42 Shelly Beach Road, Herne Bay, Auckland
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 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 Bear Park Herne Bay Early Childhood Education Centre are as follows:
Outcome Indicators(What the service knows about outcomes for learners) |
Whakawhanake Sustaining |
Ngā Akatoro Domains |
|
Learning ConditionsOrganisational Conditions |
Whakawhanake Sustaining Whakawhanake Sustaining |
Bear Park Herne Bay Early Childhood Education Centre is one of eleven centres that are part of the Bear Park group. The premises has a purpose-built extension and a large outside area. There are separate areas for different age groups of children. A centre manager leads a team of 19, that includes seven qualified teachers, six teachers, four teachers in training, a chef, and an administrator.
The Bear Park group has services in Auckland and Dunedin. Pedagogical leaders provide professional advice, guidance, and support for Bear Park services.
Respectful caring and trusting relationships between children, teachers and parents are a key feature of the curriculum provided. Teachers know children and their families very well. They value diversity and are responsive to children’s home languages and cultures. Teachers foster equitable access to learning opportunities for all children, and inclusion of differing abilities in sensitive, intentional ways. Children are self-managing and caring with a sense of social justice and consideration for others.
Teachers have a strong belief in the capabilities of infants and toddlers. They maintain a calm nurturing environment in which infants and toddlers benefit from individualised and respectful care.
Children have fun and are curious and engaged learners. The environment inspires and enriches their play and learning. Children's physical activity is promoted, and they have frequent opportunities to
problem-solve and be imaginative and creative. Teachers and children use te reo Māori and tikanga Māori in meaningful and natural ways. Environmental sustainability is an organisational focus and teachers are keen to further enhance opportunities for children through participating in the Enviroschools programme.
The philosophy and curriculum are based on Te Whariki, the early childhood curriculum, and inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach, which values children as capable learners working collaboratively with teachers in a stimulating environment. Parents’ aspirations, knowledge and ideas are regularly sought, and these contribute to the curriculum provided. Assessment and planning records celebrate the learning progress of individuals and groups of children.
Relational trust at every level supports effective team collaboration. Teachers are provided with a range of professional development opportunities and mentoring. Leaders share their professional knowledge and expertise within the Bear Park organisation and the wider professional community.
Leaders and teachers implement policies, procedures and practices that contribute to equitable outcomes for children at this service. There is a well-established system in place for internal evaluation that supports meaningful improvements across the service. Strong professional leadership, communication and innovation contributes to sustained improvements and continuity in the provision of high-quality care and education for children.
Bear Park Herne Bay Early Childhood Education Centre will include the following action that leaders have prioritised in its Quality Improvement Planning:
Engage further with the Enviroschools programme and continue to use internal evaluation to document how a focus on sustainability has contributed to enhanced and equitable learning outcomes for children.
Before the review, the staff and management of Bear Park Herne Bay Early Childhood Education Centre 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.
Filivaifale Jason Swann
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki
14 February 2023
|
Early Childhood Service Name |
Bear Park Herne Bay Early Childhood Education Centre |
|
Profile Number |
25328 |
|
Location |
Herne Bay, Auckland |
|
Service type |
Education and care service |
|
Number licensed for |
75 children, including up to 25 aged under 2 |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
|
Service roll |
73 |
|
Review team on site |
December 2022 |
|
Date of this report |
14 February 2023 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, June 2018; Education Review, March 2015 |
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Bear Park Herne Bay provides full-day education and care for up to 75 children with a maximum of 25 children under two years of age. It is situated in a residential area and caters for families who live or work in the surrounding community. The centre operates in a converted bungalow with a modern extension. Children are grouped according to age in four learning groups, with two rooms for infants and toddlers, and two for older children. A supervisor has overall responsibility for centre operations.
The centre is a privately owned service that operates under the frameworks of the Bear Park (Franchise) Group. It follows the Bear Park philosophy, which is based on the four principles of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, and on Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The philosophy includes reference to the inspiration and influence of Reggio Emilia principles and values, and of Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE).
ERO's 2015 report identified efficient, effective management practices, good quality education and care for children, and self review that helped to develop teaching practices. The team has responded positively to ERO's 2015 recommendations to increase teachers' understanding of te reo and tikanga Māori and to further enrich learning through child-initiated play.
Children at Bear Park Herne Bay are articulate, confident learners. Teachers facilitate rich, meaningful learning experiences and value children's thinking and ideas. A shared vision guides teachers' practices. The culture in the centre promotes collaboration through programmes that are child focused and child led. Group investigations support children's sustained persistence, tuakana/teina relationships and group skills.
In keeping with the Reggio Emilia ideals, teachers place a strong focus on the environment. Children are prompted to explore and investigate high quality learning resources in a well-considered centre layout.
Babies and toddlers are settled and thrive in a calm and nurturing environment. Adults' respectful care practices nurture toddlers' self-help skills and encourage independence. Reciprocal conversations between adults and children enrich children's language. Provocations offered in the indoor environments and landscaped outdoor space are a compelling invitation for children to develop their physical capabilities, and imaginative and creative play.
Centre practices align with home routines and children respond to photos and resources that support connections to their homes and families. High quality communication practices enable teachers to continue developing partnerships with families, and keep parents well informed about their child's progress. Parents have opportunities to share information and their thinking about their children's learning. Good use is made of a digital portal to provide feedback to parents about children's learning.
Teachers view children as capable and competent learners who are able to manage their own learning. They recognise, nurture and extend children's interests through quality conversations. The inquiry-based learning programme facilitates purposeful learning experiences. Interesting and inviting learning provocations promote sustained, unhurried investigation. Good opportunities for early literacy and numeracy learning are seamlessly integrated into activities and play throughout the day.
Teachers' bicultural practices are values based and genuine. They include aspects of te reo and tikanga Māori in the programme in meaningful ways. Children have opportunities to share Māori stories and legends. They understand protocols that reflect Māori values and these are practised daily.
Collaborative planning provides clear guidance for teaching. Learning portfolios are meaningful records of children's learning journeys. Teachers plan and prepare carefully to enable children to transition seamlessly through the centre. Older children and their families are supported well to transition to school.
The Bear Park (Franchise) Group sets high expectations for teachers. Teachers work together to link their thinking, collaboratively share understandings and maintain high standards. The Group's effective and high quality professional learning for teachers contributes to positive outcomes for children. Teachers are encouraged to continually reflect on and evaluate their own practice through a well-established appraisal system.
Collaborative structures, such as streamlined strategic planning and internal evaluation, and policy development and review, include staff and parents' input whenever possible. Children are encouraged to share their views about current programme topics. This approach is designed to provide a shared sense of ownership by all stake-holders. The centre is highly responsive to the community.
The centre is well supported by the owner and by management personnel and systems. Trusting relationships and reflective, responsive and structured support are creating sustainable leadership within the centre.
Next key steps for the centre include continuing to:
make teachers' responses to children's home languages and cultural identity visible
deepen internal evaluation through teachers developing a more critical lens on strategies for enhancing children's learning outcomes.
Before the review, the staff and management of Bear Park Herne Bay Early Childhood Education Centre 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 Bear Park Herne Bay Early Childhood Education Centre will be in four years.
Julie Foley
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)
Te Tai Raki - Northern Region
13 June 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 |
Herne Bay, Auckland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
25328 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
75 children, including up to 25 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
99 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys 57 Girls 42 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori |
1 |
|
|
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 |
1:6 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
May 2018 |
||
|
Date of this report |
13 June 2018 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
March 2015 |
|
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.