204 - 206 Captain Springs Road, Onehunga, Auckland
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 |
| Curriculum | Meeting |
| Premises and facilities | Meeting |
| Health and safety | Meeting |
| Governance, management and administration | Meeting |
At the time of the review, ERO found the service was taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.
This is one of six My Kindy services operating under the same organisation. The service has new governance and management since the 2018 ERO report. A small number of children are Māori, and nearly half of children are from Pacific heritages in a diverse roll.
Adults providing education and care engage in meaningful, positive interactions to enhance children’s learning and nurture reciprocal relationships. Teachers know children well and respond to their interests, needs and preferences. They demonstrate an understanding of children’s learning and development, and knowledge of relevant theories within their practice. They now need to document this within their planning and assessment to better respond to children’s progress of learning over time.
The design and layout of the premises support the provision of different types of indoor and outdoor experiences. This includes quiet spaces, areas for physically active play and space for a range of individual and group learning experiences.
Next steps include:
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Patricia Davey
Director of Early Childhood Education (ECE)
6 December 2023
| Early Childhood Service Name | MyKindy Onehunga |
| Profile Number | 47041 |
| Location | Onehunga, Auckland |
| Service type | Education and care service |
| Number licensed for | 60 children, including up to 20 aged under 2 |
| Percentage of qualified teachers | 80-99% |
| Service roll | 43 |
| Review team on site | November 2023 |
| Date of this report | 6 December 2023 |
| Most recent ERO report(s) | Previously reviewed as Blossoms Educare Onehunga: 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 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.
Blossoms Educare Onehunga is an early childhood education and care centre located in Onehunga, Auckland. The service is licensed for 83 children over the age of two years, including a maximum of 20 children under the age of two years. The centre's roll is multicultural with a majority of Pacific children attending from the local community.
The centre is housed within a new, purpose-built building that opened in 2016. This is the first ERO report for this service. The centre is one of 11, operating under the larger Blossoms Educare organisation.
The centre owner is fully involved in the daily operation of the service. As a qualified early childhood teacher, she supports the development of curriculum, assessment and the evaluation of children's learning. An experienced centre manager has overall responsibility for the centre's learning programmes and activities.
Children play in two age-related learning environments. The area for children under two years is designed for babies to have their own space. They are also able to join in with older toddlers in the adjacent space. The learning room for children two to five years old is a large open environment with two distinct areas designed around a central kitchen. Each room is professionally led by an experienced team leader.
The centre's philosophy highlights the importance of whānau partnership in children's learning. Leaders and teachers make equitable provision for children and families to attend the centre where transport needs are a barrier.
Children benefit from supportive relationships between child, teacher and family that foster children's wellbeing and their sense of belonging. Centre staff are working towards effective partnerships with families that promote and develop children's individualised learning.
The centre is purposefully working with the Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum document, to establish good consistent practice in early childhood education and care. Children under two years receive good quality care. Teachers are respectful of babies and toddlers and encourage strong, affirming attachments between children, teachers and parents. The relaxed, open ambience of the under two area supports children's sense of belonging. Teachers work closely with families to ensure home routines are followed.
The centre's learning environment encourages children to play cooperatively and collaboratively. The learning rooms are open and well designed to allow children to select and locate their play and learning resources. The range of learning experiences gives opportunity for staff to promote children's social skills and friendships. Some early literacy and numeracy skills are integrated into the context of play.
Teachers use assessment practices that respond well to what they notice about each child's interests and strengths. They share this information with families through learning stories and conversations, encouraging parents to participate and contribute to their children's learning progress.
The centre leaders are developing processes to ensure that teachers are well supported to keep their practice current. Professional development is accessed that is suitable for teachers' individual and collective needs. Staff appraisal and registration systems meet the requirements of the Education Council. Organisation leaders are working towards more clarity in the documentation of the appraisal process.
Centre staff are committed to engaging with te reo me te ao Māori. Children's interests, centre celebrations and events reflect bicultural New Zealand, Pacific cultures and the other ethnicities of the children who attend the service. Families feel a sense of welcome and inclusion.
The larger Blossoms Educare organisation provides the centre with good processes, systems and updated policies. Strategic planning is in place for the centre, and would benefit from more regular evaluation of progress against the stated goals. Evaluation is becoming more responsive to identified areas for service improvement.
The centre philosophy is being meaningfully reviewed as centre practice continues to develop past the establishment phase of 2016.
Centre staff agree that next priorities for centre development are:
Before the review, the staff and management of Blossoms Educare Onehunga 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 Blossoms Educare Onehunga will be in three years.
Julie Foley
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)
Te Tai Raki - Northern Region
27 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.
| Location | Onehunga, Auckland | ||
| Ministry of Education profile number | 47041 | ||
| Licence type | Education & Care Service | ||
| Licensed under | Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 | ||
| Number licensed for | 83 children, including up to 20 aged under 2 | ||
| Service roll | 81 | ||
| Gender composition | Girls 44 Boys 37 | ||
| Ethnic composition | Māori Pākehā Samoan Indian Tongan Fijian Niuean Cook Islands Māori other | 12 7 14 10 10 8 5 4 11 | |
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates | 80% + | ||
| Reported ratios of staff to children | Under 2 | 1:4 | Better than minimum requirements |
| Over 2 | 1:8 | Better than minimum requirements | |
| Review team on site | May 2017 | ||
| Date of this report | 27 June 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.