Bear Park Centre of Learning

Education institution number:
45105
Service type:
Education and Care Service
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
96
Telephone:
Address:

13-15 Dilworth Ave, Remuera, Auckland

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Bear Park Centre of Learning

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 Bear Park Centre of Learning are as follows:

Outcome Indicators

(What the service knows about outcomes for learners)

Whakawhanake Sustaining

Ngā Akatoro Domains

 

Learning Conditions
Organisational Conditions

Whakawhanake Sustaining

Whakawhanake Sustaining

2 Context of the Service

Bear Park Centre of Learning is one of eleven services that are part of the Bear Park group. The service is purpose-built and has three separate areas for different age groups of children. There is also an atelier room and a performing arts room. A centre manager leads a team of 22 which includes 14 qualified teachers, a specialist art teacher and support staff.

The premises is also the Head Office for the Bear Park group which has services in Auckland and Dunedin. Pedagogical leaders provide professional advice, guidance, and support for Bear Park services.

3 Summary of findings

Teachers interact with children in respectful and caring ways. They are highly skilled in supporting children’s sense of mana and emotional wellbeing. Teachers provide children with regular opportunities for self-directed learning. These approaches support children’s confidence, creativity, curiosity, problem solving and social skills. Infants and toddlers experience a calm and unhurried environment where they are treated with dignity and experience individualised care.

Children’s sense of belonging is underpinned by reciprocal and responsive relationships between children, teachers, and parents. Teachers value diversity and are responsive to children’s home languages and cultures. They foster equitable access to learning opportunities for all children and inclusion of differing abilities in sensitive and intentional ways.

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 for their children’s learning are regularly sought and used to influence the curriculum. Assessment and planning records celebrate the learning progress of individuals and groups of children.

Teachers have continued to strengthen their bicultural practices. Children experience an environment where teachers naturally weave te reo Māori and tikanga Māori throughout routines, the environment, and the curriculum.

Respect for the natural environment is evident in the well-equipped, landscaped outdoor area that fosters children’s use of natural resources. Environmental sustainability is an organisational focus and teachers are keen to further enhance opportunities for children through participating in the Enviroschools programme.

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 group and with 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 effective 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 ongoing and meaningful improvements to learning and organisational conditions. Strong professional leadership, communication and innovation contributes to sustained improvements and continuity in the provision of high-quality care and education for children.

4 Improvement Action

Bear Park Centre of Learning 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.

5 Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Bear Park Centre of Learning 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

6 About the Early Childhood Service

Early Childhood Service Name

Bear Park Centre of Learning

Profile Numbe

45105

Location

Remuera, Auckland

Service type

Education and care service

Number licensed for

120 children, including up to 40 aged under 2

Percentage of qualified teachers

80-99%

Service roll

96

Review team on site

November 2022

Date of this report

14 February 2023

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review, November 2015
Education Review, October 2011

Bear Park Centre of Learning - 14/11/2015

1. Evaluation of Bear Park Centre of Learning

How well placed is Bear Park Centre of Learning to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Not well placed

Requires further development

Well placed

Very well placed

ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.

Background

Bear Park Centre of Learning is located in Remuera, Auckland, and provides full day education and care for children from three months to five years of age. The centre is licensed for 90 children, including 35 up to the age of two years.

The vision for the centre incorporates Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, and the philosophy and approaches of Reggio Emilia. Teachers place a strong focus on children’s creativity as part of their holistic development. The specifically designed centre is an architectural expression of this vision. Facilities for learning include a central piazza, three atelier rooms for specialist art, and a performing arts studio.

The centre is privately owned and the premises also act as the head office for the Bear Park franchised group of services in Auckland and Dunedin. From here, centralised policies and systems, together with a support and guidance team, promote levels of consistency across the Bear Park brand.

The centre manager oversees and guides the day-to-day operations in collaboration with the centre director and teachers. A specialist art teacher supports teachers in the learning environment and fosters creative approaches requested by children in many different learning contexts.

