Waverley Kindergarten

Education institution number:
5529
Service type:
Free Kindergarten
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
44
Telephone:
Address:

195 George Street, Invercargill

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Waverley Kindergarten - 22/05/2020

1 Evaluation of Waverley Kindergarten

How well placed is Waverley Kindergarten to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Not well placed

Requires further development

Well placed

Very well placed

Waverley Kindergarten is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.

Background

Waverley Kindergarten offers education and care for 45 children aged two years to school age. The service philosophy states that kindness and empathy underpin everything it does. It also emphasizes the importance of its sense of community, whanaungatanga, and being kaitiaki for the environment.

This is one of 23 kindergartens within the Kindergartens South Association (KS). KS is managed by a board of governors and a general manager. The general manager works with a team of senior teachers whose role is to support head teachers and staff working within each kindergarten.

Since the August 2017 ERO report there have been a number of changes within the board of governors and across KS management. The report recommended the kindergarten clearly define the philosophy in collaboration with whānau and increase the use of data in internal evaluation practices. The KS also needed to further develop systems to develop and improve the kindergarten's operations and practices. The KS, general manager and kindergarten leaders have made very good progress addressing the recommendations in the 2017 ERO report.

This review was one of a cluster of seven kindergartens within KS.

The Review Findings

Children's learning benefits from a rich, responsive curriculum closely aligned with Te Whāriki the Early Childhood Curriculum. Teachers provide an inclusive, stimulating learning environment. There is a very strong emphasis on learning and caring for the environment which is visible throughout the kindergarten. Well-resourced and thoughtfully considered indoor and outdoor areas stimulate children's curiosity. Children confidently and independently explore, work in small groups and learn alongside others or with a teacher.

Teachers effectively settle new children into the kindergarten. There is strong support for transition to school, including programmes and information for parents. Significant information sharing between schools and kindergarten helps strengthen this transition. Links to the community are well established.

All children and particularly Māori children, are benefitting from a deepening understanding of tikanga, te ao and te reo Māori through teachers improving knowledge and understanding in those areas. A well-considered philosophy has been redeveloped in collaboration with whānau and this influences the kindergarten programme.

There are useful systems for planning, assessment and evaluation of children's learning. Teachers plan using authentic contexts for learning and use children’s interests to engage them in the programme. Individual and group planning are built on over time to add depth and complexity to learning. Documentation shows ongoing programme development, individual children's learning and progress and whānau participation and consultation. Teachers form effective partnerships with parents of children with diverse learning needs that improve and enhance the learning of these children.

Collaborative leadership within the kindergarten sets a clear direction for teachers and recognises and uses their individual strengths. Professional learning and development priorities are based on the kindergarten's and teachers' needs and leads to improved outcomes for children. There is strong alignment evident through all systems from strategic planning through to daily practice.

The team is continually developing and improving internal evaluation practice and has developed a highly reflective culture. The next step is to ensure that internal evaluation documentation clearly shows how the noted improvements to teacher practice have led to positive outcomes for children's learning.

KS leaders provide effective support and mentoring for the head teacher and teachers within the kindergarten. KS continues to make significant progress in improving the systems and processes for the effective governance and management of the association.

Key Next Steps

ERO's evaluation confirms and kindergarten leaders and teachers agree that the next steps are to refine and consolidate:

  • recent initiatives in relation to bicultural practice

  • internal evaluation practices, including showing how improvements to teacher practice have led to positive outcomes for children's learning.

Next steps for the KS board and managers are to further develop and implement:

  • the KS strategic intent and annual plan

  • the service's guiding document Te Kaupapa mo nga akonga tatou

  • internal evaluation processes and practices.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Waverley 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:

  • curriculum
  • premises and facilities
  • health and safety practices
  • governance, management and administration.

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.

Dr Lesley Patterson

Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)

Southern Region - Te Tai Tini

22 May 2020

The Purpose of ERO Reports

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.

2 Information about the Early Childhood Service

Location

Invercargill

Ministry of Education profile number

5529

Licence type

Free Kindergarten

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

45 children aged over 2

Service roll

49

Gender composition

Females 32 Males 17

Ethnic composition

Māori
NZ European / Pākehā
Other ethnicities

2
38
9

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

February 2020

Date of this report

22 May 2020

Most recent ERO reports

Education Review

August 2017

Education Review

December 2013

3 General Information about Early Childhood Reviews

ERO’s Evaluation Framework

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.

ERO’s Overall Judgement

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.

Review Coverage

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.

Waverley Kindergarten - 18/08/2017

1 Evaluation of Waverley Kindergarten

How well placed is Waverley Kindergarten to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Not well placed

Requires further development

Well placed

Very well placed

ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.

