5 Luckens Road, West Harbour, Auckland
View on mapERO’s Akanuku | Assurance Review reports provide information about whether a service meets and maintains regulatory standards. Further information about Akanuku | Assurance Reviews is included at the end of this report.
ERO’s Judgement
Regulatory standards |
ERO’s judgement |
|
Curriculum |
Meeting |
|
Premises and facilities |
Meeting |
|
Health and safety |
Meeting |
|
Governance, management and administration |
Meeting |
Since the onsite visit, the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed non-compliances and is now taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.
Happy Kiddy Castle Early Learning has separate learning spaces for children aged under and over two years. The service has been sold since ERO’s 2019 report. A new owner manages a team of newly appointed teachers. The community is culturally diverse.
A philosophy statement guides the service’s operation. It expresses leaders’ and teachers’ beliefs, values, and attitudes about the provision of early childhood care and education. The service’s curriculum is consistent with Te Whāriki, the New Zealand early childhood curriculum.
Adults providing education and care engage in meaningful, positive interactions with children. A
language-rich environment supports children’s learning.
The service’s curriculum is inclusive, and responsive to children as confident and competent learners. Children’s preferences are respected, and they are involved in decisions about their learning and development.
Next steps include:
growing teachers’ shared understanding of relevant theories and practices in early childhood education and the ways children learn
continuing to develop opportunities for parents to be involved in the service and their child’s learning.
Since the onsite visit, the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:
Ensuring heavy furniture, fixtures, and equipment that could fall or topple and cause serious injury or damage are secured (HS6).
Ensuring adults providing education and care are familiar with relevant emergency drills and carry these out with the children on at least a three-monthly basis (HS8).
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Filivaifale Jason Swann
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki
11 July 2022
|
Early Childhood Service Name |
Happy Kiddy Castle Early Learning |
| Profile Number | 20547 |
| Location | West Harbour, Auckland |
|
Service type |
Education and care service |
|
Number licensed for |
50 children, including up to 14 aged under 2 |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
|
Service roll |
38 |
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori 4, NZ European/Pākehā 10, Chinese 5, Tongan 4, |
|
Review team on site |
June 2022 |
|
Date of this report |
11 July 2022 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
First review of service under new ownership. |
All services are licensed under the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008. The legal requirements for early childhood services also include the Licensing Criteria for Education and Care Services 2008.
Services must meet the standards in the regulations and the requirements of the licensing criteria to gain and maintain a licence to operate.
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 Akanuku | Assurance Review process is determined to be appropriate.
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 Akanuku | 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 Akanuku | 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.
Regulatory standards |
ERO’s judgement |
|
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.
The Little Castle changed ownership in December 2018. The licensee is also the centre manager. She leads a team of five qualified teachers and three unqualified staff. Since the change of ownership, the two storied building has been significantly upgraded and remodelled to create more attractive and inviting indoor and outdoor learning environments.
Teachers provide a curriculum that respects and supports the right of each child to be a competent, confident learner in their own culture. Parents have regular opportunities to be involved in decision-making concerning their child’s learning. The design and layout of the centre includes quiet spaces, areas for physically active play, and spaces for a range of individual and group learning experiences. A philosophy statement and annual plan guide the centre’s operations. Self review helps maintain and improve quality of education and care.
Next steps include:
interactions between kaiako and children to encourage and support children’s critical thinking
strengthening documentation and practices that support a bicultural focus in assessment and evaluation.
The next ERO review is likely to be an Education Review.
Steve Tanner
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki
12 November 2019
|
Early Childhood Service Name |
The Little Castle |
|
Profile Number |
20547 |
|
Location |
West Harbour, Auckland |
|
Service type |
Education and care service |
|
Number licensed for |
45 children, including up to 25 aged under 2 |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80%+ |
|
Reported ratio of staff to children under 2 |
1:4 - Better than regulatory standards |
|
Reported ratio of staff to children over 2 |
1:8 - Better than regulatory standards |
|
Service roll |
47 |
|
Gender composition |
Boys 24 Girls 23 |
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori 7 |
|
Review team on site |
November 2019 |
|
Date of this report |
12 November 2019 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review April 2016 |
All services are licensed under the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008. The legal requirements for early childhood services also include the Licensing Criteria for Education and Care Services 2008.
Services must meet the standards in the regulations and the requirements of the licensing criteria to gain and maintain a licence to operate.
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:
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:
As part of an Assurance Review ERO also gathers and records evidence through: