53 Tahatai Road, Waiheke Island
View on mapERO’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 |
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Curriculum |
Meeting |
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Premises and facilities |
Meeting |
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Health and safety |
Meeting |
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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.
Piritahi Childcare is located in the Piritahi Marae complex on Waiheke Island. It is licensed for 27 tamariki over 2 years of age. Most tamariki enrolled are Māori. The service has a strong emphasis on whanaungatanga and manaakitanga and strong links to the local community.
Summary of Review Findings
The curriculum acknowledges and reflects the unique place of Māori as tangata whenua. It also respects and supports the right of each child to be confident in their own culture and encourages children to understand and respect each other. Adults provide children with a range of experiences and opportunities to enhance their learning and development, both indoors and outdoors, individually and in groups.
Adults providing education and care engage in meaningful, positive interactions to enhance children’s learning and nurture reciprocal relationships.
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:
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Steve Tanner
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki
6 July 2021
| Early Childhood Service Name | Piritahi Childcare |
| Profile Number | 46733 |
| Location | Waiheke Island, Auckland |
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Service type |
Education and Care Service |
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Number licensed for |
27 children, including up to 0 aged under 2. |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80%+ |
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Service roll |
30 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori 16 |
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Review team on site |
May 2021 |
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Date of this report |
6 July 2021 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, June 2018 |
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 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:
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO also gathers and records evidence through:
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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.
Piritahi Childcare is located within the Piritahi Marae complex on Waiheke Island that also incorporates a Hauora centre. Licensed for 27 children over 2 years of age, the childcare centre opened in June 2015. It operates from a facility that once housed a kohanga reo, and for some years has been supporting community play groups. Most children and whānau at the centre are Māori with other children from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
The centre philosophy aims to promote a positive and nurturing environment for children where learning partnerships with whānau are valued. It supports child-centred teaching and learning approaches and highlights the unique island location to enhance children's learning experiences. It recognises the bicultural richness of Aotearoa New Zealand.
All kaiako at the centre are experienced and registered. They are supported by trained and skilled kaiawhina who, along with other Māori teachers, are immersed in te ao Māori. These and other teachers also support children to learn or speak fluently in te reo Māori. Another teacher at the centre speaks fluent Spanish. A kaitiaki supports teachers, and provides governance and management oversight for the centre.
Children and whānau experience warm, inclusive and welcoming approaches from kaiako. Strong and natural connections to the marae give children and whānau opportunities for regular learning in the wharenui. This learning includes kaiako sharing with children stories about Māori history and whakapapa. Children show skill and confidence in their use of te reo Māori through waiata and conversation, and in their understanding of and respect for tikanga. These good practices promote the strong sense of belonging that children and whānau have to their centre.
Children's learning is enhanced through the centre's significant focus on the unique island location and local environment. Planned and spontaneous walks to the beach and bush support children's disposition as keen explorers, and promote their understanding of and respect for Papatuanuku.
Teachers highlight the kaitiaki role that children and whānau play in sustaining the environment, including using plants from a Māori medicinal perspective. Other aspects of science are incorporated into children's learning programmes alongside play-based literacy and numeracy.
Teachers work collaboratively to plan, assess and evaluate learning programmes. They respond to children's interests in the programme and to input from whānau about their learning. Children's learning stories show the progress that children make over time, and highlight how the children's skills are enhanced through different areas of play.
Teachers respond well to children's care needs, and their requests for resources and equipment. They sit alongside children as they play, encouraging conversation and singing in te reo Māori and English. Children's own languages, cultures and identities are encouraged and celebrated regularly in the programme. This good practice is supported by parents who are welcomed to share aspects of their culture with all children in the centre.
Teachers appreciate working in an environment where it feels safe to critique and affirm each other's practice. They communicate well and respect each other's strengths and talents. Support for each other as learners and leaders includes teachers sharing key learning outcomes of professional learning workshops they attend.
It could now be useful for teachers to participate in long-term, in-centre professional learning that allows them to enhance their practice together as a relatively new teaching team. This professional learning could help teachers inquire more deeply into different aspects of their practice, including evaluating the extent to which teachers promote children's uninterrupted play, and planning to extend and enhance children's learning.
The centre is well led and governed by the kaitiaki. She is supportive of teachers and well known by whānau and the wider Waiheke community. Centre policies are clear, meet legislative requirements and have a good framework for review. Internal evaluation is clearly understood as a mechanism for accountability and improvement. The kaitiaki agrees that the documenting of internal evaluation could be more meaningful.
Key next steps for the centre include:
developing an inquiry-focused teacher appraisal system that meets legislative requirements and aligns to professional learning and strategic goals
strengthening the centre's strategic planning model to align with service goals
providing professional learning for the teaching team that enhances teacher practices and learning outcomes for children.
Before the review, the staff and management of Piritahi Childcare 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 Piritahi Childcare will be in three years.
Julie Foley
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)
Te Tai Raki - Northern Region
7 June 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 |
Waiheke Island, Auckland |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
46733 |
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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 |
27 children over 2 years of age |
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Service roll |
26 |
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Gender composition |
Girls 14 Boys 12 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
13 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% + |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Over 2 |
1:5 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
May 2018 |
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Date of this report |
7 June 2018 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
No previous ERO reports |
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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.