Background

Waverley Kindergarten is licensed for 45 children aged from two years to school age. Children may attend just for mornings or for the day from 8.30am to 2.30 pm. An increasing number of the children attending this kindergarten are from diverse cultural backgrounds.

The kindergarten is governed by Kindergartens South (KS). It receives regular support from KS senior teachers. It has a head teacher, who was newly appointed at the time of the 2013 ERO review, and four other teachers.

After the 2013 ERO review, KS senior teachers supported the head teacher and teaching team to develop action plans to address the key next steps from the ERO report. They have made good progress on all of the key next steps, including planning and assessment, building a bicultural programme and developing a vision to guide the kindergarten's direction.

This review was part of a cluster of fourteen kindergarten reviews in the Southland Kindergarten Association (trading as Kindergartens South).

The Review Findings

The head teacher's effective leadership and the rich and interesting learning programmes are promoting positive outcomes for children at Waverley Kindergarten.

Teachers have developed a vision and philosophy that are strongly evident in practice and empower children to learn about:

  • environmental awareness, sustainability and respect for papatūānuku

  • empathy and respect

  • taking leadership and being kaitiaki for the environment.

The head teacher agrees that it is timely for the team to revisit the vision and philosophy and seek parents' aspirations and expectations as part of this process.

The head teacher and teachers are creating an environment where Māori children and their whānau know that their culture is valued. They intentionally include Māori perspectives in the programme.

Teachers increasingly acknowledge and value families' diverse cultural backgrounds. They have identified the need to continue to work in partnership with whānau to provide programmes that are responsive to every child's language, culture and identity, and that documentation needs to consistently show this.

The head teacher and teachers have developed effective systems for planning, assessment and evaluation for groups and individual children. Teachers plan and implement programmes that are responsive to the diverse strengths, interests and capabilities of the children. They provide children with a wide variety of experiences across many learning areas, including a weekly outing for older children to experience nature in a local reserve. The head teacher thoughtfully leads the team to deliberately:

  • foster respectful relationships between children

  • support tuakana/teina relationships

  • build children's thinking and enable children to lead their learning

  • arrange the environment to enable children to have independence and choice

  • integrate literacy and mathematics in meaningful ways.

The head teacher leads her teaching team well and is enabling shared leadership within the kindergarten. Roles and responsibilities are shared amongst the team. The team has refocused one of the teaching roles to better support children with additional needs. Teachers make ongoing improvements to the programme and practices through deep reflection and action planning. They have identified that they need to continue to grow their knowledge and understanding of effective internal evaluation. In particular, they need to improve the way they gather and analyse data as part of this process.

The kindergarten benefits from ongoing and well-planned professional learning and development. A new appraisal system is being introduced. Further development of this is required to include expectations for observations and explicit links to Tātaiako.

The kindergarten receives good support from Kindergartens South (KS). The KS board has a clear strategic vision that outlines key priorities for development. The next step is to ensure explicit alignment of these priorities to each kindergarten's long-term planning. The board has identified that internal evaluation practice is not strong at board level. The board needs to receive evaluative reporting of how well these plans and other initiatives have been enacted and the impact on children’s learning.

Key Next Steps

The key next steps to promote positive outcomes for all children are for the head teacher and teachers, with the support of the senior KS teachers to:

  • redevelop the vision and philosophy in collaboration with whānau

  • strengthen internal evaluation practices. 

The key next steps for the KS board are to:

  • ensure the appraisal system continues to be developed and embedded

  • develop and use rigorous internal evaluation practices

  • ensure explicit alignment of kindergarten planning to implement the KS strategic goals

  • receive evaluative reporting of progress towards the strategic goals.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Waverley 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:

  • curriculum
  • premises and facilities
  • health and safety practices
  • governance, management and administration.

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.

Next ERO Review

When is ERO likely to review the service again?

The next ERO review of Waverley Kindergarten will be in three years.

Dr Lesley Patterson

Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern (Te Waipounamu)

18 August 2017 

The Purpose of ERO Reports

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. 

2 Information about the Early Childhood Service 

Location

Invercargill

Ministry of Education profile number

5529

Licence type

Free Kindergarten

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

45 children aged over 2

Service roll

48

Gender composition

Boys: 25

Girls: 23

Ethnic composition

Māori
Pākehā
Pacific
Other

6
34
2
6

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

May 2017

Date of this report

18 August 2017

Most recent ERO report(s)

 

Education Review

December 2013

Education Review

September 2010

Education Review

April 2007

3 General Information about Early Childhood Reviews

ERO’s Evaluation Framework

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.

ERO’s Overall Judgement and Next Review

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:

  • Very well placed – The next ERO review in four years
  • Well placed – The next ERO review in three years
  • Requires further development – The next ERO review within two years
  • Not well placed - The next ERO review in consultation with the Ministry of Education

ERO has developed criteria for each category. These are available on ERO’s website.

Review Coverage

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.