926 Mt Eden Road, Three Kings, Auckland
View on mapAkarangi | Quality Evaluations evaluate the extent to which early childhood services have 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 and Early Childhood Education (ECE) Improvement Framework (teacher led services) are the basis for making judgements about the quality of the service in achieving equity and excellence for all learners. Evaluations for improvement | Ngā Aronga Whai Hua is integrated across all of the above domains.
ERO’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 |
| Premises and facilities | Meeting |
| Health and safety | Meeting |
| Governance, management and administration | Meeting |
Since the onsite visit, the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed non-compliances and is now taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.
Little Kiwis Playhouse Early Learning Centre is privately owned. A qualified centre manager is responsible for governance of the service. She leads a team of one qualified teacher, and two staff members. The service philosophy reflects a Montessori approach, where children’s development is promoted in a
well-prepared environment. Children attending the centre are from diverse cultural backgrounds.
Adults providing education and care engage in meaningful, positive interactions to enhance children’s learning and nurture reciprocal relationships. The curriculum supports children’s developing social competence and understanding of appropriate behaviour.
The curriculum provides children with a range of experiences and opportunities to enhance and extend their learning and development both indoors and outdoors, individually and in groups. Children experience a language-rich environment that supports their learning.
Consistent implementation of processes and practices is required to maintain regulatory standards.
Next steps include:
During and since the onsite visit, the service has provided ERO with evidence it has addressed the following non-compliances:
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Patricia Davey
Director of Early Childhood Education (ECE)
26 June 2023
| Early Childhood Service Name | Little Kiwis Playhouse Early Learning Centre |
| Profile Number | 45315 |
| Location | Three Kings, Auckland |
| Service type | Education and care service |
| Number licensed for | 30 children, including up to 8 aged under 2 |
| Percentage of qualified teachers | 80-99% |
| Service roll | 18 |
| Review team on site | April 2023 |
| Date of this report | 26 June 2023 |
| Most recent ERO report(s) | Education Review, August 2018; Education Review, March 2015 |
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 license to operate.
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:
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:
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO also gathers and records evidence through:
| Not well placed | Requires further development | Well placed | Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Little Kiwis Playhouse Early Learning Centre provides full-day and sessional education and care for up to 16 children over two years of age. The centre serves a multicultural community in Three Kings, with many of the children from families who have recently immigrated to New Zealand. The centre was purchased by the current owner in 2015.
The centre's philosophy has recently been reviewed and the educational approach now reflects the teachings of Maria Montessori. Teachers have made changes with the support of professional learning and development and they have also purchased relevant resources.
The centre manager manages a group of eight centres. She is supported by a centre supervisor who provides leadership for three other registered teachers and support staff. Further professional leadership is provided by a registered teacher who works across the owner's group of centres.
This is the first ERO review since the change of ownership and management of the centre.
Children benefit from learning in a calm, respectful environment. They are well supported to develop a sense of identity and belonging. Children experience positive interactions with their teachers and with one another. Teachers know the children and their families well. They are often able to talk with children in their home languages while supporting them to develop their communication in English.
The centre philosophy is reflected in the programme and in the approach taken to learning and teaching. Children are viewed as capable learners, and teachers encourage them to manage their own play and to follow their interests. The centre's commitment to the Treaty of Waitangi is evident in the environment and in aspects of the curriculum in action. Teachers regularly use te reo Māori with children.
Children learn within the framework of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. At the same time, the centre is appropriately resourced to reflect the Montessori approach to teaching and learning. Effective processes guide teachers' assessment of children's learning and their planning for relevant learning opportunities. Teachers observe children's play, giving them time to make their own decisions and to initiate conversations. They share this information with parents through learning stories, and record their planned responses to promote further learning.
The centre is well staffed with a high ratio of teachers to children. Teachers work well as a team to support children and to grow professionally. The manager provides relevant professional learning opportunities, and the appraisal process is improvement focused.
The centre regularly uses internal evaluation to support ongoing improvement. The centre manager could consider using evaluative questions to guide investigations into the effectiveness of centre practices. When an area for development is identified, it could be included in the centre's strategic and annual planning to guide the actions taken to bring about improvement.
Centre staff work inclusively in partnership with parents. Teachers encourage parents to share their cultures with children through the programme. They help parents to understand the intentions of Te Whāriki, and how to support their children as they transition to school.
The manager acknowledges that the outdoor area needs redevelopment, and planning for this has begun. Centre managers/leaders agree that other next steps include:
Before the review, the staff and management of Little Kiwis Playhouse Early Learning 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:
All early childhood services are required to promote children's health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.
To improve practice, the manager should ensure that there are more robust systems in place to ensure that staff identify and address all health and safety matters in a timely fashion.
The next ERO review of Little Kiwis Playhouse Early Learning Centre will be in three years.
Julie Foley
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)
Te Tai Raki - Northern Region
22 August 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 | Three Kings, Auckland | ||
| Ministry of Education profile number | 45315 | ||
| Licence type | Education & Care Service | ||
| Licensed under | Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 | ||
| Number licensed for | 16 children aged 2 years and over | ||
| Service roll | 17 | ||
| Gender composition | Girls 12 Boys 5 | ||
| Ethnic composition | Chinese other | 9 8 | |
| Percentage of qualified teachers | 80% + | ||
| Reported ratios of staff to children | Over 2 | 1:5 | Better than minimum requirements |
| Review team on site | July 2018 | ||
| Date of this report | 22 August 2018 | ||
Most recent ERO report(s)
| Under different ownership/management 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.