35 Newbury Street, Awapuni, Palmerston North
View on mapAkarangi | Quality Evaluations evaluate the extent to which early childhood services have 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 and Early Childhood Education (ECE) Improvement Framework (teacher led services) are the basis for making judgements about the quality of the service in achieving equity and excellence for all learners. Evaluations for improvement | Ngā Aronga Whai Hua is integrated across all of the above domains.
ERO’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 | Not meeting |
| Premises and facilities | Meeting |
| Health and safety | Meeting |
| Governance, management and administration | Meeting |
At the time of the review, ERO identified non-compliance with regulatory standards that must be addressed.
The service is one of four under the Little Monkeys umbrella. The owner has oversight of governance, management and administration and a centre manager oversees day-to-day operations. The majority of children identify as Māori and a small number as Pacific. The service has a history of compliance concerns reported by ERO.
Infant, toddlers and young children experience meaningful and positive relationships that nurture reciprocal relationships and enhance their learning. Teachers support children’s developing social competence and understanding of appropriate behaviour. Positive steps are taken to respect and acknowledge the aspirations held by parents. Information and guidance is sought from external agencies to support teachers to work effectively with children with additional learning needs and their parents. A curriculum that provides opportunities for all children to be confident in their own culture is not evident.
ERO found areas of non-compliance in the service relating to:
[Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Services 2008, C6]
Since the onsite visit, the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:
ERO recommends the Ministry follows up with the service provider to ensure that non-compliances identified in this report are addressed promptly.
The next ERO review will be in consultation with the Ministry of Education.
Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui
3 November 2022
| Early Childhood Service Name | Little Monkeys Learning Centre |
| Profile Number | 50113 |
| Location | Palmerston North |
| Service type | Education and care service |
| Number licensed for | 30 children, including up to 12 aged under 2 |
| Percentage of qualified teachers | 100% |
| Service roll | 27 |
| Review team on site | September 2022 |
| Date of this report | 3 November 2022 |
| Most recent ERO report(s) | Akanuku | Assurance Review, April 2021; Education Review, August 2017 |
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:
ERO’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 |
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.
Little Monkeys Learning Centre is one of two privately owned, all day early learning services in the local area. Governance is shared across the services. This is their first Akanuku ERO evaluation. Since the August 2017 ERO report there is a slight increase in Māori enrolments.
Children have access to a range of experiences and opportunities, appropriate for their individual learning needs and abilities.
The curriculum supports children’s developing social competence. Teachers engage in meaningful, positive interactions and children’s preferences are respected.
Parents and teachers have opportunities to contribute to the development and review of the service’s operation. Staff take reasonable steps to promote the health and safety of children and maintain the premises and facilities.
Since the onsite visit the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliance:
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui
30 April 2021
| Early Childhood Service Name | Little Monkeys Learning Centre |
| Profile Number | 50113 |
| Location | Awapuni, Palmerston North |
| Service type | Education and care service |
| Number licensed for | 30 children, including up to 12 aged under 2. |
| Percentage of qualified teachers | 80%+ |
| Service roll | 29 |
| Ethnic composition | Māori 9, NZ European/Pākehā 14, Pacific 3, Other ethnic groups 3 |
| Review team on site | March 2021 |
| Date of this report | 30 April 2021 |
| Most recent ERO report(s) | Education Review, August 2017; Education Review, June 2015 |
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 regulated 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: