318 St Heliers Bay Road, Kohimarama, 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 Kohimarama 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 Kohimarama is one of eleven services that are part of the Bear Park group. The centre is purpose-built and has separate areas for different age groups of children. A qualified centre manager leads a team of 16 staff which includes seven qualified teachers, four teachers, four teachers in training and a cook. Children attending are from diverse cultural backgrounds.
The Bear Park group has services in Auckland and Dunedin. Pedagogical leaders provide professional advice, guidance, and support for Bear Park services.
Children demonstrate a strong sense of belonging at the service. Teachers provide a wide range of learning opportunities and resources to provoke children’s creativity, exploration and curiosity. These experiences contribute to children’s developing social competence, challenge their problem-solving skills and add complexity to their learning in literacy, mathematics, science, and creative arts.
Children experience a language rich environment. Conversations between teachers and children extend children’s thinking and oral language skills. Teachers and children use sign language in meaningful ways as part of their everyday practice.
Te reo Māori and tikanga Māori are meaningfully integrated into the service’s routines, environment, and curriculum. Children use natural resources respectfully and role model being kaitiaki (guardians) of the environment.
Infants and toddlers experience a calm and unhurried environment. Open plan learning spaces support a sense of security. Leaders and teachers promote equitable outcomes when supporting children with special rights. They adapt the curriculum in response to children’s developmental requirements and stages.
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. Parent aspirations, cultural knowledge and ideas are regularly sought to inform a culturally responsive programme. Assessment and planning documentation celebrates diversity and 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. A long-term plan informed by Bear Park organisational goals, values and priorities guides ongoing improvement and results in positive outcomes for children.
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 Kohimarama will include the following action 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 Kohimarama 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 Kohimarama |
|
Profile Number |
25421 |
|
Location |
Kohimarama, Auckland |
|
Service type |
Education and care service |
|
Number licensed for |
62 children, including up to 25 aged under 2 |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
|
Service roll |
66 |
|
Review team on site |
December 2022 |
|
Date of this report |
14 February 2023 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, June 2016; Education Review, May 2013 |
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Bear Park Kohimarama is one in a chain of Bear Park services. All of the Bear Park centres are led by the Bear Park Franchisor and the Bear Park pedagogical team. An interlinking set of policies, procedures and systems guides the centres and provides continuity and reassurance about the quality of these services. Policies and procedures are being updated to reflect changes to regulations and expectations. Strategic governance is in place.
Bear Park Kohimarama is managed by the franchise owner. The supervisor and teachers are responsible for the day-to-day management of the centre. They share responsibility for maintaining high standards and the quality of teaching and learning.
The centre provides separate spaces for the infants and toddlers and a small playground for their use. Children aged over two years are in an adjoining room. The children over three years share a big room. These three environments provide education and care for up to 62 children, including 25 up to two years old. Parents are able to make choices about numbers of days and hours that their children attend.
The centre philosophy is the over-arching statement prepared for Bear Park centres. It refers to the inspiration taken from the values and beliefs of the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood learning. The philosophy is strongly linked to Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, and recognises Te Tiriti o Waitangi as a founding document. Teachers of the infants and toddlers are influenced by the Resources for Infant Educators (RIE) philosophy. Each room in the centre has developed a statement about the values that teachers aspire to for the children in their care.
The 2013 ERO report suggested that teachers continue to strengthen bicultural practice, and to evaluate the programme and long-term goals with improved outcomes for children in mind. The teaching team have continued to reflect upon and refine practices.
This review was part of a cluster of three early childhood centre reviews in the Bear Park Childcare Centres organisation.
Children are sensitively encouraged to settle at the start of the day. Parents and teachers share relaxed and friendly conversations and children are eager to reconnect with friends. They are able to choose activities and places to play together for prolonged periods during the day. Children are independent, friendly and articulate.
Teachers' relationships with children are warm and positive. They know children well and frequently engage them in conversations about their home lives and activities they might like to try. Children trust and respond to teachers. Teachers carefully support transitions into and through the centre.
Teachers provide many opportunities for children to explore, investigate and test their own theories and those suggested by teachers. There are also many opportunities for children to discuss their activities and make decisions. Meeting times with children during the day are about sharing their ideas. They help to strengthen children's confidence and support their investigations about selected topics. Children show perseverance during these times.
Infants and toddlers settle easily into the peaceful and inviting environment provided for them. Teachers work closely with them, showing affection and attention to their beginning language and non-verbal cues. Routines are responsive to children's needs, and provide good opportunities for one-to-one, cheerful times with teachers. The day includes opportunities for children to be outdoors in fine weather, and to make choices about their play.
Environments are thoughtfully set up to provoke exploration and promote the use of the high quality natural resources. Teachers carefully consider ways of supporting children's literacy and numeracy knowledge through interesting resources. The environments promote children's choice. Children are encouraged to maintain and care for the environment as part of the everyday programmes.
Parents have many opportunities to talk to teachers about their children. Twice yearly formal meetings and day-to-day conversations enable teachers to gather information about children and to respond to these in programme planning. The formation of a representative parent committee has increased parent participation in the review of policies and procedures and in decision-making about the programmes.
There has been a strong focus throughout Bear Park centres on increasing teachers' understanding of and knowledge about bicultural practice. This has included many opportunities for teachers who are more competent and confident in te ao Māori to share with and mentor their peers. There have also been opportunities for professional learning and development from external speakers. This has made a significant difference to the amount of te reo Māori spoken and the recognition of tikanga Māori in the centre. There is much use of te reo Māori in Bear Park Kohimarama.
Teachers keep extensive documentation about children, the programme and self review. Some of this documentation is linked to the over-arching four-year strategic plan. This enables teachers each month to review the ways in which they meet the strategic goals. Teachers may find it useful, as part of regular strategic plan review, to deepen their focus on ways to further enhance teaching and learning outcomes for children.
The recently formed pedagogical team, which includes the owner, provides ongoing support and advice for Bear Park centres. The team meets regularly to discuss and make decisions about professional development and centre progress. This team sets the direction for the organisation and supports development. The management team recruits, manages and develops teachers' competence well. Strategic placement of teachers ensures support and stronger teamwork to promote positive outcomes for children.
Centre managers agree that the focus of ongoing critical reflection could include placing a stronger, more meaningful emphasis on supporting bicultural practices in the centre.
Before the review, the staff and management of Bear Park Kohimarama 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 Kohimarama will be in four years.
Graham Randell
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern
23 June 2016
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 |
Kohimarama, Auckland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
25421 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
62 children, including up to 25 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
86 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls 44 Boys 42 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Chinese other |
2 76 4 4 |
|
|
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 |
1:7 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
May 2016 |
||
|
Date of this report |
23 June 2016 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
May 2013 |
|
|
Education Review |
March 2010 |
||
|
Education Review |
March 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:
Pou Whakahaere – how the service determines its vision, philosophy and direction to ensure positive outcomes for children
Pou Ārahi – how leadership is enacted to enhance positive outcomes for children
Mātauranga – whose knowledge is valued and how the curriculum is designed to achieve positive outcomes for children
Tikanga whakaako – how approaches to teaching and learning respond to diversity and support positive outcomes for children.
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.
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.