41 A Stanmore Bay Road, Whangaparaoa
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Whangaparaoa Playcentre operates as a family cooperative as part of the North Shore Playcentre Association. The centre caters for 30 children including 15 up to two years of age and is open for five mixed-age sessions per week, one of which is a nature session with regular excursions outside the centre.
The Playcentre philosophy affirms parents as valued and best educators of their children. Sessions are guided by Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. There is an expectation that te reo and tikanga Māori will be included during sessions. Recently the Association has undertaken to make professional development available, to support centre members in learning and using New Zealand Sign Language.
The North Shore Playcentre Association manages centres’ funding and provides a training programme for parents/whānau to achieve Playcentre qualifications. It also has good systems to support centre members to manage their centres and to provide good quality educational programmes for children. The national Playcentre organisation is currently undergoing restructure. There will be a new regional manager and new centre support roles.
Since the 2013 ERO report centre members have supported each other to undertake Playcentre adult education. While there have been changes in centre membership, whānau have continued to provide good quality programmes for children. Most members are currently enrolled in courses to improve their Playcentre training levels.
This review was part of a cluster of six reviews in the North Shore Playcentre Association.
Caring, respectful relationships between families and children contribute to the sense of community and shared purpose in the centre. There is a strong focus on the emotional and physical wellbeing of adults and children. The centre has a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. All contributions are valued and everyone's point of view is considered through consensus decision making.
Children have a strong sense of belonging in the centre. They have fun and are confident, eager learners who develop friendships with others. Children engage in cooperative play, make choices and can explore and learn at their own pace. Toddlers are encouraged to explore, try things out and make discoveries. Older children have leadership opportunities that include care of their belongings and supporting younger children. Adults engage children in sustained conversations and encourage them to share their thoughts and ideas.They respect and provide for the specific characteristics of infants well.
Whānau plan and implement a curriculum that is focused on children learning through play. They provide an attractive, well-resourced environment. Adults encourage children to be creative and engage in a wide variety of art, dance, and music activities. They support children to learn about literacy, mathematics science and technology concepts in meaningful ways.
Centre members have developed good systems to manage the centre and keep other members involved and informed. They are highly supportive of each other in their role as first educators of their children and eager to engage in Playcentre education. Vibrant wall displays help centre members plan and provide exciting play experiences for children. Experienced members support newer people in understanding processes for assessment, planning and evaluation. Children's assessment portfolios are valued and show their involvement in the programme. Some have stories written in the child's home language.
Centre members work supportively as a cohesive group. They are enthusiastic and motivated to provide good quality education for all children attending. Experienced members strongly support emergent leadership. Members appreciate the very good support they have received from North Shore Playcentre Association. Internal evaluation is established and child focused, and centre members agree they could strengthen this process.
The Association management team have a strong commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and having a bicultural partnership with whānau Māori. This commitment is evident in Association operations and in the support provided for centres. Adults’ and children’s familiarity with te reo and tikanga Māori is encouraged. Centre members look for ways to include te ao Māori throughout the programme. They are keen to continue to strengthen their bicultural practices.
The Association provides effective governance and management structures for the centres. There are good systems in place to monitor the quality of sessions, adult education levels, and health and safety requirements. The management team demonstrates the professional leadership necessary to help the centres respond to change, including the restructure of the national Playcentre organisation.
Key next steps for centre members are to:
evaluate how effectively all children's home languages and cultural identities are celebrated
increase the visibility of learning and continuity in assessment, planning and evaluation documentation
strengthen internal evaluation to more clearly show adults' evaluative thinking, research and outcomes for children.
To help enhance practices in all North Shore Playcentres, new regional support personnel should consider ways to support members to:
increase their bicultural understanding and integration of te reo me ōna tikanga Māori
improve their understanding and use of internal evaluation as a tool to guide and improve practices.
Before the review, the staff and management of Whangaparaoa Playcentre 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.
The next ERO review of Whangaparaoa Playcentre will be in three years.
