Allison Street, Opunake
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Opunake Playcentre is one of 17 parent-led early childhood centres administered by the Taranaki Playcentre Association (the association). A management team of elected volunteers oversees operation at governance level and provides the adult education programme, guidance and support for members.
The playcentre is licensed to provide mixed-age sessional education and care for 30 children, three days a week. This includes 15 children up to the age of two years.
The service’s philosophy values a holistic approach to cater for individual children's interests. It appropriately reflects the Playcentre philosophy of parent-led education, learning through play and the principles and strands of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum.
Centre supporters are employed by the association to regularly visit playcentres. Their role is to provide professional advice and feedback to strengthen practice and promote improvement. Responsibility for day-to-day operation is undertaken by centre-elected office holders. Parents share the duties associated with implementing the programme.
The New Zealand Playcentre Federation is planning a significant restructure for 2017 that includes amalgamating all playcentre associations. Playcentres will become part of a regional hub, supported by a regional manager and support persons.
The February 2014 ERO report for the playcentre identified that centre members needed to provide parents with targeted support in assessment and increase understandings and use of self review, including further development of annual planning. Progress is evident to varying degrees in all areas.
This review was part of a cluster of eight reviews in the Taranaki Playcentre Association.
Children benefit from relationships that are positive and warm. Families' and children’s sense of belonging is fostered. Adults affirm and encourage children’s efforts. They are mostly involved and engaged with their own and others’ children. There are many opportunities for sustained play and learning. Some adults are skilled at extending children’s interests and thinking.
The environment is well resourced and maintained. Children and adults frequently enjoy shared mathematical and literacy experiences. Children’s independence and, at times, self-help skills are promoted.
The parent-led committee and supervision teams are made up of parents and whānau who bring useful skills and knowledge to their role. This is reflected in the increasing numbers participating in training and taking on leadership roles.
Centre members have refined and developed planning and evaluation processes to better support adults in responding to children’s interests. These include wall displays that show children’s current interests and ways adults can provide resources and activities to promote these. Further development should include a stronger emphasis on identifying and responding to children’s learning.
Positive initiatives support children and their families’ induction into the centre. Centre members should investigate further ways to liaise and share information so that children’s confidence and capability at playcentre transfers to the new entrant classrooms.
Following professional training, key centre members are in the early stages of leading internal evaluation that is improvement focused and informs decision-making. Strategic and annual planning identifies the service’s priorities and associated actions for achieving objectives. Members should continue to implement this learning and use internal evaluation to identify how well their practices improve outcomes for children.
There are a few opportunities for children to hear Māori language through greetings and basic use of te reo Māori. Programmes increasingly include Māori concepts, values and beliefs. The association Māori representative of Puriri Whakamaru o Taranaki, supports centre members to gain further understandings of te ao Māori and this aspect is developing well as an integral part of the curriculum. Association and centre leaders should use strategic planning and internal evaluation to ensure the good practice occurring is sustained and continues to be built on.
The centre support person provides written reports that generally affirm environmental developments and programme practices. These reports should more deliberately focus on outcomes for children and next steps for centre members to improve teaching and learning. This should include a focus on providing centre members with evaluative feedback that assists them to sustain and further enhance the good practice already occurring.
Appraisal for centre supporters requires strengthening. The process should include: more focused goals that build their capability; and more regular and targeted feedback and feed forward about practices that enhance outcomes for children and their families.
The association should continue to support centre members to:
further refine and develop assessment and planning practices and evaluation of children’s progress over time.
The association should:
improve appraisal for the centre support people to support individual needs and identify professional development to support them in their leadership roles
build centre support staff knowledge and capability to undertake effective internal evaluation.
Before the review, the staff and management of Opunake Playcentre 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 Opunake Playcentre will be in three years.
Joyce Gebbie Deputy Chief Review Officer Central
13 March 2017
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 |
Opunake |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
50009 |
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Licence type |
Playcentre |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
30 children, including up to 15 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
40 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 24, Girls 16 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
7 |
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Reported ratios of adults to children |
Under 2 |
1:3 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:3 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
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Review team on site |
December 2016 |
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Date of this report |
13 March 2017 |
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Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
February 2014 |
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|
Education Review |
November 2010 |
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Education Review |
May 2007 |
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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.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Opunake Playcentre is a community-based service located in rural Taranaki. The centre is licensed for 30 children and offers two sessions each week. Children who identify as Māori make up a third of the roll.
