12 Winchester Street, Merivale, Christchurch
View on mapAkarangi | 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 (PDF 3.01MB) are the basis for making judgements about the effectiveness of the service in achieving equity and excellence for all learners. The Akarangi Quality Evaluation Judgement Rubric (PDF 91.30KB) derived from the indicators, is used to inform the ERO’s judgements about this service’s performance in promoting equity and excellence.
ERO’s judgements for St Margaret’s Preschool are as follows:
Outcome Indicators |
ERO’s judgement |
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What the service knows about outcomes for learners |
Whakaū Embedding |
Ngā Akatoro Domains |
ERO’s judgement |
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He Whāriki Motuhake The learner and their learning |
Whāngai Establishing |
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Whakangungu Ngaio Collaborative professional learning builds knowledge and capability |
Whakaū Embedding |
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Ngā Aronga Whai Hua Evaluation for improvement |
Whāngai Establishing |
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Kaihautū Leaders foster collaboration and improvement |
Whakaū Embedding |
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Te Whakaruruhau Stewardship through effective governance and management |
Whakaū Embedding |
St Margaret's Pre-school is part of the St Margaret's College learning community located in Merivale. The purpose-built pre-school enables regular and easy access to the college facilities, equipment, personnel and students. The service provides all-day education and care for up to 50 children. Families from diverse cultural backgrounds attend the centre.
Children actively engage in a calm, very well-resourced learning environment that reflects their diverse languages and cultures. They are well supported by teachers who relate positively and guide them to enact the service’s values. Children experience a balance of teacher-led and child-led learning experiences.
The curriculum is enriched by the strong connections with St Margaret’s College. Regular transition visits assist children's smooth transition to school. Children with additional needs are well supported through personalised learning plans developed in consultation with whānau and external agencies.
The curriculum is strongly based on the principles and strands of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. Teachers have explored the learning outcomes from Te Whāriki and are increasingly intentional about using these in assessment for learning processes and in designing the curriculum. Leaders and teachers are undertaking significant redevelopment of the philosophy in collaboration with children, whānau, the wider school and community to determine the learning priorities that matter most at the preschool.
Teachers are in the early stages of implementing a rich bicultural curriculum. They value and use some te reo Māori but do not yet have sufficient expertise to effectively engage children in daily conversations or use it meaningfully in written documentation.
Teachers work collaboratively to nurture children's learning and development. They regularly plan for children’s individual and group learning experiences. Teachers are building learning focused relationships with whānau to increase the focus on children’s learning and progress over time. Learning records could more deliberately show how teachers value children’s cultural identities and languages.
Leaders are improvement focused and use self-review to make changes as required. All teachers are growing their capability to do and use effective internal evaluation with the newly introduced internal evaluation process. They are yet to evaluate the impact of changes on outcomes for children.
There are effective processes and procedures to guide the operations of the service. These help to enable the learning and well-being of the children.
St Margaret’s Preschool will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:
Before the review, the staff and management of St Margaret’s Preschool 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.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini
4 February 2022
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Early Childhood Service Name |
St Margaret’s Preschool |
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Profile Number |
46761 |
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Location |
Christchurch |
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Service type |
Education and care service |
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Number licensed for |
50 children two years and over |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
100% |
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Service roll |
43 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori 4, NZ European/Pākehā 17, Chinese 11 and Other ethnic groups 11 |
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Review team on site |
November 2021 |
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Date of this report |
4 February 2022 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, October 2018; Education Review, June 2013 |
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
The centre is well placed to promote positive outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
St Margaret's Pre-school is part of the St Margaret's College learning community in Merivale. The purpose built pre-school enables regular and easy access to the college facilities, equipment, personnel and students.
The service provides all-day education and care for up to 50 children from 2 years of age. At the time of this ERO review, there were 43 children enrolled. This is the first ERO review of the service since it was established in 2015.
The executive principal of St Margaret's College is the licensee and, with the St Margaret's trust board, takes responsibility for governance oversight. A director manages the pre-school and takes overall responsibility for day-to-day operations and professional support for teachers and staff. There are currently five qualified teachers, and three other teaching staff. Staffing has been stable and consistent.
The service aims to encourage children to be curious about their world, develop inquiring minds, be creative and confident communicators, responsible citizens and love learning.
The pre-school's philosophy, clear vision and the Anglican Christian values that the St Margaret's College learning community share, are meaningfully reflected in centre programmes and practices.
The pre-school is a welcoming and inclusive environment. Teachers actively foster positive relationships with children, parents, whānau and community. Children and families transitioning into the centre are welcomed and supported to develop a strong sense of wellbeing and belonging. A number of ways are used to communicate, inform, and encourage engagement with families. Parents are well informed of their child’s learning interests and participation through informative wall displays individual learning records and a learning diary that is sent to parents 2-3 times per week. Parents are also invited to participate in regular meetings, interviews and events.
Teachers are sensitive and responsive to the individual interests, strengths and capabilities of children. They actively engage with children in their play. Children are effectively supported to develop social competencies, initiate relationships and maintain friendships. Children's language development is well supported. Teachers engage children in meaningful conversations to develop and extend their language and conversation skills.
Children benefit from spacious, well-resourced and presented learning areas which promote their curiosity and inspire exploration. There are a wide range of learning opportunities and easily accessible resources for children. Literacy and numeracy are prioritised and evident in programmes in ways that are meaningful to children. The pre-school makes good use of the St Margaret's College specialist facilities, resources, students, and personnel to extend children and enhance their learning opportunities and enrich the curriculum. Technology is thoughtfully integrated into the learning programme.
Teachers foster a collaborative learning and work environment. They work in a professional and collegial teaching team. They are reflective in their practice, and information from assessments is effectively used to inform planning. Teachers' individual strengths are well utilised. The strengths of each teacher are valued and used to support the provision of a rich and varied curriculum and the successful operation of the centre.
The pre-school has a clear framework for self review that is focused on improving outcomes for children and is responsive to identified priorities. Self review ensures ways to seek multiple voices. There is an ongoing focus on building reflective and evaluative practices. A next step would be to strengthen understanding and consistency in the use of evaluative questioning in self review.
The pre-school leadership prioritises positive outcomes for children and seeks ongoing improvement in practices. Leaders encourage teachers’ professional development, and provide opportunities for teachers to grow leadership capability. Teachers participate in a robust appraisal process which is aligned with the St Margaret's College appraisal system. The appraisal system enhances teaching practices and supports ongoing reflection and wellbeing.
The pre-school is well led and managed. The executive principal of St Margaret's College, the director of the pre-school and teachers communicate effectively and work collaboratively together. Those responsible for governing and managing the service have a good understanding of, and capability to carry out, their roles and responsibilities.
The pre-school has identified, and ERO agrees, that the next steps for the pre-school's development should include:
Before the review, the staff and management of St Margaret's Pre-school 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 St Margaret's Pre-school will be in three years.
Alan Wynyard
Director Review & Improvement Services
Te Waipounamu - Southern Region
27 November 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 |
Christchurch |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
46761 |
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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 |
50 children |
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Service roll |
43 |
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Gender composition |
Boys: 22 Girls: 21 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
7 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% + |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Over 2 |
1:7 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
September 2018 |
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Date of this report |
27 November 2018 |
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Most recent ERO report |
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.