117 Thackerary Street, Upper Hutt CBD, Upper Hutt
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.
Cottle Kindergarten is located in Upper Hutt City. It operates Monday to Friday from 8:30am until 2:30pm. Daily sessional places are available for children aged two to five years.
The kindergarten philosophy emphasises the importance of creating a community of learners that values diversity and respects the environment through agreed core values that include: relationships, social competence, risk taking, sustainability and literacy and numeracy knowledge.
Cottle Kindergarten is one of 85 kindergartens and three home-based education and care networks governed and managed by He Whānau Manaaki o Tararua Free Kindergarten Association Incorporated (the association). This is a new kindergarten association created from joining the Rimutaka and Wellington Kindergarten Associations in 2014. This is the first review for this kindergarten since the merger.
The board and managers provide governance for the organisation. Senior teachers have delegated kindergartens. Their role is to provide regular support and a range of professional learning and development opportunities for teachers.
In 2012, the Wellington association developed a framework to guide the implementation of its curriculum, Te Manawa. This document outlines criteria for curriculum delivery including expectations for assessment and planning for children’s learning. Its introduction within this and other ex-Rimutaka Kindergartens occurred during 2015 with each kindergarten adapting it to respond to its community.
The November 2013 ERO report for Cottle Kindergarten identified areas for review and development in relation to assessment practices, provision for Māori and Pacific children and self review. These areas continue to be areas of ongoing focus for improvement.
This review was part of a cluster of nine reviews in the He Whānau Manaaki o Tararua Free Kindergarten Association Incorporated.
Children experience a child-initiated, play-based curriculum. They are mostly busy, purposeful and active learners. Teachers encourage emerging interests, and support their inquiries and investigations. Children’s risk-taking within a safe environment is well supported. They make choices from the wide range of rich learning experiences.
Teachers continue to refine assessment and planning processes and increasingly make use of Te Manawa to guide their practice. They should further consider how assessment, planning and use of deliberate teaching strategies extends and challenges children’s thinking and learning.
Children develop skills that supports them to be capable and confident lifelong learners. Early literacy and numeracy experiences are meaningfully included throughout the programmes. Each child's learning and development is celebrated and shared between teachers and parents.
Teachers focus on developing strong relationships between homes and the kindergarten. Children with specific learning needs are welcomed and supported by close partnerships with whānau and external agencies. Teachers know each child and their personalities well. Parent involvement is valued. Regular communication with parents encourages increased sharing of aspirations for their child and contributes to programme decision-making.
Te ao Māori perspectives that allow children to experience te reo me ngā tikanga Māori are increasingly evident in the programme. Teachers recognise that further developing skills and strategies to successfully support Māori learners in their language, culture and identity is a next step.
Children’s sense of belonging is promoted when they start at this kindergarten. Adults support parents to settle children according to their needs. Teachers’ participation in cluster meetings with local schools and early learning centres supports establishing and building closer links with a range of schools. This involvement helps children moving to school.
The senior teacher provides termly written feedback on agreed development priorities and the quality of teaching and learning. An annual internal evaluation supports strengthening of these termly reports. There is a deliberate focus on outcomes for children and teacher/leader performance.
The head teacher provides capable professional leadership and welcomes initiative. The teaching team is collaborative. Each teacher plays an active role in the kindergarten's development. A strengthened appraisal model is being implemented across the kindergartens. This includes focused goals that build teacher and leader capability, and clearer links with the Practising Teacher Criteria.
Internal evaluation practices are becoming embedded as teachers become aware of the purpose to improve teaching and learning. There is a sound framework in place for review. Teachers have opportunities to contribute to and lead these inquiries. The senior teacher has identified key aspects of this process to continue to strengthen to improve educational outcomes for children. ERO's evaluation agrees with these findings.
Leaders, teachers and ERO agree the following key next steps are to continue to:
The association should continue to support the development of formal critique of teaching practice and strengthening responsiveness to Māori children.
Before the review, the staff and management of Cottle 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 Cottle Kindergarten will be in three years.
Patricia Davey
Deputy Chief Review Officer Central (Acting)
23 May 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.
|
Location |
Upper Hutt |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
5317 |
||
|
Licence type |
Free Kindergarten |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
40 children aged over 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
48 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys 25, Girls 23 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori |
3 |
|
|
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 |
March 2017 |
||
|
Date of this report |
23 May 2017 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
October 2013 |
|
|
Education Review |
April 2010 |
||
|
Education Review |
January 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.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Cottle Kindergarten is located in Upper Hutt and caters for children aged from two to five years. It is an all-day service licensed for 30 children and operates sessionally five days a week. It is moving to a single session for 40 children in early September 2013. At the time of this review 51 children are enrolled.