Violet Tu'uga Stevenson
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)
30 June 2017
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 |
Whangaparaoa, Auckland |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
22057 |
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Licence type |
Playcentre |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
30 children, including up to 15 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
37 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 21 Girls 16 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
3 |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:3 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:3 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
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Review team on site |
May 2017 |
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Date of this report |
30 June 2017 |
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Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
November 2013 |
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|
Education Review |
August 2010 |
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Education Review |
July 2007 |
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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:
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.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Whangaparaoa Playcentre runs as a parent cooperative under the umbrella of the North Shore Playcentre Association. The centre practices are based on playcentre philosophy of families learning and growing together. The centre is open for five sessions per week and caters for children from birth to school age.
Since the 2010 ERO report centre members have reviewed ways to document children’s learning and implemented new curriculum management processes. They have continued to make improvements to the environment, provide engaging programmes for children and support each other to undertake playcentre training.
The North Shore Playcentre Association is the umbrella organisation for twenty one playcentres situated in North Auckland. Although Whangaparaoa is an urban centre, many of these centres are semi-rural. The association manages and distributes centres’ funding and provides a training programme for parents/whānau to achieve playcentre qualifications. It also has good systems to support centre members to manage the playcentres and to provide educational programmes for children. The association is currently reviewing many aspects of its operations to help reduce the administrative workload for its members.
This review was part of a cluster of 12 playcentre reviews in the North Shore Playcentre Association.
The association management team takes responsibility for specific tasks relating to the function of the association. They are committed to and enthusiastic about their involvement in playcentre and actively foster emergent leadership to help sustain the association. The management team demonstrates the professional leadership necessary to help the association respond to change, make decisions and manage issues as they arise. The North Shore Playcentre Association provides effective support to help this playcentre remain well placed to provide positive learning outcomes for children.
A bicultural partnership with Māori whānau is evident in the association’s operations. The management team have a strong commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and to building both adults’ and children’s familiarity with te reo and tikanga Māori. Centre members have given priority to using te reo and tikanga Māori in everyday interactions. They are keen to continue to enhance their bicultural practices.
Children are confident, have a strong sense of belonging and ownership in the centre. They show care and respect for others, are eager to learn and enjoy their time at the playcentre. Centre members encourage them to make choices about their play and engagement in activities. Children’s opportunities to learn through play are effectively supported in this well resourced and carefully presented environment. Their creativity, imagination and curiosity are nurtured with sensitive adult support.
Centre members provide a good quality programme based on Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, and playcentre philosophy. They integrate literacy, numeracy and science in meaningful ways and regularly review the programme to ensure they meet the needs of all age groups of children, particularly infants and older children. Centre members carefully consider the needs of families and children as children transition to school. They have a good liaison with local schools and make sure children are eager and well prepared for school and lifelong learning.
High levels of interest and involvement in Playcentre training reflect centre members commitment to taking an active role in their children’s education and the operation of the centre. Centre members have worked collaboratively to develop documented assessment, planning and evaluation that show how children’s strengths and interests inform the programme.
Warm trusting relationships between families contribute to a strong sense of community evident in the high level of mutual support between adults in the supporting adults in parenting and education of their children. Experienced centre members share their knowledge and expertise with new parents. All members’ contributions are valued and emergent leadership is encouraged. Well established systems of self review support the proactive approach parents have for continuous improvement.
The Association management team are aware that aspects of self review could be more robust and better documented.
Centre members agree they could continue to:
Before the review, the staff and management of Whangaparaoa Playcentre 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:
All early childhood services are required to promote children's health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.
When is ERO likely to review the service again?
The next ERO review of Whangaparaoa Playcentre will be in three years.
Dale Bailey
National Manager Review Services Northern Region
15 November 2013
|
Location |
Whangaparaoa, Auckland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
22057 |
||
|
Licence type |
Playcentre |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
30 children, including up to 15 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
29 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls 16 Boys 13 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori NZ European/Pākehā Chinese |
3 24 2 |
|
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:3 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:3 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
August 2013 |
||
|
Date of this report |
15 November 2013 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
August 2010 |
|
|
Education Review |
July 2007 |
||
|
Education Review |
June 2004 |
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:
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.