3 Messines Avenue, Trentham, Upper Hutt
View on mapAkarangi | Quality Evaluation evaluates the extent to which this early childhood service has 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 (PDF 3.01MB) are the basis for making judgements about the effectiveness of the service in achieving equity and excellence for all learners. The Akarangi Quality Evaluation Judgement Rubric (PDF 91.30KB) derived from the indicators, is used to inform the ERO’s judgements about this service’s performance in promoting equity and excellence.
ERO’s judgements for Aroha Montessori are as follows:
Outcome Indicators |
ERO’s judgement |
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What the service knows about outcomes for learners |
Whāngai Establishing |
Ngā Akatoro Domains |
ERO’s judgement |
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He Whāriki Motuhake The learner and their learning |
Whakaū Embedding |
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Whakangungu Ngaio Collaborative professional learning builds knowledge and capability |
Whakaū Embedding |
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Ngā Aronga Whai Hua Evaluation for improvement |
Whakaū Embedding |
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Kaihautū Leaders foster collaboration and improvement |
Whakaū Embedding |
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Te Whakaruruhau Stewardship through effective governance and management |
Whakaū Embedding |
Aroha Montessori is a privately-owned early childhood education service. The owner, supported by two qualified kaiako, manages teaching, learning and operations. The philosophy is based on five core values: love/aroha, peace/rangimarie, respect/mauri ora, diversity/tino rangatiratanga, sustainability/kaitiakitanga. Te Whariki, the early childhood curriculum, and the Montessori approach to early education.
A responsive curriculum empowers tamariki and positively enhances their mana as learners. Kaiako actively support tamariki to develop a sense of belonging, independence, confidence and resilience. Tamariki take responsibility for themselves, others. There is a strong emphasis on environmental education. They confidently engage in learning experiences for sustained periods of time.
Partnerships with parents and whānau are fostered to build tamariki social competence and emotional wellbeing. The valued learning outcomes in Te Whāriki, and teaching strategies to progress learning could be more explicit in planning, assessment and evaluation documentation.
Kaiako work collaboratively to build professional knowledge and skills that enable them to respond meaningfully to children’s interests, and support development of their knowledge and dispositions. They regularly inquire into their practice, making good use of external expertise, current research, and targeted professional development to inform ongoing improvement.
Kaiako practices promote understandings of te ao Māori in ways that are meaningful for all tamariki. There is more work to do to build kaiako cultural competence, particularly in relation to promoting the success of Māori and Pacific learners. Suitable acknowledgement of the cultures and languages of all families is not yet evident in the curriculum.
Tamariki learning and well-being, in the context of whānau and family, are at the heart of decision making. Leadership is strongly focused on improvement. Leaders and kaiako work collaboratively to develop and enact the service’s philosophy, vision and values. The individual skills and strengths of kaiako are highly valued.
A systematic approach to internal evaluation aligns well to strategic priorities. The team has yet to draw on community voice to help inform decisions about ongoing curriculum priorities. They are embedding their understanding and use of internal evaluation.
Aroha Montessori will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning. These are to:
Before the review, the staff and management of Aroha Montessori 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.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini
8 November 2021
| Early Childhood Service Name | Aroha Montessori |
| Profile Number | 55270 |
| Location | Upper Hutt |
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Service type |
Education and care service |
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Number licensed for |
20 children aged over 2 |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
|
Service roll |
24 |
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori 3, NZ European/Pākehā 12, Indian 6, Other ethnic groups 3 |
|
Review team on site |
July 2021 |
|
Date of this report |
8 November 2021 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, May 2018; Education Review, March 2015 |
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Aroha Montessori is a privately owned early learning service located in Trentham, Upper Hutt. It is licensed for 20 children aged over two years and operates five days a week. Of the 25 children enrolled, three identify as Māori and one as Pacific.
Since the March 2015 ERO report, a senior teacher has been employed to support the principal, who is the owner. The principal is responsible for day-to-day operation and leads a four-teacher team. All teachers are fully registered and two hold Montessori qualifications.
Aroha Montessori’s philosophy emphasises the importance of: biculturalism; celebrating cultural diversity; caring for the environment; partnerships with parents; preparing for school; and promoting children’s learning, independence and creativity.
