Lovely Lotus Childcare

Education institution number:
45946
Service type:
Education and Care Service
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
33
Telephone:
Address:

185 College Street, Palmerston North

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Lovely Lotus Childcare

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 Lovely Lotus Childcare are as follows:

Outcome Indicators

(What the service knows about outcomes for learners)

Whakaū Embedding

Ngā Akatoro Domains

 

Learning Conditions
Organisational Conditions

Whakaū Embedding
Whakaū Embedding

2 Context of the Service

The service provides education and care for a multicultural community in the suburb of Awapuni. Small groups of Māori and Chinese learners attend, with a wide range of other ethnicities also enrolled. The philosophy promotes tamariki at the heart of teaching in a fun, safe and respectful family like atmosphere.

3 Summary of findings

Children’s interests and strengths strongly influence the curriculum. They engage in meaningful experiences that promote sustained play. Infants and toddlers have the time and space to lead their own learning, building trust and security. Teachers of younger children intentionally respond to children in a calm, settled and nurturing environment. Children and their families experience a sense of belonging and wellbeing.

Children’s languages, cultures and identities are celebrated and affirmed. They experience a curriculum that includes incorporation of some te reo Māori, supported by whānau Māori, and well-integrated te ao Māori concepts. Children from a range of ethnic backgrounds hear and see their first languages in the daily environment. All children benefit from opportunities to experience the range of cultures promoted by the ethnically diverse teaching team.

Teachers and leaders work in learning-focused partnerships with parents and whānau to support children’s inclusion in the curriculum. Responsive processes enable effective transitions of children, parents and whānau into, through, and out of the centre. Assessment for learning consistently celebrates success and challenges, reflecting children's progression of learning over time. The teaching team is working on building a collective understanding of intentional teaching strategies and how these influence children’s learning outcomes.

Relational trust between teachers and leaders contributes to the enactment of the philosophy. Evaluation and review focuses on improvement, leading to changes in practice and growth for teachers. Teachers are yet to consistently evaluate the impacts of these improvements for children. Leaders are beginning to align established strategic goals and other systems, processes and practices that promote improvement to enhance equitable outcomes for all children.

4 Improvement actions

Lovely Lotus Childcare will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:

  • Continue to build a shared understanding of intentional teaching strategies and consistently show the impact of these on outcomes for children.

  • Further focus internal evaluation processes on outcomes for children, in particular for individuals and groups.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Lovely Lotus Childcare 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.

Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui

8 March 2023 

6 About the Early Childhood Service

Early Childhood Service Name:

Lovely Lotus Childcare

Profile Number

45946

Location

Palmerston North

Service type

Education and care service

Number licensed for

42 children, including up to 15 aged under 2

Percentage of qualified teachers

100%

Service roll

42

Review team on site

January 2023

Date of this report

8 March 2023

Most recent ERO report(s)

Akanuku | Assurance Review, June 2019; Education Review, October 2017

Lovely Lotus Childcare - 10/06/2019

ERO’s judgement

Regulatory standards
ERO’s judgement

Curriculum

Meeting

Premises and facilities

Meeting

Health and safety

Meeting

Governance, management and administration

Meeting

At the time of the review, ERO found the service was taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.

Background

Lovely Lotus Childcare is privately owned. A service manager leads the team, including two recently appointed head teachers, four qualified teachers and one teacher in training. The October 2017 ERO report identified that the service required further development. The service has made sufficient progress in responding to these development areas.

Summary of review findings

Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, informs the philosophy and service programme. Assessment and planning processes demonstrate an understanding of individual children’s interests, strengths and parent aspirations. Cultural experiences and respect for the cultures of others are encouraged. Children have access to a range of activities and experiences within the centre and the wider community.

Self-review processes help the service to maintain and improve the centre’s performance. The newly implemented appraisal system supports teachers and managers to improve the quality of education and care for children attending the service. Sound management systems and processes guide centre operation.

Next ERO Review

The next ERO review is likely to be an Education Review.

Phillip Cowie

Director Review and Improvement Services

Central Region

10 June 2019

Information about the service

Early Childhood Service Name

Lovely Lotus Childcare

Profile Number

45946

Location

Palmerston North

Service type

Education and care service

Number licensed for

42 children including up to 15 aged under 2

Percentage of qualified teachers

80% +

Reported ratios of staff to children

Under 2

1:3 - Better than the regulatory standards

Over 2

1:8 - Better than regulatory standards

Service roll

45

Gender composition

Males 31, Females 14

Ethnic composition

Māori 9
NZ European/Pākehā 16
Other ethnic groups 20

Review team on site

May 2019

Date of this report

10 June 2019

Most recent ERO report(s)

 

Education Review

October 2017

Education Review

May 2014

General Information about Assurance Reviews

All services are licensed under the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008. The legal requirements for early childhood services also include:

Services must meet the standards in the regulations and the requirements of the licensing criteria to gain and maintain a licence to operate.

ERO undertakes an Assurance Review process in any service:

  • having its first ERO review – including if it is part of a governing organisation

  • previously identified as ‘not well placed’ or ‘requiring further development’

  • that has moved from a provisional to a full licence

  • that have been re-licenced due to a change of ownership

  • where an Assurance Review process is determined to be appropriate.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

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 Assurance Review ERO assesses whether the regulated 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; police vetting; teacher certification; ratios)

  • evacuation procedures and practices for fire and earthquake.

As part of an 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.