310 Mill Road, Alfriston
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.
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. The Akarangi Quality Evaluation Judgement Rubric 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 The Gardens Education Mill Road Limited are as follows:
Outcome Indicators | ERO’s judgement |
| What the service knows about outcomes for learners | Whāngai Establishing |
Ngā Akatoro Domains | ERO’s judgement |
He Whāriki Motuhake The learner and their learning | Whāngai Establishing |
Whakangungu Ngaio Collaborative professional learning builds knowledge and capability | Whāngai Establishing |
Ngā Aronga Whai Hua Evaluation for improvement | Whāngai Establishing |
Kaihautū Leaders foster collaboration and improvement | Whakaū Embedding |
Te Whakaruruhau Stewardship through effective governance and management | Whakaū Embedding |
The Gardens Education Mill Road Limited is one of three centres under the same ownership. The purpose-built centre has five areas for different age groups of children. Families and teachers reflect the diverse cultures in the community. A small number of Māori children attend the service.
ERO’s 2018 report identified sound governance and positive relationships with families. This continues to be evident.
The service provider, assistant manager and kaiako value the role of play in supporting children’s learning. Children experience a curriculum that enables them to develop their independence and to make decisions about their learning. They have access to large indoor and outdoor spaces that support their active exploration, thinking and reasoning.
Infants and toddlers benefit from nurturing, responsive relationships with kaiako within a relaxed, calm environment. Kaiako have positive relationships with parents and children, ensuring children’s emotional wellbeing is nurtured. They use relevant strategies to support children’s developing social relationships with others.
The service acknowledges and celebrates different cultural events. Managers are considering how each child’s culture and language can be reflected in environments, resources and in children’s individual learning records.
Teachers use a bicultural planning and assessment framework that focuses on individual children’s interests, strengths and dispositions. Parents are provided regular opportunities to share their aspirations for their children’s learning. Teachers continue to embed processes that inform planning and support learning for children.
Managers value opportunities for review and improvement. A thoughtful process of long-term and spontaneous internal evaluation has been established. Teachers are developing shared understandings of how they can evaluate positive outcomes for learners in relation to Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. Teachers are committed to improving their own, and the teaching team’s practices, to support children’s learning.
The service provider and assistant manager demonstrate professional knowledge and skill. They use their individual strengths and passions to operate the service effectively. Managers work collaboratively with kaiako to implement systems and processes that drive ongoing improvements to all areas of the service. A culture of high relational trust supports retention of staff.
The Gardens Education Mill Road Limited will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:
Before the review, the staff and management of The Gardens Education Mill Road Limited 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.
Steve Tanner
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki
25 February 2021
| Early Childhood Service Name | The Gardens Education Mill Road Limited |
| Profile Number | 46789 |
| Location | Takanini, Auckland |
| Service type | Education and care service |
| Number licensed for | 100 children, including up to 35 aged under 2 |
| Percentage of qualified teachers | 80%+ |
| Service roll | 76 |
| Ethnic composition | Māori 4 NZ European/Pākehā 38 Indian 19 Chinese 6 African 5 other ethnic groups 4 |
| Review team on site | November 2020 |
| Date of this report | 25 February 2021 |
| Most recent ERO report(s) | Education Review, February 2018 |
Not well placed | Requires further development | Well placed | Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
The Gardens Education Mill Road Limited opened in 2016. It is one of a group of three centres owned by The Gardens Early Childhood Education Limited. This centre provides full day education and care for up to 100 children including up to 35 under two years old. Children are organised into five age related groups with separate outdoor areas but the two oldest groups mix together at most times. The centre caters for a culturally diverse community. The large teaching team reflects this diversity.
An experienced leadership team provides support and guidance for the group of centres. Leaders have established a management framework and overarching policies and procedures to guide centre practices. They delegate many day-to-day responsibilities to the centre supervisor and team leaders in each room.
A shared philosophy to encourage children to work at their own pace, make choices and learn self-help skills, underpins the curriculum. There is also recognition of parents' role as primary caregivers and partners in children's learning.
