Lighthouse Preschool

Education institution number:
25292
Service type:
Education and Care Service
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
59
Telephone:
Address:

69 Hutchinson Road, Bucklands Beach, Auckland

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Lighthouse Preschool

1 ERO’s Judgements

Akarangi | 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 are the basis for making judgements about the effectiveness of the service in achieving equity and excellence for all learners. Judgements are made in relation to the Outcomes Indicators, Learning and Organisational Conditions. The Evaluation Judgement Rubric derived from the indicators, is used to inform ERO’s judgements about this service’s performance in promoting equity and excellence. 

ERO’s judgements for Lighthouse Preschool are as follows:

Outcome Indicators

(What the service knows about outcomes for learners)

Whakaū Embedding

Ngā Akatoro Domains

 

Learning Conditions

Organisational Conditions

Whakaū Embedding

Whāngai Establishing

2 Context of the Service

Lighthouse Preschool is privately owned. Governance and management are provided by two centre owners who work alongside a qualified centre manager. Staff include 11 registered teachers, five unqualified teachers and a cook. The centre philosophy values positive relationships with families and the community. 

3 Summary of findings

Children experience a calm and unhurried environment in which they are treated with respect, dignity and valued as capable young learners. Teachers and leaders are aware of, and responsive to, infants’ and toddlers’ needs, preferences and capabilities. Teachers provide good support for children’s language development through meaningful conversations. 

Teachers provide a play-based, inclusive curriculum, underpinned by Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. Learning environments support children to have fun, explore, and make discoveries. Children are encouraged to be kind, caring, and accepting of differences. They demonstrate a strong sense of belonging.

Teachers include te reo Māori and tikanga Māori into the daily routine. They are working towards strengthening Te Tiriti based practice and making individual children’s languages and cultures more visible in the environment and documentation. 

Children’s planning and assessment records identify their strengths, interests, and dispositions. Parents are provided with opportunities to contribute to their children’s learning. Teachers could strengthen programme evaluation by recording the effectiveness of teaching strategies in relation to improved learning outcomes for children. 

A robust and regularly reviewed framework of policies and procedures guides teaching practice and centre operations. Relational trust between leaders and teachers supports effective team collaboration. Internal evaluation has a focus on ongoing improvement in teaching practices and the benefits to children. Leaders and teachers now need to look at how they are recording the monitoring and evaluation of improvements, and how these have impacted the outcomes for learners.

4 Improvement actions

Lighthouse Preschool will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:

  • Strengthen the extent to which information documented about children’s learning reflects their identity, languages and cultures.
  • Continue to build knowledge and capability of effective internal evaluation across the team, with a focus on monitoring how changes have impacted on outcomes for learners over time.

5 Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Lighthouse Preschool completed an ERO 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; safety checking; teacher registration; ratios)
  • relevant evacuation procedures and practices.

All early childhood services are required to promote children's health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.

Patricia Davey
Director of Early Childhood Education (ECE)

5 February 2024

About the Early Childhood Service 

Early Childhood Service NameLighthouse Preschool
Profile Number 25292
LocationBucklands Beach, Auckland
Service type Education and care service
Number licensed for 55 children, including up to 15 under 2
Percentage of qualified teachers80-99%
Service roll61
Review team on siteSeptember 2023 
Date of this report5 February 2024
Most recent ERO report(s)Akanuku | Assurance Review, May 2021; Education Review, August 2017

Lighthouse Preschool

ERO’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.

Background

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.

Summary of Review Findings

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.

Actions for Compliance

Since the onsite review the service has addressed the following non-compliance:

  • Windows or other areas of glass accessible to children are either made of safety glass or covered by an adhesive film to hold the glass in place in the event of it being broken (PF7).

Next ERO Review

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 

Information About the Service

Early Childhood Service Name Lighthouse Preschool
Profile Number 25292
Location Bucklands Beach, Auckland

Service type

Education and care service

Number licensed for

55 children, including up to 15 aged under 2.

Percentage of qualified teachers

80%+

Service roll

62

Ethnic composition

Māori 3
NZ European/Pākehā 20
South African 14
Chinese 12
Indian 6
other ethnic groups 7

Review team on site

April 2021

Date of this report

28 May 2021

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review, August 2017
Education Review, April 2014

General Information about Assurance Reviews

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.

ERO undertakes an Akanuku | Assurance Review process in any centre-based service:

  • 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.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

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.