601a Mackay Street Service Lane 7, Thames
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 Little Chiefs Educare are as follows:
Outcome Indicators(What the service knows about outcomes for learners) |
Whakawhanake Sustaining |
Ngā Akatoro Domains |
|
Learning ConditionsOrganisational Conditions |
Whakaū Embedding Whakaū Embedding |
Little Chiefs Educare is privately owned. A large number of children have Māori heritage. A small number of Pacific children attend the service. The service philosophy values relationships with children and their families.
Children and their families are positively supported through trusting relationships with kaiako. Children’s individual learning needs are responded to through assessment and evaluation practices. Informal daily conversations with whānau are utilised to build shared understandings of children’s learning. Whānau have opportunities to influence the service’s philosophy, and priorities for children’s learning. Children’s emotional wellbeing is well supported.
Children with additional learning needs, and those under the age of three, experience an equitable curriculum where they participate alongside their peers. Leaders guide inclusive practice at all levels of the service. Kaiako use assessment information to make children’s learning visible, and to identify children’s capabilities and needs for additional support. The centre owner maintains generous staffing ratios, small group sizes and a high proportion of qualified teachers. Infants and toddlers learning and development is nurtured through caring interactions with kaiako.
Children experience regular use of te reo Māori, waiata, and aspects of tikanga in the curriculum. Some children of Pacific descent, and children of other cultures, have their languages and identities responded to. A curriculum design leader was recently employed to support kaiako capacity to respond effectively to all children’s culture, language and identities.
Effective internal evaluation processes enable leaders and kaiako to know how well their curriculum is helping them to achieve their priorities for children’s learning. Leaders drive ongoing inquiry into the responsiveness and effectiveness of teaching practices, to better understand how individual and groups of children are progressing in terms of the valued outcomes in Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. Improvement actions have positively enhanced children’s social competence.
Little Chiefs Educare will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:
strengthening learning focused partnerships through documenting the collection and response to parent voice in planning and assessment practices
increase the visibility of children’s cultural contexts within individual assessment documentation.
Before the review, the staff and management of Little Chiefs Educare 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.
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 service provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:
checking all required equipment, premises and facilities on every day of operation for hazards to children (HS12)
recording evidence of parent acknowledgement of medication given to children (HS28).
Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui
24 August 2022
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Early Childhood Service Name: |
Little Chiefs Educare |
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Profile Number |
34074 |
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Location |
Thames |
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Service type |
Education and care service |
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Number licensed for |
50 children, including up to 12 aged under 2 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
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Service roll |
33 |
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Review team on site |
July 2022 |
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Date of this report |
24 August 2022 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, September 2018; Education Review, August 2015 |
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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.
Little Chiefs Educare is a privately owned stand-alone, all-day education and care service, located in Thames. The centre caters for children from birth to school age in two separate age-based areas, one for children up to the age of two years, and the other for older children. It is licensed for 50 children, including up to 12 aged under two years. The current roll of 50 children includes 19 who identify as Māori.
Previously known as Rainbow Connection, the centre changed ownership in February 2018. The new owner is an experienced, fully-registered early childhood teacher. She is responsible for all aspects of governance and leadership. The new owner has maintained generous staffing ratios, better than minimum group sizes, and a high proportion of qualified, fully-registered staff. The key next steps around assessment, planning and evaluation, identified in the 2015 report, remain a priority for the new owners.
The centre states its philosophy aims to provide a child-initiated environment rich in language, that supports children’s curiosity and imagination and which empowers children to investigate, discover and create. Cultural diversity and the dual heritage of Aotearoa New Zealand are also embraced.
Children are empowered to make choices and engage in periods of sustained and uninterrupted play. They learn in an environment that values their contributions, independence and self-management skills which are supported by responsive and flexible routines. Thoughtful conversations and questioning between teachers and children contribute to children's oral language development. Teachers naturally integrate literacy, mathematics and science into children’s learning experiences.
Teachers provide a welcoming and inclusive environment. Children with additional learning and development needs are well supported through effective engagement with whānau and external agencies. Teachers are responsive to children’s emerging needs and interests. They encourage risk taking and acknowledge children's efforts and successes. Teachers use positive guidance strategies to support children's developing social competencies.
Assessment information takes account of dispositional learning. Learning stories highlight this and show the many opportunities children have to engage meaningfully in the curriculum.
All children, including Māori and their whānau, experience manaakitanga and whanaungatanga in a family orientated environment. Teachers are in the early stages of integrating te reo and tikanga Māori throughout their daily practice. They need to continue to develop their knowledge and understanding of the unique place of Māori as tangata whenua.
Rhythms and rituals are a part of the programme which effectively supports the physical and emotional needs of children aged under two years. Respectful practices and gentle nurturing transitions allow these young children to feel settled and secure. Children in the infant and toddlers area experience te reo and tikanga Māori through waiata and karakia.
The centre owner has established strong relationships with teachers, whānau and children based on respect, trust and reciprocity. She acknowledges and responds to the aspirations of parents and whānau in order to meet the needs of their children. Her leadership approach is collaborative and a team culture is evident amongst teachers.
The centre owner provides positive governance and leadership. She has managed the transition between owners in a seamless manner. The centre owner has identified priorities and goals in a newly developed strategic plan that is strongly focused on continual improvement. Updated policies, procedures and systems are in place. Self review is valued and understood as a way to improve outcomes for children. This is an area that needs further strengthening to ensure there is shared understanding about effective self-review systems and practices. Further consideration should also be given to developing a robust appraisal process to support building teacher capability.
As identified in the previous report there remains a need to:
develop and implement a robust teacher appraisal procedures that align with the Education Council of New Zealand guidelines including:
specific and measurable goals that clearly align to the centre's strategic direction
targeted observations of teachers' practice
regular formal, documented meetings where teachers receive feedback and feedforward about their practice.
strengthen assessment, planning and evaluation practices to show:
intentional planning for individuals and groups of children
the parent partnership in learning
progression of children's learning and increasing complexity over time
the value of each child's language and culture.
ERO recommends the service accesses professional learning and development to develop a local curriculum that reflects the centre's context and the requirements of Te Whāriki.
Before the review, the staff and management of Little Chiefs Educare 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 Little Chiefs Educare will be in three years.
Adrienne Fowler
Director Review and Improvement Services
Te Tai Miringa - Waikato / Bay of Plenty Region
13 September 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.
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Location |
Thames |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
34074 |
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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 |
50 children, including up to 12 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
50 |
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Gender composition |
Girls 27 Boys 23 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
19 |
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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 2018 |
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Date of this report |
13 September 2018 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
August 2015 |
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|
Education Review |
October 2012 |
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|
Education Review |
December 2009 |
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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.