30 Hammond Street, Hamilton Central, Hamilton
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 |
|
Curriculum |
Meeting |
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Premises and facilities |
Meeting |
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Health and safety |
Not meeting |
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Governance, management and administration |
Meeting |
At the time of the review, ERO identified non-compliance with regulatory standards that must be addressed.
McKenzie Centre, part of the Enrich Group, provides early intervention and support for children from birth to school age with developmental delay or disability. Children and their whānau attend weekly sessions supported by education and health professionals. Approximately one third of children enrolled are Māori and a small number are of Pacific heritages.
Children’s preferences are respected. They are involved in decisions about their learning. There is a range of experiences and opportunities to extend their learning and development.
Adults engage in meaningful and positive interactions. They demonstrate an understanding of relevant theories and practices in early childhood education.
The curriculum is language rich and informed by assessment, planning and evaluation. It is inclusive and responsive to children as confident and competent learners.
A continual focus on the regulatory standards is required to achieve ongoing maintenance of the licensing criteria. Leaders should ensure they can access records of safety checking of children’s workers when required.
ERO found non-compliance in the service relating to:
ensuring adults providing education and care are familiar with relevant emergency drills and carry these out with children on at least a three-monthly basis; and having written evidence of how evaluation of the drills has informed the annual review of the service’s emergency plan.
Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, HS8.
During and since the review, the service provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:
Ensuring items intended for children to sleep on, such as stretchers, that will be used by more than one child over time, are securely covered with a non-porous material (PF30).
Ensuring that information is provided to parents about the amount and details of the expenditure of Ministry of Education funding received by the service (GMA3).
Having a written procedure for safety checking that meets the safety checking requirements of the Children’s Act 2014 (GMA7A).
ERO recommends the Ministry follows up with the service provider to ensure that non-compliances identified in this report are addressed promptly.
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Patricia Davey
Director of Early Childhood Education (ECE)
4 July 2023
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Early Childhood Service Name |
McKenzie Centre |
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Profile Number |
34028 |
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Location |
Hamilton |
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Service type |
Education and care service |
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Number licensed for |
35 children, including up to 5 aged under 2 |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
100% |
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Service roll |
112 |
|
Review team on site |
June 2023 |
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Date of this report |
4 July 2023 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, January 2020; Education Review, May 2016 |
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.
having its first ERO review – including if it is part of a governing organisation
previously identified as ‘not well placed’ or ‘requiring further development’
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 regulatory 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; safety checking; teacher certification; ratios)
relevant evacuation procedures and practices.
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.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
McKenzie Centre is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
The McKenzie Centre is located in Hamilton West and operates under the McKenzie Centre Trust. The Trust’s mission statement is to ‘help children under six years old with special needs, to realise their potential by providing an early intervention service that is child centred, play based and family/whānau focused'. The centre is licensed for 35 children including five under the age of two years. The current roll of 131 children includes 34 who identify as Māori.
Family, whānau and caregivers attend weekly sessions with their child. While attending the McKenzie Centre, children also attend other early childhood services. A range of administration, education and health professionals work with children and families. The centre has had a positive reporting history with ERO.
Since ERO's 2016 evaluation, management and teachers have undertaken professional development to respond to children's language, culture and identity as Māori, strengthen appraisal processes and develop a regular cycle of curriculum review.
Children benefit from a range of effective specialised teaching and learning strategies to enable them to engage and learn. Flexible routines support children's individual needs. Children up to the age of two years are supported in a calm and unhurried environment. They have easy access to well-resourced indoor and outdoor areas where exploration is encouraged alongside their parents, siblings and early intervention specialists. Positive relationships are fostered with whānau, the community and external healthcare agencies. Effective transitions into and out of the centre support children's confidence and sense of belonging.
Children are actively engaged in a programme that is highly responsive to their needs and interests. They benefit from accepting and caring relationships including the professional support and guidance provided by early intervention specialists. The well-resourced learning environments reflect the language, culture and identify of both Māori, Pacific and other ethnicities. The understanding of tikanga Māori has encouraged a strong sense of connectedness and belonging for both children and whānau. Early intervention specialists now need to further incorporate this knowledge into the centre's curriculum and strengthen their delivery of te reo Māori to support this.
Early intervention specialists have a deep understanding of each child as a unique learner. Oral language, literacy, numeracy and science are very well supported to grow children’s knowledge and understanding. Individualised planning strongly reflects children’s individual needs and progress in a range of contexts. Assessment incorporates multiple perspectives including those of children and whānau to contribute to positive learning outcomes for children. Children's needs are individually planned for in a specialised inclusive environment.
Leadership effectively promotes a shared understanding of the philosophy, vision and goals of the centre. They are highly reflective and thoughtful about learning opportunities to further meet the needs of each child. Leaders have developed a strongly collaborative approach and have created a positive team environment. A culture of improvement is continuing to build early intervention specialists' professional practice to support all learners.
Internal evaluation is improvement focused and includes ongoing consultation with families and whānau. Further emphasis should now be placed to measure the effectiveness of the internal review with a focus on learning outcomes for children. There is clear alignment between the regional strategic direction and centre annual plans. The appraisal process supports early intervention specialists to inquire into strengthening their practice, supported by regular and ongoing coaching and mentoring. Initiatives to remove barriers to education and support wellbeing for children promotes equity for all learners.
Review processes are well established and have been used to inquire into aspects of practice. Parents actively contribute to internal review. Their views are gathered, responded to and highly valued. Early intervention specialists have made good use of self review to make changes to the environment and resourcing to improve inclusive practices. The organisations philosophy, vision and goals promote positive learning outcomes for all children.
The centre should continue to:
strengthen teacher confidence in the daily use of te reo Māori to support already established tikanga practices
incorporate and embed local knowledge and histories into the centre-based curriculum
use internal evaluation to further explore changes in teaching practice and consider how well these changes contribute to improved learning outcomes for children.
Before the review, the staff and management of McKenzie 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.
Since the onsite phase of the review, the service has provided evidence to ERO that addresses the areas identified and discussed with the service.
Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services Central
Central Region
23 January 2020
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 |
Hamilton |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
34028 |
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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 |
35 children, including up to 5 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
131 |
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|
Gender composition |
Male 80% Female 20% |
||
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Ethnic composition |
Māori NZ European/Pākehā Indian Chinese Other Asian Middle Eastern Other ethnic groups |
26% 41% 7% 6% 5% 3% 12% |
|
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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 |
1:5 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Over 2 |
1:6 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
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Review team on site |
September 2019 |
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Date of this report |
23 January 2020 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
May 2016 |
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|
Education Review |
April 2013 |
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|
Education Review |
May 2010 |
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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.
The overall judgement that ERO makes will depend on how well the service promotes positive learning outcomes for children. The categories are:
Very well placed
Well placed
Requires further development
Not well placed
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.