2a Haggit Street, Feilding
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.
Rainbow Steps Learning Centre is a well-established, family-owned, all-day education and care service near Feilding.
The centre owner is responsible for the governance and management and the day-to-day running of the service and works as a full time teacher.
The centre philosophy promotes a focus on children’s wellbeing and belonging, where relationships are valued, in a family-like atmosphere.
The March 2016 ERO report identified a need for Ministry of Education support to further develop centre practices in order to improve outcomes for children. These included: self review; assessment; planning bicultural practices; interactions; teacher appraisal; and professional leadership, governance and management. Improvements are evident in all identified areas. The centre leader has undertaken an extensive course to improve leadership.
Staff have been involved in external professional development, with a focus on strengthening early learning opportunities for children, whānau, families and communities. This involved: assessment and planning; interactions to extend children's thinking; and bicultural practices. Professional learning has assisted staff to strengthen centre operation.
Children are well supported to become confident communicators and to participate in collaborative and independent learning opportunities. Teachers use a range of strategies that progress and extend children's learning and their oral language.
Teachers demonstrate a knowledge of individual children and their learning. They have improved their planning for learning through better responding to children's current needs and interests. Learning stories appropriately capture developing dispositions, progress and skills of learners. Group and individual planning is becoming evident in portfolios and shared with parents through displays within the centre. A next step is to include, and respond to in this planning, the aspirations parents and whānau have for their children's learning.
Te ao Māori is prioritised and promoted. There is a deliberate focus on building te reo Māori capacity of teachers and children. Teachers are involved in ongoing professional development to further develop their knowledge of te reo me ngā tikanga Māori and the implications of this in the service's curriculum. They are considering ways to authentically integrate this into the daily programme and the developing, localised curriculum.
Professional learning supports the ongoing provision of improved learning opportunities for children. Internal and external appraisal is well considered and supports teacher growth and movement towards centre goals. Appraisal processes have been strengthened and aligned to the expectations for teacher attestation.
The head teacher's leadership practice effectively guides developments within the centre. She appropriately seeks guidance and has promoted the capacity building of staff. Improved systems and processes for centre operations and improvement are well considered and implemented.
Clear expectations, within a guiding framework, inform decision making, strategic planning and actions. Long term priorities are clearly actioned in annual planning.
A range of useful formats are used to review and evaluate the impact of changes on children and their learning. This is regularly undertaken, led by the centre manager, and results in improvement. A next step is to continue to deepen teachers' understanding of internal evaluation, including the use and value of evidence to support evaluative judgements.
ERO identified the need for the manager and staff to:
Before the review, the staff and management of Rainbow Steps Learning Centre 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 Rainbow Steps Learning Centre will be in three years.
Patricia Davey
Deputy Chief Review Officer Central (Acting)
Te Tai Pokapū - Central Region
24 May 2018
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 |
Feilding |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
52545 |
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Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
27 children, including up to 8 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
32 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 17, Girls 15 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
4 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
80% + |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:3 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1.9 |
Meets minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
March 2017 |
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Date of this report |
24 May 2018 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
March 2016 |
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Supplementary Review |
March 2013 |
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|
Education Review |
October 2011 |
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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 |
Management, leadership and systems require further development for Rainbow Steps Learning Centre to be well placed to promote positive outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Rainbow Steps Learning Centre is a family-owned full-day education and care service near Feilding. The centre has been part of the local community for many years.
The centre owner is responsible for the governance and management of the centre. She is also in charge of the day-to-day running of the centre and works as a full time teacher.
Significant issues affecting the services viability in 2015 resulted in changes to staffing, minimum child attendance requirements, and some operational processes. Up until then staffing was stable.
The centre philosophy promotes a focus on children’s well-being and belonging, where relationships are valued, in a family-like atmosphere.
Since the March 2013 ERO report, staff have been involved in external professional development to assist them to review the centre philosophy and ways of promoting children’s positive behaviour. Some progress has been made in response to the previous ERO report.
This service has a variable ERO reporting history.
Children experience caring relationships that supports their sense of belonging. Staff are responsive to individual needs. They make some useful links to home in their discussions with children. A next step is for staff to make wider and more positive use of conversations to extend children’s language, problem solving and thinking.
Children are familiar with centre routines and expectations. A good range of resources allow children to make choices and play independently. The outdoor area provides useful opportunities to learn about the natural world and to care for the environment.
Staff should strengthen the bicultural programme and build on te ao Māori in the curriculum. This should give improved significance to Māori learners’ culture, language and identity.
A focus for management has been on building sustainability practices. The centre manager has recently accessed support from an external mentor to assist her and provide professional guidance. It is timely to clarify and develop shared understanding of roles and responsibilities in governance, management, leadership and teaching.
Strategic and annual planning requires development to sufficiently focus on the centre priorities, and include plans for improving teaching and learning. Aspects of assessment, planning and evaluation processes need improvement.
A self-review process is in use and assists teachers to inquire into some aspects of centre operation. The process continues to be an area for ongoing development. Internal evaluation should more clearly show the impact of teachers’ practices on children’s learning.
Staff appraisal was not carried out in 2015. Some progress has been made in developing a centre process to support teachers to improve their teaching practice. This has yet to be fully implemented. Opportunities for the centre leader to inquire into and develop leadership is an important aspect in appraisal and a priority to improve outcomes for children.
The centre has yet to fully address areas for development identified in the previous ERO report. The manager and staff need to improve and develop their understanding of and practices in:
Before the review, the staff and management of Rainbow Steps Learning Centre 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
ERO identified areas of non-compliance relating to governance and management and the provision of an effective early childhood education for children. To meet requirements the service needs to improve its performance in the following areas:
ERO recommends that the service consult with the Ministry of Education and plan to address the key next steps and actions outlined in this report.
The next ERO review of Rainbow Steps Learning Centre will be within two years.
Joyce Gebbie
Deputy Chief Review Officer Central
22 March 2016
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 |
Feilding |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
52545 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
27 children, including up to 8 aged up to 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
25 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys 16, Girls 9 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori |
8 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ |
80% + |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:4 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
January 2016 |
||
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Date of this report |
22 March 2016 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Supplementary Review |
March 2013 |
|
|
Education Review |
October 2011 |
||
|
Supplementary Review |
April 2008 |
||
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 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.