80-82 Wyllie Road, Papatoetoe, Auckland
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Fatugatiti Preschool is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Fatugatiti Preschool is a Christian-based centre located on the grounds of the Manukau Pacific Island Presbyterian Church. The centre provides a bilingual curriculum that supports Samoan language and culture. The service's values include respect and service within an environment of inclusion and collaboration. Most of the children attending have Samoan heritage and a small number are Māori.
The centre is administered by a governance board that includes church members as well as staff and parent representatives. The minister of the church is the patron of the board. A centre manager oversees daily operations and works closely with a recently appointed team leader. The three qualified teachers hold provisional practising certificates. There are also two unqualified staff and an administrator.
ERO's 2016 report noted significant improvements in the leadership, management and governance of the centre. These improvements have been sustained.
Children are confident and respectful in their interactions with others. They make choices about their learning, demonstrating independence and self-management skills. Some children speak gagana Samoa well. Older children are encouraged to support and care for younger children.
Infants and toddlers have opportunities for mixed-age play and for quieter exploration in a separate indoor space. Professional development for teachers could help them to develop a shared understanding about ways to enhance the curriculum and learning environment for these younger children.
Teachers promote a culture of service and respect. Their interactions with children are positive and caring. Te reo and tikanga Māori are integrated into routines and group experiences. The team leader models effective teaching practices. The teachers are focused on improving their professional knowledge and skills.
Teachers plan activities to foster children's participation in the curriculum. There is a deliberate focus on promoting literacy and numeracy learning. Teachers encourage parents to share their children's learning goals and to talk with teachers about the progress towards these goals. They could now strengthen how they respond to children's spontaneous interests to maximise learning opportunities. To support curriculum planning based on children's interests, teachers could use information from children's assessment records and parent feedback.
An internal evaluation process helps teachers to make improvements to routines and resources. Teachers’ appraisal processes support staff to identify meaningful goals. Robust induction and mentoring systems help provisionally certificated teachers to develop their teaching practices.
The governance board provides very good support for the manager and teachers. They attend professional development and use their learning well to carry out their roles and responsibilities. A strategic plan includes relevant education and operational improvement goals. The board and teachers could now evaluate how well the strategic goals result in positive changes in children's learning. They could also add future goals to the strategic plan annually, to maintain a long-term focus on improvement.
Key next steps are for teachers to:
improve how they recognise and respond to children's interests and learning dispositions in spontaneous situations, and in assessment and planning documentation
use research and theory to strengthen the transition to school programme and ensure it better reflects the intent of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum
evaluate the impact of the curriculum and improvements in teaching practice on outcomes for children.
Before the review, the staff and management of Fatugatiti 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:
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.
To improve current practices, the board and centre manager should ensure that health and safety systems are implemented consistently.
Since the on-site phase of this ERO review, managers have provided evidence that shows they have made changes to ensure that they meet legal requirements in relation to:
Steve Tanner
Director Review and Improvement Services Northern
Northern Region
25 November 2019
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 |
Papatoetoe, Auckland |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
10128 |
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Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
50 children, including up to 13 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
34 |
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Gender composition |
Girls 18 Boys 16 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
4 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
50-79% |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:4 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
September 2019 |
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Date of this report |
25 November 2019 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
May 2016 |
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Education Review |
May 2014 |
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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.
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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.
Fatugatiti Preschool is a Christian based, total immersion Samoan aoga amata in Papatoetoe, Auckland. It provides care and education for children from three months to five years of age. The aoga is licensed for 47 children, including 10 children up to the age of two years. It has a growing roll and is located on the grounds of the Manukau Pacific Island Presbyterian Church.
The aoga is administered by a board of governors consisting of church members and parent and staff representatives. The minister of the church is the patron of the board. A centre manager oversees the daily operations of the aoga, and works closely with the education specialist teacher who provides leadership and guidance on curriculum development, delivery and associated documentation.
Findings of ERO's past four reviews indicated that there was not sufficient progress made to improve the quality of education and care provided for children. However, since ERO's 2013 report the board and staff have made significant progress in addressing the recommendations from previous reports. Matters of urgency included improving the effectiveness of teaching practice, governance, management, self review, and staff appraisal and induction systems.
The significant changes that are noted in this report acknowledge the good leadership, management and governance of the aoga. This has provided teachers with clear direction and the opportunity to improve the programme to bring about more positive outcomes for children.
Children enjoy a sense of belonging to the aoga. They are confident and enjoy learning through play. They show respect for each other and for the environment as they make choices about their learning. They speak gagana Samoa confidently and demonstrate pride in being Samoan. Children form good friendships and older children are encouraged to support and care for younger toddlers.
Children understand the routines well and are learning independence by using their self-help skills. They enjoy the many opportunities for physical exercise and excursions. Children demonstrate a developing understanding of sustainable practices and heathy eating practices.
The environment is welcoming and readily accessible resources help children to manage their own learning. It reflects the Samoan culture and promotes the centre's philosophy of developing children's language, culture and identity. Teachers display children's work with care and children enjoy revisiting the displays. The spacious indoor and outdoor environment provides children with good choices of play areas.
Teachers work well together to promote the values of the aoga. They are all fluent in gagana Samoa and enjoy supporting children in their play. The curriculum programme promotes the principles ofTe Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum.
Many of the staff are long serving and have built good relationships with families and parents. There are good leadership opportunities for staff. They are involved in regular professional conversations and are supported to implement the aoga’s philosophy. Teachers’ appraisal processes are useful and provide opportunities for staff to identify meaningful goals. Leaders encourage teachers to attend professional development and to consolidate their skills and expertise.
The education specialist teacher leads the development of the aoga's curriculum implementation, delivery and assessment. Through modelling good practice and working alongside staff to share their practice, teachers have raised their expectations for teaching and learning. A rigorous self-review process supports teachers to make improvements to the programme and their practice. They work collaboratively to make decisions and evaluate the programme for children.
Parents have opportunities to contribute to the programme and to participate in reviews of aoga systems and practices. They are invited to suggest changes and talk to teachers about their child's learning progress. Newsletters and social media forums keep parents informed of the aoga's activities, teachers' expectations for children's education and how parents can support their child at home.
The board and management team have identified appropriate next steps for the aoga. These include continuing to:
improve and embed good practice and current changes to procedures and practices.
use current research to inform ongoing development of teaching and learning practice
strengthen partnerships with parents to promote shared understandings about early childhood education and the curriculum.
Before the review, the staff and management of Fatugatiti 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.
The next ERO review of Fatugatiti Preschool will be in three years.
Graham Randell
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern
5 May 2016
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 |
Papatoetoe, Auckland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
10128 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
47 children, including up to 10 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
30 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys 15 Girls 15 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Samoan |
1 29 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
80% + |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:5 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
February 2016 |
||
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Date of this report |
5 May 2016 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
May 2014 |
|
|
Supplementary Review |
January 2013 |
||
|
Supplementary Review |
August 2011 |
||
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.