The teaching team comprises 15 qualified teachers. An external mentor supports many provisionally certificated teachers and is building team leaders' capacity to appraise teacher performance. Teachers are supported to participate in many professional development opportunities and to become reflective practitioners.
This review was part of a cluster of three reviews in The Gardens Early Childhood Education Limited organisation.
Children are confident, articulate and enjoy the vibrant, well-resourced environments. They have positive, respectful relationships with teachers, and are developing social skills as they play cooperatively with their peers. Children make choices from prepared resources and activities and benefit from good access to interesting outdoor environments. They are increasingly familiar with te ao Māori through waiata, karakia and cultural activities and experiences. Children's family cultures are also valued and honoured. An inclusive approach means that children with additional learning needs are welcomed and are well supported.
Care for infants and toddlers is warm and nurturing. These children benefit from very good adult to child ratios. They are encouraged to develop their independence and confidently explore suitable resources that are easily accessible to them. Toddlers regularly visit older children as they develop their mobility and social skills. Strong links between the five rooms enable children to transition easily through the centre.
Older children in rooms known as PTK (Pukeko, Tui, Kiwi) enjoy their own attractive and interesting outdoor spaces. They capably work together in small groups, communicate well with each other and make suggestions about games and resources they want. Most willingly participate in a daily set group time, but are not always being suitably engaged in learning during these times. Teachers should reflect on the extent to which this hour-long session is purposeful in supporting children's independent investigations and whether intended learning concepts are being shared with children. Teachers should also evaluate the extent that children are engaged in the Pukeko Room, with a view to increasing opportunities for children to further develop their social and communication skills and extend their play.
Teachers work alongside children and support them to make choices and engage with resources. Children respond well to this attention and want adults to be part of their play. Most teachers support children to build their language capabilities. They converse enthusiastically with children and some use questions well to encourage children's ideas and help them to solve problems. Some teachers would benefit from professional learning about supporting children's oral language development.
Teachers have made good progress in developing planning, assessment and evaluation processes. They have recently increased their focus on individual children's learning dispositions which should help them to improve continuity in children's assessment portfolios. Teachers could also include strategies that extend children's play and increase the visibility of the teachers' role. There is good evidence that teachers' use of Te Whatu Pōkeka (Kaupapa Māori Assessment for Learning) has provided them with greater respect for children's mana and the knowledge that they and their families bring with them.
The managers provide sound leadership for staff. They promote an inclusive environment, regularly consulting teachers and parents to involve them in decision making. Managers have fostered professional development to build teaching capability and have encouraged teachers to undertake individual inquiries into their practices.
The Gardens Early Childhood Education Limited organisation provides sound governance for the group of three centres. Leaders model the positive relationships that underpin the organisation's philosophy and have established a culture of meaningful internal evaluation. They are committed to the ongoing professional development of staff and to maintaining inclusive environments for diverse learners.
Leaders have identified continuing teachers' mentoring and leadership development as a key priority. This should include embedding the use of Te Whatu Pōkeka, helping teachers to develop a shared understanding of child-led learning, and a review of the ways learning environments are organised. Leaders are also supporting teachers to expand links with their communities.
Centre leaders agree that the key next steps for centre development should include:
Before the review, the staff and management of The Gardens Education Mill Road Limited 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.
The next ERO review of The Gardens Education Mill Road Limited will be in three years.
Julie Foley
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)
Te Tai Raki - Northern Region
13 February 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 | Takanini, Auckland | ||
| Ministry of Education profile number | 46789 | ||
| Licence type | Education & Care Service | ||
| Licensed under | Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 | ||
| Number licensed for | 100 children, including up to 35 aged under 2 | ||
| Service roll | 71 | ||
| Gender composition | Girls 37 Boys 34 | ||
| Ethnic composition | Māori Pākehā Chinese Indian African Samoan other European other | 6 36 12 10 3 1 1 2 | |
| Percentage of qualified teachers | 80% + | ||
| Reported ratios of staff to children | Under 2 | 1:4 | Better than minimum requirements |
| Over 2 | 1:5 | Better than minimum requirements | |
| Review team on site | December 2017 | ||
| Date of this report | 13 February 2018 | ||
| Most recent ERO report(s) | No previous ERO reports | ||
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.