Park Street, Hikurangi
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Hikurangi Kindergarten is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Hikurangi Kindergarten is one of 22 kindergartens governed and managed by the Northland Kindergarten Association (NKA). Some children and their whānau in this rural community travel long distances to attend the kindergarten.
A head teacher and two other qualified teachers make up the teaching team. The kindergarten's vision and philosophy guide teachers' practices. Teachers believe in warm, respectful relationships. They value and welcome whānau contributions and acknowledge their aspirations.
The teaching team has been part of the trial work for the development of The Hikairo Schema. The emphasis of their work has been on building culturally responsive practices in the kindergarten setting. The outcomes of this work are clearly evident.
Since the 2015 ERO review there has been good progress in addressing the key next steps identified. Some aspects, such as evaluating the effectiveness of the learning programme, are ongoing work for the team.
This review was part of a cluster of nine kindergarten reviews in the Northland Kindergarten Association.
Children are welcomed enthusiastically each day into the kindergarten whānau and are quick to settle into their play. They are well cared for and their learning is nurtured by attentive teachers. Children are well supported to know their place in the world, to grow in confidence and be proud of who they are. Teachers are strongly committed to supporting children to achieve this aspiration.
Children work for long periods of uninterrupted time to explore and engage in learning. They have freedom to choose from a wide variety of exciting resources and inviting play spaces. Some children use resources innovatively to extend their play in creative ways.
Teachers deliberately prepare the environment to encourage children to work in pairs and cooperative groups that foster friendships. There are also opportunities for children to play alone to explore ideas and resources at their own pace.
Teachers challenge children to meet high expectations and strongly support them to experience success. They have a purposeful approach to building children's social skills and language development. Teachers celebrate children's achievements to help increase their competence and confidence as learners and leaders.
Teachers know children and their whānau well. They integrate te reo Māori skilfully and naturally into daily programmes and the life of the kindergarten. Children use te reo in their play with understanding and context. They experience many aspects of the kupu inherent in The Hikairo Schema approaches. These are affirmed through the value placed by teachers on whanaungatanga, manaakitanga and the inclusive interactions between teachers, children and whānau.
Parents who spoke with ERO deeply appreciate the teachers and their welcoming approaches to whānau. They expressed the importance of the kindergarten as a central community place for children and whānau. Teachers have close connections to the community.
Teachers could make their planning and children's learning progress more visible in documentation. It would be worthwhile to record important teaching conversations about children's learning. Documentation should include children's next learning steps and planned teaching strategies. Robust evaluation should examine the effectiveness of learning, teaching and curriculum provision.
Professional practice managers (PPM) regularly visit kindergartens to provide leadership and curriculum guidance for teachers. A Pou Whakarewa Tikanga Māori Advisor works closely with teachers to increase their understanding of and focus on authentically threading te ao Māori into learning programmes. There is an organisation-wide emphasis on providing high quality resources and equipment for children. Leaders and teachers value and respect the thoughtful use of natural resources.
The Association provides a comprehensive policy and procedure framework that sets clear expectations and guides teachers’ practice. It has developed relevant appraisal and teacher inquiry processes that reflect the Teaching Council’s guidelines. Each kindergarten’s annual plan aligns to the Association’s strategic vision, values and goals. NKA employs a speech language therapist and seconds a social worker from Family Works to provide targeted support for children, whānau and teachers.
Key next steps include:
reviewing the kindergarten's philosophy in relation to teachers' new learning from The Hikairo Schema, in consultation with the kindergarten community
further developing assessment, planning and evaluation processes to make learning and teaching more visible
strengthening the evaluative aspects of internal evaluation and annual plan monitoring.
Key next steps for Association-wide development include:
further developing assessment, planning and evaluation processes
deepening understanding of evaluative thinking and internal evaluation processes to measure the effectiveness of systems and practices across the Association.
Before the review, the staff and management of Hikurangi Kindergarten 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.
Steve Tanner
Director Review and Improvement Services Northern
Northern Region
15 August 2019
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 |
Hikurangi, Northland |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
5015 |
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Licence type |
Free Kindergarten |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
30 children aged over 2 years |
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Service roll |
40 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 20 Girls 20 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
23 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% + |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
June 2019 |
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Date of this report |
15 August 2019 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
September 2015 |
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|
Education Review |
March 2012 |
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|
Education Review |
September 2008 |
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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:
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 ERO’s Approach to Review in Early Childhood Services.
