Level 2, Suite 4 93 Dominion Road, Mt Eden, Auckland
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 are the basis for making judgements about the effectiveness of the service in achieving equity and excellence for all learners. Judgements are made in relation to the Outcomes Indicators, Learning and Organisational Conditions. The Evaluation Judgement Rubric derived from the indicators, is used to inform ERO’s judgements about this service’s performance in promoting equity and excellence.
ERO’s judgements for Education Angels 1 are as follows:
Outcome Indicators(What the service knows about outcomes for learners) | Whāngai Establishing |
Ngā Akatoro Domains | |
Learning ConditionsOrganisational Conditions | Whāngai Establishing Whāngai Establishing |
Education Angels 1 is one of nine homebased networks under the same ownership. An operations manager works alongside the owner to oversee governance and curriculum. Visiting teachers work across the Auckland licences to support the delivery of the programme. The majority of educators are the children’s grandparents. Since ERO’s last visit the service has undertaken a change of name and ownership.
The homebased nature of this service provides children with an opportunity to engage with educators who speak their home language. As a result, children’s sense of belonging is well promoted.
Early literacy concepts for infants and young children are evident in some of the service’s documentation. Children’s interests and dispositional learning are identified by educators and visiting teachers. The service is beginning to explore the learning outcomes in Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. Children’s assessment records do not yet consistently use the learning outcomes to support intentional teaching and measure children’s learning.
While the use of some basic te reo Māori is incorporated into some children’s assessment documentation, te reo Māori and tikanga Māori is not yet consistently implemented into the daily curriculum. Service leaders have self-identified that te ao Māori could be made more visible within curriculum documentation and the learning environment.
There are regular opportunities for parents and whānau to contribute to the design and delivery of the curriculum. The current internal evaluation focus on the implementation of a multicultural curriculum has supported the team to seek the voice of parents. They are not yet consistently and purposefully using the information provided to inform planning for individual children.
There is a useful system for internal evaluation which focuses on improvement. A shared understanding of this process is yet to be built. Leaders now need to build on the capability and collective capacity within the team to do and use evaluation for both accountability and improvement functions.
Leaders are focused on setting clear expectations for the team. This is supported by leaders who work with both visiting teachers and educators to identify goals and provide access to professional learning. As a result, the conditions which enable relational trust and foster collaboration are being built.
Education Angels 1 will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:
Before the review, the staff and management of Education Angels 1 completed an ERO 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.
Patricia Davey
Director of Early Childhood Education (ECE)
7 August 2024
| Early Childhood Service Name | Education Angels 1 |
| Profile Number | 47340 |
| Location | Mt Eden, Auckland |
| Service type | Education and care service |
| Number licensed for | 80 children, including up to 80 aged under 2 |
| Service roll | 8 |
| Review team on site | May 2024 |
| Date of this report | 7 August 2024 |
| Most recent ERO report(s) | Education Review, May 2020 |
Not well placed | Requires further development | Well placed | Very well placed |
Top Home Based Childcare is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Top Home Based Childcare is a privately owned home-based education and care service operating in Auckland. It is licensed for 80 children from birth to school age. At the time of this ERO review, 39 educators provide education and care for 79 children. Most of the children enrolled are Chinese. Many of the educators are children's family members, such as grandparents.
The service is led by the owner, who works collaboratively with programme coordinators, educators and whānau. Programme coordinators are registered early childhood teachers. They regularly visit educators in their homes, support them to plan educational programmes for children and monitor health and safety provisions.
The service's philosophy recognises the importance of families and actively fosters responsive, reciprocal and trustful relationships with parents, whānau and educators.
This is the first ERO review of this network.
Educators and coordinators have good knowledge of children and their whānau. This is reflected in children's records where their home languages and cultures are visible. Learning records document regular visits from programme coordinators and records reflect child-led learning activities and experiences.
The service owner and coordinators have developed responsive connections with migrant families and those with English as a second language. The service philosophy and practices respond to the expectations the community has for their children. Leaders and teachers work with a local Māori leader to support educators to include te reo and tikanga Māori in children's curriculum programmes.
Coordinators provide opportunities for educators, children and whānau to come together to take part in special social and cultural events. They see this as a way of developing meaningful relationships and providing collaborative experiences for all involved. They provide educators who care for infants with teaching strategies to develop secure attachments.
The service owner has taken prompt and thorough action in response to recommendations by the Ministry of Education. Systems to monitor and sustain health and safety practices have been implemented. A framework to guide service operations and practices gives clear expectations of coordinator and educator responsibilities. Service leaders should continue to strengthen these areas.
A system of annual planning has been initiated to guide service operations. The system could be strengthened by the inclusion of long-term goals for improvement. Regular internal evaluation is used to identify areas for growth. Evaluation could be strengthened by considering the extent to which practices promote positive outcomes for children.
Coordinators benefit from both internal and external professional development relevant to the context of this service. This support is helping to increase their understanding about effective practices that best promote children's education and wellbeing. Coordinators report that working more effectively with adults is a shared goal within the team.
The service provider and ERO agree that next steps include:
Before the review, the staff and management of Top Home Based Childcare completed an ERO Home-based Education and Care 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
15 May 2020
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 | Cockle Bay, Auckland | ||
| Ministry of Education profile number | 47340 | ||
| Institution type | Homebased Network | ||
| Licensed under | Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 | ||
| Number licensed for | 80 children, including up to 80 aged under 2 | ||
| Service roll | 79 | ||
| Standard or Quality Funded | Standard | ||
| Gender composition | Girls 32 Boys 47 | ||
| Ethnic composition | NZ European/Pākehā Chinese other ethnic groups | 5 67 7 | |
| Number of qualified coordinators in the network | 3 | ||
| Required ratios of staff educators to children | Under 2 | 1:2 | |
| Over 2 | 1:4 | ||
| Review team on site | March 2020 | ||
| Date of this report | 15 May 2020 | ||
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:
Pou Whakahaere – how the service determines its vision, philosophy and direction to ensure positive outcomes for children
Pou Ārahi – how leadership is enacted to enhance positive outcomes for children
Mātauranga – whose knowledge is valued and how the curriculum is designed to achieve positive outcomes for children
Tikanga whakaako – how approaches to teaching and learning respond to diversity and support positive outcomes for children.
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 the draft methodology for ERO reviews in Home-based Education and Care Services: July 2014
The overall judgement that ERO makes will depend on how well the service promotes 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.