15 Kokako Street, Taihape
View on mapERO’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 |
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Curriculum |
Meeting |
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Premises and facilities |
Meeting |
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Health and safety |
Meeting |
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Governance, management, and administration |
Meeting |
At the time of the review, ERO found the service was taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.
Taihape Playcentre, administered by Te Whānau Tupu Ngātahi o Aotearoa – Playcentre Aotearoa, provides education and care for children one morning a week. A centre advisor supports the parent committee. The February 2020 ERO report identified significant non-compliances with regulatory standards. The service has addressed all areas of concern.
The programme for children is consistent with the Playcentre Aotearoa philosophy of parent-led education, learning through play and Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. Meaningful, positive interactions between the playcentre community and children enhances their learning and nurtures reciprocal relationships. The curriculum is responsive to children as confident and competent learners, encouraging them to make decisions about their learning. A language-rich environment supports literacy learning. Children’s developing social competence and understanding of appropriate behaviour is supported through an inclusive curriculum. Scheduled reviews of policies and procedures by governance are beginning to occur.
Next steps include:
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Shelley Booysen
Acting Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui
20 December 2021
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Early Childhood Service Name |
Taihape Playcentre |
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Profile Number |
51005 |
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Location |
Taihape |
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Service type |
Playcentre |
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Number licensed for |
25 children, including up to 15 aged under 2. |
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Service roll |
12 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori 3, NZ European/Pākehā 9. |
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Review team on site |
November 2021 |
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Date of this report |
20 December 2021 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, February 2020; Education Review, July 2016. |
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:
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Taihape Playcentre is not well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
Taihape Playcentre is licensed to provide mixed-age sessional education and care for 25 children one day a week. This includes 15 children up to the age of two years. At the time of this review, there are nine children enrolled and four identify as Māori.
The Playcentre Aotearoa philosophy, ‘whānau tupu ngātahi – families growing together’, is to empower parents and children to learn, play and grow together. The centre's own philosophy promotes children leading their own learning through real life experiences and positive relationships to build trust and confidence.
Since the July 2016 ERO report, the New Zealand Playcentre Federation has restructured by amalgamating all associations to form Playcentre Aotearoa. Taihape Playcentre is part of the Lower North Island Region and is supported by a regional manager and support persons.
Whānau and families share responsibility for the curriculum. Centre operation is undertaken by session support personnel and centre-elected office holders. A centre support worker and centre administrator regularly visit playcentres to provide professional support, strengthen practice and promote improvement.
Since the previous ERO report there has been a significant decline in membership. Key next steps identified in that report have not been progressed and adults have been unable to sustain some practices. Support provided to members through the time of national restructuring has been insufficient to progress needed developments.
This review was part of a cluster of 11 playcentre reviews in the Lower North Island Region.
Systems and procedures that promote children's health and safety are not effectively implemented. Implementation of emergency drills, hazard checking, sleep monitoring and analysis of accidents requires strengthening. Records are not well maintained or easily accessible by centre members.
Assessment, planning and evaluation is not currently occurring to inform the curriculum. The development of assessment and planning practices to progress children's learning is a priority. Adults should also consider how to make children's learning visible to promote their revisiting of learning experiences.
The revised parent education programme is becoming more accessible to centre members. Several members are in the process of gaining initial qualifications. Participation in Playcentre education remains a priority to grow understanding of teaching and learning practices, curriculum and functioning of the parent co-operative.
National policies and procedures have recently been introduced and parents are in the process of aligning practices to these. Ongoing support is required to enable them to understand and implement these procedures. Systematic monitoring by Playcentre Aotearoa should be strengthened to ensure licensing requirements are upheld.
The national restructuring process continues to require significant attention and support to implement an extensive range of systems and processes. Regular communication from Playcentre Aotearoa seeks to keep parents informed of progress, changes and upcoming requirements.
Self review occurs and results in changes to the environment. Parents should continue to embed their use of internal evaluation and use this to consider the impact of their actions on children's learning.
Aspects of the centre philosophy are evident in practice. Children make choices about their involvement in play. They have opportunities to follow their interests through freely accessing a range of resources. Some activities promote learning through real life experiences. Tuakana teina relationships support infants and toddlers' inclusion in the session.
Children have opportunities to engage with resources that reflect te ao Māori. Parents meaningfully weave te reo Māori into conversation.
Before the review, the staff and management of Taihape 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.
ERO found significant areas of non-compliance in the service related to:
a curriculum consistent with the prescribed curriculum framework
assessment, planning and evaluation
adults' understanding of children's learning and development and relevant theories and practices in early childhood education
completion of relevant emergency drills
monitoring sleeping children
daily hazard checking
analysis of accidents to inform hazard management
a current annual plan
required documentation being made available.
[Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, C1, C2, C4, HS8, HS9, HS12, GMA8, GMA12. Regulation 43 Curriculum Standard: general (1a)]
ERO recommends that the Ministry reassess the licence of Taihape Playcentre. ERO will not undertake a further education review of this service until the Ministry of Education is satisfied that the service meets licensing requirements.
Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region - Te Tai Pūtahi Nui
11 February 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.
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Location |
Taihape |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
51005 |
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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 |
25 children, including up to 15 aged under 2 |
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|
Service roll |
9 |
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Gender composition |
Female 6, Male 3 |
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|
Ethnic composition |
Māori NZ European/Pākehā |
4 5 |
|
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Reported ratios of adults to children |
Under 2 |
1:1 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Over 2 |
1:5 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
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Review team on site |
November 2019 |
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Date of this report |
11 February 2020 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
July 2016 |
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|
Education Review |
August 2013 |
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|
Education Review |
December 2006 |
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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.