97 Cole Street, Masterton
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 are the basis for making judgements about the effectiveness of the service in achieving equity and excellence for all learners. Judgements are made in relation to the Outcomes Indicators, Learning and Organisational Conditions. The Evaluation Judgement Rubric derived from the indicators, is used to inform ERO’s judgements about this service’s performance in promoting equity and excellence.
ERO’s judgements for Cole Street Early Learning Centre are as follows:
Outcome Indicators(What the service knows about outcomes for learners) | Whakaū Embedding |
Ngā Akatoro Domains | |
Learning ConditionsOrganisational Conditions | Whakaū Embedding Whāngai Establishing |
Cole Street Early Learning Centre is one of three services governed and managed under the same ownership. The three co-owners oversee the day-to-day running of the service. Of the children enrolled a quarter are tamariki Māori. A small number of Pacific children and those of diverse ethnic heritages also attend.
Children’s mana and learner identity is fostered, within an intentional curriculum where they are celebrated as confident and capable learners. Kaiako purposefully use strategies that, empower them to lead their own learning and take increasing responsibility for their own and others’ wellbeing. Kaiako are responsive to infants’ and toddlers’ strengths, interests and developing capabilities. Well-considered approaches support them to make their own choices. Excursions further enrich the local curriculum.
Teachers are responsive to children’s verbal and non-verbal cues. They purposefully model and facilitate language-rich conversations, including open-ended questions, inquiry thinking and New Zealand Sign Language. This support children’s developing problem solving, leadership and social and emotional skills.
Assessment and planning documentation for individual children supports the provision of experiences connected to parents’ aspirational goals and the local curriculum. Assessment documentation is strength-based and acknowledges children’s interests and learning. It is yet to consistently show progression of children’s learning over time.
The service has a focus on developing and implementing a localised curriculum that reflects home and family culture. Aspects of te reo Māori and tikanga Māori are visible in the daily programme. Further work is required to consistently make children’s languages, cultures, and learner identities more visible in each child’s learning documentation.
An improvement-focused governance and management is in place. They provide opportunities to build teacher capability through relevant professional learning aligned to strategic planning. Ongoing review is undertaken. Leaders and teachers need to establish a collective approach to strengthening internal evaluation to better understand what practices are working, or are not working, and for which groups of children. It is timely for management to monitor how well their services are contributing to positive outcomes for children to inform decision making across the organisation.
Cole Street Early Learning Centre will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:
Before the review, the staff and management of Cole Street Early Learning Centre completed an ERO 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.
Since the onsite visit, the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliance:
Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Services 2008, HS17.
Patricia Davey
Director of Early Childhood Education (ECE)
23 September 2024
| Early Childhood Service Name | Cole Street Early Learning Centre |
| Profile Number | 55355 |
| Location | Masterton |
| Service type | Education and care service |
| Number licensed for | 24 children, including up to 10 aged under 2 |
| Percentage of qualified teachers | 80-99% |
| Service roll | 33 |
| Review team on site | June 2024 |
| Date of this report | 23 September 2024 |
| Most recent ERO report(s) | Akanuku | Assurance Review, June 2022; Education Review, June 2018 |
ERO’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 |
| Curriculum | Meeting |
| Premises and facilities | Meeting |
| Health and safety | Not meeting |
| Governance, management and administration | Meeting |
At the time of the review, ERO identified non-compliance with regulatory standards that must be addressed.
Cole Street Early Learning Centre is one of three services under common private ownership. The owners govern, manage operations and have teaching roles at this service. The 2018 ERO report identified assessment, internal evaluation, and promoting Māori children’s success as areas to strengthen. Good progress has been made.
Teachers develop and implement a curriculum which reflects understanding of children’s interests, whānau and life contexts, and relevant early childhood theories and practices. Children experience meaningful interactions with teachers. Positive steps are taken to acknowledge the aspirations held by parents and whānau for their children. Teachers provide a range of learning experiences both indoors and outside. Better organisation and monitoring of health and safety practices are required.
ERO found areas of non-compliance in the service relating to:
Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Services, 2008, HS10, HS17, HS21.
Since the onsite visit the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:
Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Services, 2008, HS6, HS9, HS12, GMA11.
