8 Grivelle Street, Kumeu
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.
Kumeu Montessori Preschool is a privately owned and operated service. Two qualified owners provide management and governance support. They lead a team of four qualified teachers, three unqualified staff members and an administrator. Almost a quarter of enrolled children are of Māori heritage.
A philosophy statement guides the service’s operation and expresses its values and attitudes about the provision of early childhood education and care. The service curriculum is informed by planning, assessment, and evaluation and supports children’s developing social competence.
Adults providing education and care engage in meaningful positive interactions to enhance children’s learning and nurture reciprocal relationships. A range of experiences are provided to children to extend their learning and development both indoors and outdoors, individually and in groups.
Owners need to monitor health and safety practices to ensure regulatory standards are maintained.
During and since the onsite visit, the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:
Having a procedure for monitoring children’s sleep that states children do not have access to food or liquids while in bed (HS9).
Ensuring that equipment, premises, and facilities are checked every day of operation for hazards to children. This includes consideration of vandalism; dangerous objects and foreign materials; the condition and placement of learning, play and other equipment; and windows and other areas of glass (HS12).
Ensuring that water stored in a hot water cylinder is kept at a temperature of at least 60°C (HS14).
Ensuring that the template to record special excursions includes evidence of parental permission and approval of the adult:child ratio, and an assessment and management of risk is undertaken when children leave the premises on an excursion (HS17).
Having evidence of parental permission for any travel by motor vehicle and ensuring that each child is restrained as required by Land Transport legislation (HS18).
Maintaining a record of all medicine (prescription and non-prescription) given to children attending the service that includes the name and amount of medicine given, and evidence of parental acknowledgement they have been advised medication was administered (HS28).
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Filivaifale Jason Swan
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki
23 February 2023
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Early Childhood Service Name |
Kumeu Montessori Preschool |
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Profile Number |
46856 |
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Location |
Kumeu, Auckland |
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Service type |
Education and care service |
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Number licensed for |
60 children, including up to 8 aged under 2 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
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Service roll |
59 |
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Review team on site |
January 2023 |
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Date of this report |
23 February 2023 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, March 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.
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 Akanuku | Assurance Review process is determined to be appropriate.
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 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:
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 certification; ratios)
relevant evacuation procedures and practices.
As part of an Akanuku | 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.
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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.
Kumeu Montessori Preschool is licensed to provide full day education and care for up to 50 children aged over two years. Children are cared for in two separate indoor spaces. They share a covered deck and outdoor play space. The Muriwai room caters for children aged two to three and a half years, and the Piha room caters for those aged three and a half to six years.
The service is privately owned and moved to its current location in 2015. The owners of the centre, one of whom is a qualified teacher, have active roles in teaching and centre management. They lead a team of four other qualified teachers and three teachers in training. The team is reflective of the cultural diversity of enrolled families.
The philosophy of the service is strongly underpinned by the development of positive and sensitive relationships with children and their whānau. The curriculum is based on Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, integrated with the principles of the Montessori Method. Teachers believe in planning for each child's individual needs and are committed to continuing their own professional learning and development.
The 2015 ERO report identified effective programme planning processes, a collaborative teaching team and the caring and responsive relationships between teachers, children and whānau. These aspects of quality care continue to be very evident in practice. Areas identified for ongoing development were the strengthening of emergent planning, bicultural practice and teachers' appraisals. There has been a very positive response in all three areas.
The service's philosophy is very evident in practice. Children are confident, capable and self-motivated. Learning experiences provided by teachers offer opportunities for children to take appropriate risks and build their confidence. Each child's uniqueness is celebrated. Teachers' practices support children to develop a strong sense of belonging in this environment.
Teachers work with children in ways that are deeply respectful. They set a relaxed and calm pace to a routine that allows long periods of uninterrupted time for children to become engaged in and sustain their play. Teachers value children's ideas and listen well. They are thoughtful facilitators of children's learning and skilled at prompting more complex thinking.
Centre resources encourage children's critical thought and wondering. Teachers competently offer a wide curriculum that is strongly inclusive of literacy and mathematics. The programme is focused on holistic development and is responsive to each child's individual interests, preferences and learning levels. Children's developing social competence is very well supported.
Partnerships with parents and whānau are established through informal and formal meetings and conversations. Their aspirations for children's learning are discussed, recorded and responded to in very positive ways by teachers and centre leaders. The service is welcoming and inclusive to all children and their families.
The unique bicultural heritage of Aotearoa is authentically acknowledged in the environment and teaching practice. The service is strongly committed to creating an environment where differences in culture and belief are respected and celebrated. The well established relationships between teachers and parents and whānau allow them to learn from each other and value each one's uniqueness.
Teachers work collaboratively to plan a programme that is responsive to children's interests, needs and abilities. Teachers analyse learning stories well. They identify children's individual learning and plan their responses to extend children's progress. Their evaluation of the programme is ongoing. This allows teachers to bring fresh ideas and to be responsive to ongoing learning. They skilfully weave together teacher initiated and child led activities and investigations.
Management has established a detailed framework of policies and procedures and a cycle of ongoing review. Very robust systems of internal evaluation and teacher appraisal are producing positive outcomes for children. Management is very supportive of teachers' aspirations for their own learning and development. Alignment is evident between annual and strategic plans, internal evaluation and teacher appraisal. The centre is very well led.
Teachers have established a culture of reflective practice that leads to ongoing development and improvement. They work well together as a team.
In order to continue to build their high quality provision for children's learning, the staff intend to focus on the continued development of their knowledge and use of te reo Māori. They also intend investigating ways the programme could further support children's opportunities to be truly creative and expressive.
Before the review, the staff and management of Kumeu Montessori 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:
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 Kumeu Montessori Preschool will be in four years.
Julie Foley
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)
Te Tai Raki - Northern Region
13 March 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 |
Kumeu, Auckland |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
46856 |
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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 over 2 years of age |
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Service roll |
46 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 26 Girls 20 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
2 |
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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 |
January 2018 |
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Date of this report |
13 March 2018 |
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Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
May 2015 |
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|
Education Review |
April 2012 |
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|
Education Review |
November 2008 |
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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.