Children play and learn in age-related areas, each with an adjoining outdoor playground. Infants and toddlers benefit from primary care and generous teacher to child ratios. Transitions into, within and out of the centre are carefully and effectively managed by centre staff.

The 2011 ERO report suggested that centre leaders continue to focus on planning for individual children’s learning, review strategic and annual planning, and include more measurable goals for teacher development within their annual appraisal processes. All of these matters have been addressed.

The Review Findings

High levels of respect for children underpin the professional practice in this centre. The pace of learning is appropriate and relevant for each child. Children learn to value the natural global environment and see themselves as part of it. The creative influences of the Reggio Emilia approach are clearly evident in the child-centred programmes. Children’s complex conversations about their interests and discoveries add many layers to their understanding of the wider world.

Children display a thirst for knowledge and often plan their own learning directions. Literacy, mathematics, science and nature are all woven through programmes that encourage curiosity and wonderment. At a deeper level, children learn important social competencies and negotiation skills as they play and work together.

Teachers have developed genuine learning partnerships with families. Programmes clearly reflect what teachers know about children. A strategic parent group meets regularly to add the parent voice to centre planning. The centre uses communication technologies to encourage parent access to children’s learning and to encourage their feedback.

Teachers understand their professional role as early childhood educators. Processes for reflecting on and evaluating their work with children are well documented and support the achievement of planned outcomes. Infants and toddlers are respectfully cared for in a restful environment that has the ambience of home. Their teachers are highly attuned to their needs and are sensitive and caring.

Staff manage children’s transitions in carefully considered ways. Parents have frequent opportunities to be a part of this process. Gentle settling times help children to bond with teachers and feel a sense of belonging in the centre.

Teachers are gaining more confidence with bicultural components in their programmes. The centre promotes a monthly focus on Māori-based values. Although few Māori children attend the centre, teachers recognise the importance of all children learning to understand and share in New Zealand’s bicultural heritage. Teachers and children enjoy important celebrations for Māori and for families from other cultures.

Centre leaders invest generously in the professionalism of centre staff. Teachers are trained as lifelong learners. They receive regular professional learning opportunities and a specialist team guides the development of teaching practices.

Governance and management of the centre is coherent and transparent. Centre leaders foster a high trust model and focus on growing their leadership from within the centre. A positive, energised work culture results from this approach.

Key Next Steps

In discussions with ERO, centre leaders identified a focus on continuing to:

  • strengthen the bicultural focus and encourage teachers to be more confident in the use of te reo Māori
  • use well developed self-review processes to further enrich centre programmes.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Bear Park Centre of Learning 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.

Next ERO Review

When is ERO likely to review the service again?

The next ERO review of Bear Park Centre of Learning will be in four years.

Dale Bailey

National Manager Review Services Northern Region

14 November 2014

2. Information about the Early Childhood Service

Location

Remuera, Auckland

Ministry of Education profile number

45105

Licence type

Education & Care Service

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

90 children, including up to 35 aged under 2

Service roll

117

Gender composition

Girls 54%

Boys 46%

Ethnic composition

Māori

NZ European/Pākehā

Chinese

Indian

Middle Eastern

other European

other

6%

42%

32%

3%

2%

10%

5%

Percentage of qualified teachers

0-49% 50-79% 80%

Based on funding rates

80%

Reported ratios of staff to children

Under 2

1:3

Better than minimum requirements

 

Over 2

1:6

Better than minimum requirements

Review team on site

October 2014

Date of this report

14 November 2014

Most recent ERO report(s)

These are available at www.ero.govt.nz

Education Review

October 2011

3. General Information about Early Childhood Reviews

ERO’s Evaluation Framework

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’s Overall Judgement and Next Review

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:

  • Very well placed – The next ERO review in four years
  • Well placed – The next ERO review in three years
  • Requires further development – The next ERO review within two years
  • Not well placed - The next ERO review in consultation with the Ministry of Education

ERO has developed criteria for each category. These are available on ERO’s website.

Review Coverage

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.