Grow Active Welles St

1 ERO’s Judgements

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. 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 Grow Active Welles Street are as follows:

2 Context of the Service

Grow Active Welles Street is one of three early childhood services operating under Grow Active Canterbury Ltd. There has been significant restructuring within the organisation since the 2021 ERO review. The owners are supported by a regional manager. Centre business managers and curriculum leaders are responsible for the day-to-day operations of each centre. This centre’s roll is culturally diverse including a small number of tamariki Māori and children of Pacific heritages.  

3 Summary of findings

Children’s mana is recognised and fostered within a responsive curriculum. Well resourced, age-appropriate environments provide challenges and opportunities for children to be fully involved in a variety of learning experiences. Infants and toddlers experience calm and unhurried routines. Teachers are responsive to their verbal and nonverbal cues, giving them the space and time to freely explore. Older children are encouraged to take care of the environment and be independent.

The bicultural curriculum is in the early stages of development. Aspects of tikanga Māori are evident in practice. Some te reo Māori is used within the daily curriculum and integrated within children’s learning records Parents and whānau are invited to share their child’s mihi and their aspirations for their child’s learning. 

Teachers continue to develop their understanding and use of the learning outcomes from Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. Parents are invited to contribute their aspirations for their child’s learning. Teachers document and respond to these. Processes for assessment and planning for children’s learning are relatively new. Service leaders agree that this is an area for ongoing refinement. 

Leaders are improvement focussed. Professional development is provided to build leadership capability. There are planned opportunities to share learning among the teaching and leadership team. Teachers are supported in their professional growth cycles by the leadership team.  

Those responsible for governance and management systematically monitor regulatory and professional requirements. Resourcing aligns to the services philosophy, vision, and goals for learning. Internal evaluation is not yet well understood across the organisation. A stronger focus is now required on learner outcomes, to support decision making. 

4 Improvement actions

Grow Active Welles Street will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:

• Increase teachers’ understanding of the purpose and use of the learning outcomes from Te Whāriki to determine valued learning for children at this centre. 
• Continue to strengthen the bicultural curriculum by increasing opportunities for children to hear and speak meaningful te reo Māori and seeking whānau Māori contributions to the curriculum and to their child’s learning. 
• Make visible children's individual cultures, languages and learner identities in their assessment documentation. 

Grow Active governance will include in its Quality Improvement Planning:

• Build capability across the organisation to understand the purpose and use of internal evaluation for improvement with a focus on learner outcomes.
• Develop a process for reporting that has a clear focus on priorities for children's learning to show what is and is not working and for whom. 

5 Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Grow Active Welles Street 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:

• curriculum
• premises and facilities
• health and safety practices
• governance, management, and administration.

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; safety checking; teacher registration; ratios)
• relevant evacuation procedures and practices.

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)

2 May 2024 

6 About the Early Childhood Service