The overall judgement that ERO makes will depend on how well the service promotes positive learning outcomes for children. The categories are:
Very well placed
Well placed
Requires further development
Not well placed
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.
Hikurangi Kindergarten is situated in a semi-rural township north of Whangarei. The kindergarten provides education and care for 30 children over two years of age in a mixed age group. The kindergarten caters for a high percentage of children who have Māori heritage. Children are able to attend sessions from 8:45am to 2:45pm five days a week.
The kindergarten has recently been through a significant change in staffing. An existing teacher was promoted to the head teacher position early in 2015, and a new teacher was appointed during the second term. This very new team is in the process of establishing cohesive and consistent approaches to their teaching practice, including a shared vision and philosophy for the kindergarten.
The 2012 ERO report identified some good teaching practices. It also outlined a number of areas of teaching practice that needed review and improvement. These areas included sharing expectations for professional work, improving self review as a reflective tool, and procedural practices that had been neglected. The new team are aware of the expectations about maintaining good practice.
The kindergarten operates as part of the Northland Kindergarten Association. The Association provides governance, leadership and policy frameworks to meet operational management expectations. Association personnel assist teachers to maintain good standards of health and safety and to improve the quality of educational programmes. The Association’s Pūmanawatanga Plan reflects a commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and support for the development of bicultural practices across the organisation.
This review was part of a cluster of 10 kindergarten reviews in the Northland Kindergarten Association.
The new teaching team in the kindergarten is working diligently to establish sound, collegial working relationships. Many systems and practices are being established or revived as the team works together to improve learning outcomes for children. Teachers’ enthusiasm for, and commitment to these tasks is evident. The newly revised philosophy and vision statements have been good starting points for identifying key priorities for future developments.
Teachers place a strong focus on settling children and their whānau. They have friendly and open relationships with whānau that recognise the importance of collaboration about children’s early education. These partnerships contribute positively to children’s participation and enjoyment of the programme.
There is a warm and inviting wairua and settled atmosphere in the kindergarten. Children participate in a wide range of activities and experiences. Teachers’ recent focus on improving the range of available resources and arrangement of the kindergarten environment is having a positive effect. Children are engaged and take pleasure in their self chosen play. In particular, work on enlivening the outdoor provisions for play and learning about sustainability is providing children with good opportunities to extend their play.
Children hear te reo Māori modelled often by teachers and are also beginning to use te reo Māori as they play. These beginning steps are strengthening children’s knowledge and familiarity with te reo me ngā tikanga Māori and are being well supported by the Pou Whakarewa Tikanga Māori from the Association.
Children and teachers are respectful and friendly. Teachers share conversations and children have opportunities to listen to stories and to sing together. Teachers now need to place a stronger focus on developing strategies to increase support for children’s oral language development.
Teachers have made a good start to establishing effective assessment and planning systems. They have identified goals for increasing the quality of the information they collect about children’s learning. They use this information as starting points for planning. Teachers intend to make responses to whānau aspirations more apparent in portfolio entries and to seek whānau input on a more regular basis.
Whānau expressed their pleasure with the new innovations in the programmes provided for their children. They value the kindergarten and teachers’ welcoming approaches. They believe that communication and face to face conversations with teachers are becoming strengths of the kindergarten.
The Northland Kindergarten Association provides effective governance for kindergartens. Its long term direction focuses on making decisions to improve learning outcomes for children. Positive strategies include:
Association leaders are considering ways to enhance teacher appraisal processes and systems for self review. ERO recommends that the Association strengthens systems to ensure that all health and safety requirements are being implemented.
Teachers are managing the pace of change effectively so that they are able to maintain a clear focus on next steps to improve positive outcomes for children. Teachers should use established self review processes to:
Before the review, the staff and management of Hikurangi Kindergarten 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 Hikurangi Kindergarten will be in three years.
Graham Randell
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)
10 September 2015
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 |
Hikurangi, Northland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
5015 |
||
|
Licence type |
Free Kindergarten |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
30 children, including up to 0 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
42 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys 25 Girls 17 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā other |
20 18 4 |
|
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Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
80% + |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
Review team on site |
July 2015 |
||
|
Date of this report |
10 September 2015 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
March 2012 |
|
|
Supplementary Review |
September 2008 |
||
|
Supplementary Review |
April 2007 |
||
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.