The previous ERO report identified areas of practice requiring further development. These included: explicitly linking Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum and the Montessori curriculum to strengthen assessment, planning and evaluation; and improving teaching and learning through the development of appraisal and self-review processes.
Aroha Montessori's philosophy was recently reviewed with input from families and whānau. It seeks to give effect to both Montessori principles and Te Whāriki. Aligning and strengthening links between this guiding document, the centre’s vision, strategic plan and curriculum is an important next step. This should support the team to better assess, plan and evaluate teaching and learning.
Teachers know the children well. They use a range of effective strategies to support children's participation, focus thinking and extend their understanding. There is a purposeful, settled environment provided for learning and a collective sense of identity and belonging. Children's social competence is promoted and they are consistently supported to be courteous, self-managing and helpful to others.
The structured Montessori programme, mainly implemented in the morning, encourages children to learn through the use of selected resources. Literacy, mathematics and science are successfully woven throughout these sessions. A calm tone supports children’s engagement for sustained periods. They show respect for the environment, each other and their teachers.
The centre is an enviroschool and care for the natural world is strongly promoted. Children enjoy the outdoor play space, interacting with the environment and the opportunities for physical, creative, open-ended play. Increasing the range of resources and opportunities for children to explore, make choices and lead their own learning to better give effect to the principles of Te Whāriki is a next step. The team plans to continue professional learning and development (PLD) about Te Whāriki to strengthen their practice.
Te ao Māori is identified as a valued part of the children's learning experience and aspects are promoted throughout the centre. Te reo Māori is increasingly evident in profile books. Teachers have focused on improving bicultural practices and their use of te reo Māori, supported by extensive PLD. They should continue to develop their understanding of what educational success looks like for Māori and Pacific children.
Teachers' approach to planning for learning continues to require development. Children's profile books are a useful record of their learning experiences and progress through the use of Montessori materials. Recognition of their learning and achievement linked to the outcomes of Te Whāriki should be improved.
A planned review of the team's approach this year should consider:
The development of purposeful, supportive relationships with parents and whānau is given priority. Families' views are sought, valued and used to guide decisions about the learning programme and centre operation. They are well informed about their children's progress. Strengthening families' participation and partnership in their children's learning is an identified next step.
Children with additional needs are well supported by external support agencies, accessed as necessary. A number of parents and children are English language learners. Teachers implement appropriate practices to support communication and encourage friendships.
Well-established relationships with local schools support teachers to plan children's successful transition from the centre. Continuity of learning is promoted through comprehensive reports about children's learning, competencies and progress.
Leaders and teachers are building their understanding and use of internal evaluation. External support has been accessed to strengthen this development. The need to place greater emphasis on the review of priority areas of practice is a recognised next step. Having and effectively using a suitable evaluative framework that includes the use of quality indicators and evidence, is an area for development.
Emergent leadership is encouraged and nurtured. PLD is aligned to improving outcomes for children. A useful framework guides the improvement-focused appraisal process, teacher reflection and inquiry. Further development of appraisal should include observations linked to each teacher's identified goals and evidence that professional requirements are met.
Aspects of governance and management are well developed. Strategic direction is supported by detailed annual plans. Aligning identified outcomes to goals, should enable progress to be better measured and the identification of next steps. Although a range of regularly reviewed operational guidelines are in place, some need further development to enable the consistent implementation of centre and legislative expectations.
Leaders and teacher should:
continue the integration of Te Whāriki into curriculum and assessment practices to extend opportunities for children to increasingly lead their own learning
align the philosophy, strategic plan and annual plan to better identify priorities
develop a shared understanding of internal evaluation to enable ongoing improvement.
Before the review, the staff and management of Aroha Montessori 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.
Since the on-site phase of the review, the centre has further reviewed its policies and procedures in line with the requirements of the Vulnerable Children Act 2014.
The next ERO review of Aroha Montessori will be in three years.
Patricia Davey
Deputy Chief Review Officer Central (Acting)
Te Tai Pokapū - Central Region
9 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 |
Upper Hutt |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
55270 |
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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 |
20 children aged over 2 |
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Service roll |
25 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 14, Girls 11 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
3 |
|
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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: |
Over 2 |
1:10 |
Meets minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
January 2018 |
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Date of this report |
9 May 2018 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
March 2015 |
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|
Education Review |
June 2012 |
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|
Education Review |
December 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:
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.