The playcentre is one of 17 parent-led services governed under the Taranaki Playcentre Association (the association) umbrella. The governance of these centres has recently reverted to a structure where all centre representatives contribute to association decisions and priorities.
This review was part of a cluster of 14 reviews in the Taranaki Playcentre Association.
Parents as educators work collaboratively to promote and support children’s learning through play. Children’s emerging interests are documented and updated to assist ongoing planning and evaluation of learning. Continued targeted support and documented feedback through associationled initiatives should continue to increase parents’ knowledge of assessment.
As a response to ERO's 2010 report, increased emphasis on bicultural perspectives and opportunities for Māori children to achieve success as Māori are evident. A group of parent bicultural office holders, using external support, is beginning to lead initiatives to increase the use of te reo me ngā tikanga Māori. Children enjoy using resources including the developing whare space to celebrate and promote their identity and culture. These developments are supported by the Puriri W’akamaru o Taranaki role established by the association to build bicultural understandings. Acknowledged next steps are to develop strategies and approaches to effectively promote Māori children to enjoy success as Māori.
Parents, whānau and children are encouraged and supported to take on leadership roles. Collaborative leadership that demonstrates a commitment to the centre philosophy and principles of the early childhood curriculum are evident. Good use of succession planning and training enables emergent leaders to gain experience and the benefit of support from former office holders at the centre.
Creativity and dramatic play are valued. Children have many opportunities to express themselves through well-resourced learning spaces. Literacy and numeracy are appropriately integrated into the curriculum.
High adult-to-child ratios assist positive and productive interactions that are responsive and affirming. Toddlers and babies are well catered for to make secure attachments with parents, adults and other children. Supervised mixed-age learning enables children to develop through tuakana teina relationships.
Parents are developing knowledge and confidence to plan learning that is responsive to children’s interests. Planned excursions and cultural days enrich children’s experiences and opportunities to extend their learning. Association support for parents to further develop assessment skills should assist with evaluating the quality of curriculum and learning outcomes for children.
Both Opunake Playcentre and the association have annual plans that inform operational decisions. However, there are few links between the association and individual playcentre goals. The association’s strategic vision does not effectively focus on priorities for improving teaching and learning.
The centre's annual strategic plans involve a comprehensive list of centre-driven priorities, tasks and operations, some of which appropriately include ongoing improvement in the quality of teaching, assessment and learning. To better assist self review of centre effectiveness, more specific action plans and success indicators should be developed for monitoring progress towards goals in these key areas.
Generic association policies guide or inform many centre practices. ERO and centre leaders identify the need to review and develop some policies, procedures and practices to better cater for the needs and aspirations of parents and whānau. This includes review and evaluation of the quality and effectiveness of programmes and strategies for children’s transitions to school.
Regular visits by association personnel provide advice and guidance. Positive relationships between playcentres and those in support roles are evident. The association offers opportunities for parents to train in the playcentres’ early childhood education courses. Extending and improving the support the association offers to playcentres is an important next step.
Centre leaders, in partnership with the association, should:
The association would benefit from external support to strengthen and improve its understanding of:
annual and strategic planning that better informs priorities for teaching and learning
relevant approaches to assessment, planning and evaluation
fostering opportunities for Māori children and whānau to have success as Māori
supporting members understanding of teaching and learning and regulatory requirements
current approaches to self review.
Before the review, the staff and management of Opunake Playcentre 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.
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 Opunake Playcentre will be in three years.
Joyce Gebbie
National Manager Review Services Central Region (Acting)
19 February 2014
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 |
Opunake |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
50009 |
||
|
Licence type |
Playcentre |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
30 children, including 15 aged up to 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
25 |
||
|
Gender composition |
13 boys, 12 girls, |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori NZ European/Pākehā Pacific |
8 16 1 |
|
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:3 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:3 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
November 2013 |
||
|
Date of this report |
19 February 2014 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
November 2010 |
|
|
Education Review |
May 2007 |
||
|
Education Review |
March 2004 |
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.