2 Horne Street, Melville, Hamilton
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 | Not meeting |
| Governance, management and administration | Not meeting |
At the time of the review, ERO identified non-compliance with regulatory standards that must be addressed.
Sunny Side Early Educare is privately owned. The service owner manages and leads a teaching team of six teachers. Children learn across two aged-based areas catering to a multicultural community. A large number of Filipino and Indian children attend, along with a small number of Māori, Pacific, and others.
The service curriculum respects and supports children to be confident in their own cultures and encourages them to understand and respect other cultures. The unique place of Māori as tangata whenua is acknowledged. Children’s developing social competence and understanding of appropriate behaviour is supported. Adults providing education and care engage in meaningful, positive interactions to enhance children’s learning and nurture reciprocal relationships. Children are provided with a range of indoor and outdoor experiences to enhance their learning and development both indoors and outdoors, individually and in groups appropriate to their age and ability.
ERO found areas of non-compliance in the service relating to:
[Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education & Care Services 2008, HS17, GMA4].
Since the onsite visit, the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:
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.
Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui
31 August 2022
| Early Childhood Service Name | Sunny Side Early Educare |
| Profile Number | 46502 |
| Location | Hamilton |
| Service type | Education and care service |
| Number licensed for | 42 children, including up to 12 aged under 2 |
| Percentage of qualified teachers | 80-99% |
| Service roll | 54 |
| Review team on site | August 2022 |
| Date of this report | 31 August 2022 |
| Most recent ERO report(s) | Education Review, October 2018; Education Review, March 2017 |
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.
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.
Sunny Side Early Educare is a privately owned, full day education and care service located near the Waikato hospital in central Hamilton. The centre is licensed for 42 children including 12 up to the age of two years. Its roll of 50 includes two Māori, 17 Indian and 13 Filipino children.
The centre owner is a fully-qualified early childhood teacher. She undertakes the role of centre manager and is supported by an experienced head teacher to provide professional leadership to the teaching team. The centre operates two age-based rooms for babies and toddlers, and pre-schoolers. Both rooms share the same outdoor environment.
The centre philosophy expresses commitment to providing a fun, creative and friendly environment that celebrates and values diverse cultures. Children are encouraged to respect others, use their initiative and to develop self confidence and a positive attitude towards learning.
The centre owner has accessed external advice and guidance to support the centre to address areas for development identified in the 2017 ERO report. This has resulted in the development of a more robust performance management process, meaningful self-review systems and clear human resource policies and practices.
The centre manager is promoting a collaborative and well-considered approach for centre-wide improvement. She has established clearly defined roles and responsibilities for staff, implemented an ongoing process for self review and has developed a useful appraisal process for teachers. Centre leaders model good-quality teaching practices and access relevant professional development opportunities for teachers. Well-informed leadership is contributing to improved outcomes for children. Leaders should consider accessing further guidance to support the implementation of the revised NZ early childhood curriculum Te Whariki.
The responsive curriculum is promoting positive learning outcomes for children. Child-led programmes encourage the development of independence. Tuakana teina relationships are promoted by toddler's ready access to the older children’s room and the shared outdoor play space. Teachers successfully integrate aspects of reading and numeracy into daily programmes. A range of appropriate resources support children's learning and development. Individual portfolios are easily accessed by children and are well used to identify individual progress and achievement. These are also available for parents in a digital format. Cultural celebrations including Matariki and Diwali effectively support children’s sense of belonging.
Teachers work well together in the best interests of children. They plan together to respond to children's interests and wellbeing. Positive relationships have been established between teachers and children, parents and whānau. Teachers have an understanding of each child as a unique learner and effectively support children’s sense of belonging. Children benefit from the variety of strengths and abilities teachers bring to the centre and enjoy participating in individual, group and whole-centre activities.
The provision of education and care for children up to two years of age is positive, sensitive and responsive. Teachers recognise learning opportunities and integrate learning in care routines. They interact with young children in a calm, unhurried way giving them time and space to lead their learning. Purposeful resourcing supports children’s learning.
Parents spoken to by ERO were well informed about their children's learning and wellbeing. They expressed high levels of confidence in teachers to provide an environment where each child is respected and valued as an individual.
ERO and centre management agree that the key next steps are to:
Before the review, the staff and management of Sunny Side Early 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:
All early childhood services are required to promote children's health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.
In order to improve current practice the centre owner and teachers need to design and implement a schedule for regular policy reviews.
The next ERO review of Sunny Side Early Educare will be in three years.
Adrienne Fowler
Director Review and Improvement Services
Te Tai Miringa - Waikato / Bay of Plenty Region
3 October 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 | Hamilton | ||
| Ministry of Education profile number | 46502 | ||
| Licence type | Education & Care Service | ||
| Licensed under | Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 | ||
| Number licensed for | 42 children, including up to 12 aged under 2 | ||
| Service roll | 50 | ||
| Gender composition | Girls 27 Boys 23 | ||
| Ethnic composition | Māori Pākehā Indian Filipino Other ethnic groups | 2 15 17 13 3 | |
| Percentage of qualified teachers | 80% + | ||
| Reported ratios of staff to children | Under 2 | 1:5 | Meets minimum requirements |
| Over 2 | 1:10 | Meets minimum requirements | |
| Review team on site | August 2018 | ||
| Date of this report | 3 October 2018 | ||
| Most recent ERO report(s) | Education Review | March 2017 | |
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.