten Day Model of six hour days is provided. Up to 30 children from two to five years of age can attend daily. The physical environment provides children with a wide range of choices, and celebrates children’s cultures and interests.
The kindergarten team has three registered teachers, including the head teacher, two support staff, and an administrator. Staff have well-established relationships with families and the community. They are developing connections with the Ngāi Tai kaumatua and with leaders from Pacific communities.
Teachers are proactively working to increase levels of attendance by developing clearer communication processes with whānau at the time of enrolment. Their intention is to help whānau understand the importance of early childhood education as a foundation for children’s life-long learning. Good use of Ministry of Education Equity Funding and successful applications for community grants are supporting children’s attendance and engagement in the kindergarten programmes.
ERO’s 2012 report highlighted positive features, including welcoming and inclusive relationships and children who were capably engaged in the programme. These positive features continue to be evident. The report also recommended that teachers could increase opportunities for literacy and numeracy learning, and extend children’s thinking and problem solving skills. Teachers have responded positively to these areas for development by engaging in professional development.
The kindergarten operates as part of the Auckland Kindergarten Association (AKA), which provides considered leadership, a management framework, support personnel and a programme of professional development for teachers.
After extensive review, consultation and development, the AKA has recently launched a new 10-year strategic direction. Its four strategic pillars or objectives relate to educational excellence, core organisational processes, community engagement and a future focus. These objectives are intended to guide the AKA and its kindergartens in their ongoing development. The AKA’s approach to rolling out a substantial change in its organisational structure has been carefully considered.
New AKA roles have been established to provide more targeted support for kindergarten operations, curriculum and development. Professional development is planned to support kindergarten head teachers in their leadership and management roles. A Quality Improvement Process (QIP) is being developed to monitor quality in kindergartens and contribute to self review and ongoing improvement.
This review is one of a cluster of ten reviews in the Auckland Kindergarten Association.
The learning programme has a special sense of wairua and respect for the mana of children and their whānau. It promotes children’s sense of cultural belonging and identity. Children and their whānau are greeted in their home languages. A strong foundation is provided for Māori and Pacific children to experience regular reinforcement as competent and capable learners.
Children actively plan for their own learning and assess the progress they make. They select freely from a wide variety of high quality resources in thoughtfully presented play areas. Children work alongside teachers, identify topics that they want to learn more about, and use computer tools and resource books to gather in-depth information of interest.
Teachers respect children’s capability and independence. They listen to children and extend conversations to promote children’s language development and thinking skills. A big focus has been on supporting English language learning for children with other home languages.
Literacy, mathematics and natural science learning are included well in the programme. A major focus has been on gardening and healthy eating. The programme and environment are being modified to cater for the learning needs and attributes of younger as well as older children.
The kindergarten’s environment reflects teachers’ commitment to bicultural practice. The history and tupuna of mana whenua are featured along with many other resources and taonga. The kindergarten has a strong sense of identity as part of the Ngāi Tai rohe. These positive practices provide a welcoming environment for Māori whānau and help all children to become familiar with the bicultural heritage of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Effective planning, assessment and evaluation processes support and extend individual children’s interests. Teachers value and respond to children’s ideas, which are recorded in attractively presented assessment portfolios and curriculum programme displays. Portfolios provide good evidence of children’s individual progression of learning over time.
Teachers maintain close partnerships with parents/whānau, helping them to support their children’s learning. Parents talk about their aspirations for their children’s education and about their children’s learning experiences beyond the kindergarten. This information is used to extend children’s learning.
Well-considered processes support children’s transitions into the kindergarten and then on to school. Staff are working together with the adjoining primary school to support transitions and encourage early childhood attendance.
Teachers continually reflect on the impact of their teaching on improving outcomes for children. The AKA is supporting the head teacher in her role to make operational tasks and responsibilities more manageable. Further sharing of tasks would be useful in building the professional skills and capacity of the teaching team.
AKA systems for monitoring and promoting improvement in kindergarten operations are well established. A variety of useful systems and processes contribute to the teaching team’s increasingly robust self review. This self review is both responsive and planned, is supported by research into best practice, and reflects teachers’ focus on continual professional development. It often results in improvements. It is timely now for teachers to raise the level of critique of their teaching practice, and more specifically identify outcomes for children as part of their self review.
Teachers and ERO agree that next steps could include:
refining self-review processes
building leadership capacity in the teaching team
strengthening appraisal processes.
Before the review, the staff and management of Yendarra 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.
The next ERO review of Yendarra Kindergarten will be in four years.
Dale Bailey Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern
29 May 2015
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 |
Otara, Auckland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
5114 |
||
|
Licence type |
Free Kindergarten |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
30 children over 2 years of age |
||
|
Service roll |
40 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys 22 Girls 18 |
||
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Ethnic composition |
Māori Samoan Cook Island Māori Niue Tongan |
10 16 11 2 1 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80% Based on funding rates |
80% |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
|||
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Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
March 2015 |
||
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Date of this report |
29 May 2015 |
||
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Most recent ERO report(s) These are available at www.ero.govt.nz |
Education Review |
March 2012 |
|
|
Education Review |
February 2009 |
||
|
Education Review |
March 2006 |
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.
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.