69 Hutchinson Road, Bucklands Beach, 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.
Regulatory standards |
ERO’s judgement |
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Curriculum |
Meeting |
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Premises and facilities |
Meeting |
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Health and safety |
Meeting |
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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.
This is the first ERO review of Lighthouse Preschool since the new owners bought the service in 2018. Governance is provided by two owner/directors who work alongside a centre manager to support centre operations. Two age-based areas cater for children from infants to school age.
Adults providing education and care engage in meaningful, positive interactions to enhance children’s learning and nurture reciprocal relationships. Regular opportunities are provided for parents to be involved in decision making concerning their child’s learning.
The design and layout of the premises support the provision of different types of indoor and outdoor learning experiences. The service curriculum provides children with a range of experiences and opportunities to enhance and extend their learning and development - both indoors and outdoors, individually and in groups. An annual plan guides the service’s operation.
Since the onsite review the service has addressed the following non-compliance:
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Steve Tanner
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki
28 May 2021
| Early Childhood Service Name | Lighthouse Preschool |
| Profile Number | 25292 |
| Location | Bucklands Beach, Auckland |
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Service type |
Education and care service |
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Number licensed for |
55 children, including up to 15 aged under 2. |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80%+ |
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Service roll |
62 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori 3 |
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Review team on site |
April 2021 |
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Date of this report |
28 May 2021 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, August 2017 |
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 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:
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO also gathers and records evidence through:
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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.
Lighthouse Preschool's licence has veryrecently been extended to cater for 55 children. The majority of children enrolled are Pākehā and there is a large group of children of Chinese heritage. Staff reflect some of the cultures of families and children attending the service.
The service has recently had a new owner, supervisor and teaching team. Most teachers are certificated and three are provisionally certificated. A cook provides meals daily and an external administrator supports service operations.
Teachers make use of the spacious indoor and outdoor environment to provide planned and free play activities for children. There are separate indoor and outdoor areas provided for infants and toddlers.
The service philosophy (developed by the previous teaching team) is underpinned by the principles and theories of Reggio Emilia, Montessori and Te Whāriki the New Zealand Early Childhood curriculum.
The areas for improvement identified in the 2014 ERO evaluation are ongoing priorities for the service. These include focussing on children's strengths and interests in programme planning and assessment, and strengthening internal evaluation to inform strategic planning.
Children, including infants and toddlers, are well cared for and each has a primary caregiver. Children are encouraged to make choices in their play and select from activities teachers prepare for them. Strategies for enhancing the skills, knowledge and learning dispositions of individual children are currently being investigated by teachers. Teachers have participated in useful professional learning to build their capacity to plan and assess individual children's progress.
Building positive relationships with families is something teachers continue to focus upon. They encourage parents to contribute to internal evaluation for ongoing service improvement. Teachers are also developing closer working relationships with local schools and a local kindergarten. In addition, they are using a variety of excursions as a way to extend the service's and children's community connections.
Children are being supported to learn about, and build their knowledge of New Zealand's bicultural heritage. Te reo Māori is used increasingly during mat times and in learning stories as teachers' knowledge and confidence with te reo Māori grows. Some specific tikanga Māori is also practiced during the day. Children are encouraged to engage in tuakana/teina relationships where older and more expert children lead and support their younger peers. Strategies that support Māori children to succeed as Māori are beginning to be developed.
Children's diverse cultures are valued and their home languages are encouraged. Children have many opportunities to participate in a variety of cultural celebrations, including events like the National Language Week promotions. Teachers could consider additional ways to promote different Pacific languages and cultures.
The new supervisor has the capacity to grow her leadership skills and build the teaching practices of her team. External professional development could support her leadership growth. She and the teaching team are focused on improvement. They are very reflective about their practice and are building internal evaluation skills.
The service curriculum includes opportunities for children to engage in experiences that interest them as well as teacher led experiences. The programme promotes physical health and wellbeing. It provides increasing opportunities for children to extend their literacy, mathematical and science skills and knowledge within the context of play. Teachers are very responsive to the requirements of children with diverse needs.
Teachers are currently building their capability to assess and progress individual children's learning through the use of learning stories and newly implemented individual plans. Better documenting how they respond to children's specific interests, learning and dispositions over time would be a timely next step.
The owner has established governance strategies that have the potential to help sustain good practices. These include a policy framework that is updated as needed. The newly implemented strategic and annual plans, and an appropriate budget, guide the direction of the service. The owner agrees that it could be useful to align the strategic plan with internal evaluation to identify the impact of ongoing improvement.
The centre owner and supervisor agree that key next steps include:
Teachers should also evaluate how well the formal extension programme for four-year-olds and the transition to school policy align with the aims and principles of Te Whāriki.
Before the review, the staff and management of Lighthouse 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:
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 Lighthouse Preschool will be in three years.
Violet Tu’uga Stevenson
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)
24 August 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 |
Howick, Auckland |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
25292 |
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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 |
55 children, including up to 15 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
45 |
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Gender composition |
27 Girls, 18 Boys |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
3 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
80% + |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:3 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Over 2 |
1:8 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
July 2017 |
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Date of this report |
24 August 2017 |
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Most recent ERO report(s)
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Education Review |
April 2014 |
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Education Review |
February 2011 |
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Education Review |
October 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.