The Rimutaka Kindergarten Association (the association) governs the kindergarten effectively, and provides senior teacher support. The association is committed to maintaining the ratio of 100% qualified teachers. Well-developed policy guidelines clearly outline association expectations for developing the programme and managing day-to-day operations.
The teaching team, comprises a head teacher and three fully qualified teachers. Two are full time and one part time. They have been together for three years.
The philosophy emphasises the importance of respectfully working in partnership with families and whānau to enhance children's learning with a focus on relationships, social competence, risk taking, technology, and literacy and numeracy knowledge.
The association coordinates the Upper Hutt Professional Learning Community (UPLC) cluster. This includes teachers from the early childhood and primary sectors meeting regularly to support positive transitions to school for children. Cottle Kindergarten is part of this cluster.
The kindergarten has a positive reporting history with ERO.
This review was part of a cluster of eleven kindergarten reviews in the Rimutaka Kindergarten Association.
The core values of the kindergarten philosophy are highly evident in practice. Close relationships between teachers, children and families assist the provision of a warm and caring environment. Children are supported to manage their own behaviour. Teachers promote exploration, risk taking, active play and physical development.
The kindergarten programme is underpinned by Te Whāriki. Parent’s aspirations for their children are gathered and considered when planning for children. They notice and recognise children’s learning and interests and discuss these at the end of each session. The interests are the vehicle for providing the learning.
Through assessment and planning in portfolios, teachers clearly show children's learning. Good learning links are made over time. Teacher, child and parent input are evident. As part of an association initiative, teachers are gathering information about assessment styles. They then write alternative types of learning stories using the child as the audience. This area is developing well.
Activities affirm and build on children’s identified learning. They enhance relationships and support leadership roles.
Well-established routines give children security as they predict what is going to happen. Play is calm, purposeful and cooperative. Children enjoy positive, respectful and friendly relationships with each other. Teachers set high expectations for children and support them to take responsibility for self and group wellbeing.
A continued strength of the kindergarten is its use of information and communications technologies (ICT). Children competently use a range of ICT tools as part of their learning.
A variety of effective teaching strategies is used. As teachers play alongside children they model and enrich children’s vocabularies, make links to children's home life and past learning. They use questioning to promote thinking, foster discussions and extend play.
A strong bicultural programme has been developed and implemented. The environment reflects a focus on Māori. Teachers take time to establish open, caring and respectful relationships with whānau. Teachers listen to and interpret needs and aspirations for each child. They also ask for feedback on each child’s assessment documentation. Teachers value Māori children’s identities and see this as a key to their success as Mäori. ERO identifies that the next step is to define what success for Māori, as Māori means to the team and to whānau.
All the cultures of children enrolled are evident in the environment. Teachers weave words from countries of origin into daily practice. There is a plan to incorporate ideas from the Ministry of Education Pasifika Plan into the curriculum. ERO agrees this should assist in strengthening provisions for Pacific children.
Teachers support children’s transition to school well. Prior to transitioning, teachers speak with children and whānau and find out what will help them in the process.
The head teacher shares leadership effectively. Team members are supported to participate and grow as leaders using their personal interests and strengths. The kindergarten’s annual goals are aligned to association wide objectives. The teaching team regularly monitors progress against these.
The newly developed appraisal system is well implemented. This process affirms good practice and identifies teacher’s next steps for development. Teachers attend a range of professional development opportunities. The association senior teacher provides regular high quality reports and assists in developing leadership capacity.
Self review is a well understood process. A sound framework for self review has developed. Teachers value research as a tool and use review to improve the quality of practice and learning outcomes for children.
ERO leaders and teachers agree that key next steps are to:
Before the review, the staff and management of Cottle 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 Cottle Kindergarten will be in three years.
Joyce Gebbie
National Manager Review Services Central Region (Acting)
31 October 2013
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 |
Upper Hutt |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
5317 |
||
|
Licence type |
Free Kindergarten |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
40 children aged over 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
51 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls 28, Boys 23 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori NZ European/Pākehā Pacific Indian Other ethnic groups |
7 32 4 4 4 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80% Based on funding rates |
80% |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
N/A |
|
|
Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
August 2013 |
||
|
Date of this report |
31 October 2013 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
April 2010 |
|
|
Education Review |
January 2007 |
||
|
Education Review |
April 2003 |
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.