Akatea | Governing Organisation Evaluations

This section provides information on how governing organisations should prepare for an evaluation.    

As a governing organisation you will need to demonstrate what you know about how well your organisational conditions support your services to promote equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners.

 

Tools to support you

To help you in your improvement planning, we have developed the ECE Improvement Framework (teacher-led services). (PDF, 100.42 KB)

The framework is focused on what will make the most difference for children. It provides a clear distinction between foundational  practices and practice excellence. It also includes well-defined expectations for demonstrable practice and will assist you to set priorities for your own quality improvement planning.

The framework draws on Te Ara Poutama - Indicators of quality for early childhood education: what matters most, and Te Whāriki. It is underpinned by Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

 

Tools we use in our evaluation

We use indicators of quality and an improvement framework to evaluate your governing organisation and your services’ performance:

 

What we focus on

At a governing organisation level ERO,

  • looks at systems, processes and practices for managing and maintaining compliance with the regulatory standards 
  • looks at the organisation’s strategic initiatives and priorities and what you know about your services and communities 
  • meets with those responsible for governance and management, and personnel who support services to improve teaching and learning. 

At service level, ERO visits a sample of services to verify and validate what the organisation knows about: 

  • the quality of each service, particularly curriculum and their identified improvement planning 
  • important aspects of compliance that have a potentially high impact to children’s health and safety 
  • children’s learning through the implementation of Te Whāriki and the service’s curriculum. 

As part of the process, if applicable, ERO will connect with service leaders, kaiako, parents and whānau. 

 

Regulatory standards and licensing criteria
 

If the governing organisation’s systems, processes and practices are not meeting the regulatory standards and associated licensing criteria, ERO’s evaluation focus and reporting will be on improving the organisational accountability systems, process and procedures.  This is dependent on the scale, scope and nature (risks to children) of the areas of concern identified. Where ERO identifies systemic failure at the governing organisation it will undertake an Akanuku | Assurance Review. 

ERO may undertake an Akanuku | Assurance Review in one or more services in the sample. ERO will report its findings for the individual service/s, and an overview of these findings will also be in the governing organisation’s report. 

 

ERO will notify the governing organisation of an upcoming review 
 

Look out for an email notification with:   

  • the timing of the evaluation and the sample of services that ERO will visit as part of the evaluation
  • the list of documents we ask you to share with us and the date to send them to the ERO team
  • the list of resources to help your organisation prepare for the review.            

Governing organisation documents:   

Service level documents: 

Please note: If your organisation includes a mix of home-based and centre-based services there are separate letters to download. 

The following information would also be useful for the ERO team to read prior to the review: 

  • your overarching philosophy, mission and/or vision statement 
  • any current plans showing strategic priorities and ways in which you are progressing these 
  • any reporting from the last year in relation to your strategic priorities 
  • an example of recent organisation level internal evaluation that includes the outcomes of the process 
  • the most recent reporting on quality and improvement planning from regional/area managers. 
Published: 15 Dec 2022
Audience:
Education