ERO recommends the Ministry follows up with the service provider to ensure that non-compliances identified in this report are addressed promptly.
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini
15 June 2022
| Early Childhood Service Name | Cole Street Early Learning Centre |
| Profile Number | 55355 |
| Location | Masterton |
| Service type | Education and care service |
| Number licensed for | 24 children, including up to 10 aged under 2 |
| Percentage of qualified teachers | 80-99% |
| Service roll | 34 |
| Ethnic composition | Māori 9, NZ European/Pākehā 24, Other ethnic groups 1 |
| Review team on site | April 2022 |
| Date of this report | 15 June 2022 |
| Most recent ERO report(s) | Education Review, June 2018; Education Review, July 2015 |
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:
Not well placed | Requires further development | Well placed | Very well placed |
Well placed.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Cole Street Early Learning Centre is a privately owned and operated service catering for a mixed-aged group of 24 children up to five years, including 10 up to two years of age.
The three owners/managers are also the lead teachers. The teaching team have been together for a significant length of time. They regularly review the philosophy to clarify the direction for the current group of children attending the centre.
The next steps identified in the July 2015 ERO report related to strengthening review and strategic planning, have been progressed and a focus for staff.
The centre continues to promote positive learning outcomes for children. The planned programme reflects children's interests. There is a sense of purpose in children's play and in teachers' interactions with them. Learning outcomes clearly link to Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. Children are valued, celebrated and affirmed for who they are.
Children up to two years old confidently participate in the mixed-age sessions. Their individual needs for care and learning are well known to all staff.
Families and children are welcomed and supported by warm, caring, respectful interactions with staff. Leaders and teachers strongly advocate for children and families in respectful ways. Families are encouraged to contribute to children's learning through the range of well-considered opportunities that staff foster.
Diversity is celebrated. Those with specific needs and their families are supported within the centre to maximise learning opportunities.
Communication books are comprehensive records of children’s participation in the programme. It is timely to strengthen aspects of assessment and planning. This includes: highlighting the centre's valued learning outcomes and how these values impact on each child's learning; and better reflecting families' aspirations and children's language, culture, and identity.
A bicultural approach is evident that provides children with opportunities to experience and be part of the wider New Zealand/Aotearoa community. Staff have continued to embrace and learn appropriate tikanga and waiata. Reviewing the centre's approach in promoting learning outcomes for Māori children is an agreed next step.
Leaders and teachers actively model an inclusive, improvement-focused service. A collective vision is evident. Staff participate in well-organised professional development opportunities. Currently they are working with other centres and schools in preparation to join the local Kāhui Ako.
The appraisal process supports teachers' growth and provides a process for ongoing professional conversations. It appropriately challenges and strengthens practice.
A process of self review is established to support ongoing inquiry and improvement. This is linked to the strategic plan, professional development for staff and overall centre priorities. Strengthening the quality of measurable indicators to assist in more clearly knowing the impact of actions on children's outcomes, is a next step.
Owner/managers and teachers have identified that continuing to capture families' aspirations is an area to further develop to strengthen outcomes for children.
ERO has identified that the service should continue to develop and strengthen:
Before the review, the staff and management of Cole Street Early 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.
The next ERO review of Cole Street Early Learning Centre will be in three years.
Patricia Davey
Deputy Chief Review Officer Central (Acting)
Te Tai Pokapū - Central Region
6 June 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.
| Location | Masterton | ||
| Ministry of Education profile number | 55355 | ||
| Licence type | Education & Care Service | ||
| Licensed under | Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 | ||
| Number licensed for | 24 children, including up to 10 aged under 2 | ||
| Service roll | 36 | ||
| Gender composition | Girls 23, Boys 13 | ||
| Ethnic composition | Māori Pākehā Pacific | 10 23 3 | |
| Percentage of qualified teachers | 80% + | ||
| Reported ratios of staff to children | Under 2 | 1:5 | Meets minimum requirements |
| Over 2 | 1:7 | Better than minimum requirements | |
| Review team on site | April 2018 | ||
| Date of this report | 6 June 2018 | ||
Most recent ERO report(s)
| Education Review | July 2015 | |
| Education Review | September 2012 | ||
| Education Review | June 2009 | ||
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.