197 Whitford Road, Whitford
View on mapAkarangi | Quality Evaluation evaluates the extent to which this early childhood service has the learning and organisational conditions to support equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners. Te Ara Poutama- indicators of quality for early childhood education: what matters most (PDF 3.01MB) are the basis for making judgements about the effectiveness of the service in achieving equity and excellence for all learners. The Akarangi Quality Evaluation Judgement Rubric (PDF 91.30KB) derived from the indicators, is used to inform the ERO’s judgements about this service’s performance in promoting equity and excellence.
ERO’s judgements for Penguins School of Early Learning are as follows:
Outcome Indicators |
ERO’s judgement |
|
What the service knows about outcomes for learners |
Whakaū Embedding |
Ngā Akatoro Domains |
ERO’s judgement |
|
He Whāriki Motuhake The learner and their learning |
Whāngai Establishing |
|
Whakangungu Ngaio Collaborative professional learning builds knowledge and capability |
Whakaū Embedding |
|
Ngā Aronga Whai Hua Evaluation for improvement |
Whakaū Embedding |
|
Kaihautū Leaders foster collaboration and improvement |
Whakaū Embedding |
|
Te Whakaruruhau Stewardship through effective governance and management |
Whāngai Establishing |
Penguins School of Early Learning is owned by ACG Education Limited. A newly appointed and experienced centre manager and operations manager lead a large team of qualified teachers and support staff. The service is ethnically diverse with a high percentage of children with Chinese heritage enrolled.
Children and their families are warmly welcomed into the service. They experience familiar routines that support their settling-in and foster a sense of belonging. Children have access to indoor and outdoor spaces that are well resourced to facilitate their play and learning preferences.
Children have opportunities to learn and hear te reo Māori through waiata and kupu. Children with Pacific heritage participate in and celebrate special events that support their cultural identities. Infants and toddlers are nurtured, well cared for, and benefit from one-to-one relationships with their teachers. A peaceful learning environment supports children’s exploration, developing independence, and self-help skills.
Teachers know children well and have established positive relationships with them and their families. They are inclusive and accepting of all children. Strategies are being implemented to support children with additional learning needs. Teachers could promote children’s languages, cultures, and identities more strongly through centre documentation.
Parents, who spoke with ERO, talked about the positive and respectful relationships they have with teachers. They expressed appreciation for how approachable teachers are, how well they support their aspirations for their children’s learning, and for the nurturing care their children receive.
The operations and centre managers work well together to support teachers’ developing skills and knowledge. Relational trust is evident across the staff team. Teachers access a variety of professional learning opportunities that inform their practice and enable them to further promote children’s learning and development.
Internal evaluation follows an established process that is improvement focused and linked to promoting positive outcomes for children. Leaders and teachers could work towards engaging parents and whānau more in the service’s internal evaluation processes.
Penguins School of Early Learning will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:
Before the review, the staff and management of Penguins School of Early Learning 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.
Since the onsite visit the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:
Phil Cowie
Acting Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki
14 October 2020
| Early Childhood Service Name | Penguins School of Early Learning |
| Profile Number | 25149 |
| Location | Howick, Auckland |
|
Service type |
Education and care service |
|
Number licensed for |
150 children, including up to 25 aged under 2 |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80%+ |
|
Service roll |
162 |
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori 4%, NZ European/Pākehā 16%, Chinese 65%, Indian 5%, other Asian 4%, other ethnic groups 6% |
|
Review team on site |
July 2021 |
|
Date of this report |
14 October 2020 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, May 2018; Education Review, August 2014 |
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Penguins School of Early Learning is one of four early learning services owned by ACG Education. The service is licensed for 150 children, including up to 25 aged under two years. Nearly half of the children enrolled are Chinese and a small number have Māori or Pacific heritage.
The centre's philosophy statement highlights guiding principles that include kind and caring interactions, and the importance of respectful relationships. It notes that children's strengths and interests will be enriched and extended within a play-based programme.
Since the 2014 ERO review, the service has undergone several changes. A new centre director was appointed in May 2017 just before ACG Education acquired the service. Several new team leaders and staff members have recently been appointed.
There are seven rooms for age-related groups of children in the large, purpose built premises. Most rooms provide access to outdoor areas, which allow for some mixed-age play opportunities. A dedicated team of cooks provides meals for children.
ACG Education managers support the centre director in the overall management and leadership of the service. Team leaders have oversight of their teaching teams and the daily running of each room. Most teachers are qualified.
The 2014 ERO report highlights positive relationships, well planned learning programmes and high quality care and learning experiences for infants and toddlers. These strengths continue to feature. The report also identified areas for improvement, including self review, appraisal, programme planning and assessment. Good progress has been made in these areas.
Children are happy and confident, and interact well with their peers and teachers. Teachers' interactions with children and families are warm and respectful. Children's social and emotional competence is promoted well and families are valued members of the centre.
The education and care provisions for infants and toddlers are very good. Teaching approaches are strongly influenced by Magda Gerber philosophical approaches. Teachers are highly responsive to children's temperaments, preferences and interests. They maintain calm interactions and provide younger children with space and time to lead their learning. Teachers value and respect play as a means for learning.
Children over two years of age participate in a semi-structured programme that allows them to freely explore the environment. They confidently make decisions about their own play. The well-resourced learning environment provides children with easy access to a variety of appropriate areas of play. Children who have additional learning needs receive very good support.
Leaders provide useful guidelines to help teachers plan well. Planning, assessment and evaluation processes respond successfully to children's individual strengths, dispositions and interests. Teachers view children as capable and competent learners. Older children are involved in planning their programmes.
Teachers work well together to support children’s play. They recognise children's developmental stages and respond to their interests appropriately. They value children's ideas and contributions to their learning. Well considered processes support children's transitions into and within the service.
Cultural events such as Matariki, Chinese New Year and Diwali are celebrated with children and families. Centre leaders are committed to enhancing the service's bicultural curriculum. They acknowledge how children's different cultures could be better reflected in learning records. Leaders also identify that improving teachers' use of te reo Māori with children is a next step.
Staff encourage parents and whānau to take an active role at the centre. They offer a variety of useful opportunities to communicate with parents and value their input. Online learning records give families ready access to information about their children’s learning.
The centre director and managers are reviewing systems, practices and processes. New leaders are well supported to build their leadership skills. Mentoring processes are in place to help extend teacher capability. The director is considering how she can more regularly participate in professional networks as a service leader.
The service has a well-documented set of policies. Good internal evaluation processes are systematic and help guide aspects of centre improvement. A new appraisal process has been developed but is yet to be fully implemented. Managers acknowledge that having a deeper understanding of the Ministry of Education's strategy Tātaiako: Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners, will help meet Education Council requirements.
Key next steps for ongoing improvement are:
Before the review, the staff and management of Penguins School of Early Learning 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 Penguins School of Early Learning will be in three years.
Julie Foley
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)
Te Tai Raki - Northern Region
21 May 2018
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 |
Howick, Auckland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
25149 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
150 children, including up to 28 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
162 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys 57% Girls 43% |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori |
2% |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
80% + |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:4 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:9 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
February 2018 |
||
|
Date of this report |
21 May 2018 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
August 2014 |
|
|
Education Review |
May 2011 |
||
|
Education Review |
March 2008 |
||
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.