25 Hinau Street, Tawa, Wellington
View on mapDomains: Ngā Akatoro | Below the threshold for quality | Above the threshold for quality | ||
The learner and their learning He Whāriki Motuhake | Improvement required | Working towards | Embedded | Excelling |
Collaborative professional learning and development builds knowledge and capability Whakangungu Ngaio | Improvement required | Working towards | Embedded | Excelling |
Leadership fosters collaboration and improvement Kaihautū | Improvement required | Working towards | Embedded | Excelling |
Stewardship through effective governance and management Te Whakaruruhau | Improvement required | Working towards | Embedded | Excelling |
For an explanation of the judgement terms used and of the evaluation process please refer to the last page of this report. These judgements are based on the evidence provided to ERO during the evaluation.
| Children’s health and safety | Improvement required | Taking reasonable steps |
Akarangi | Quality Evaluations evaluate the extent to which early childhood services have 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 and Early Childhood Education (ECE) Improvement Framework (teacher led services) are the basis for making judgements about the quality of the service in achieving equity and excellence for all learners. Evaluations for improvement | Ngā Aronga Whai Hua is integrated across all of the above domains.
Tawa Montessori Preschool is a privately owned early childhood centre, which provides education and care for children between three years to school age. The owner manages centre operations and a head teacher has oversight of the curriculum and a small teaching team. The service caters to a diverse multicultural community. The Montessori approach to learning guides the service’s philosophy which values children’s self-directed and hands-on learning.
The 2021 ERO report identified four improvement actions. These included the development of learning partnerships with parents, strengthening the use of children’s languages and cultures within assessment documentation and increasing the team’s capability to undertake internal evaluation. A good level of progress has been made against two of these four improvement actions. The service has taken steps to gather parent and whānau voice in operation and curriculum reviews and strengthened their communication systems to support the planning process. This has enabled the curriculum design to better reflect children’s cultures and languages. Limited progress has been made against the other two actions. Internal evaluation and planning for children’s learning remain areas requiring improvement. This has been ongoing since 2017.
Children experience a Montessori focused curriculum that is beginning to reflect aspects of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum
The service is establishing the conditions to support leaders and teachers to build their professional knowledge, expertise and cultural competence to design and implement the service’s curriculum.
The service is establishing the conditions to develop leadership capability to support quality teaching.
Governors use a range of information to make decisions and identify strategic priorities, which are not yet evaluated for effectiveness.
Before the review, the staff and management of Tawa Montessori Preschool completed and 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 system for managing the following areas that have a potentially high impact on children’s health and safety:
All early childhood services are required to promote children’s health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.
ERO found area of concern in the service relating to:
Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008; HS4.
Tawa Montessori Preschool will include the following actions in its quality improvement planning:
Activities undertaken by the evaluation team
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Further information about how ERO evaluates early childhood services is available here.
Patricia Davey
Director of Early Childhood Education (ECE)
18 September 2024
| Early Childhood Service Name | Tawa Montessori Preschool |
| Profile Number | 55405 |
| Location | Tawa, Wellington |
| Service Type | Education and care service |
| Number licenced for | 24 children aged 2 and over |
| Percentage of qualified teachers | 100% |
| Ethnic composition Using rounded percentages | NZ European/Pakeha 39%, Indian 18%, Filipino 11%, Chinese 14%, Pacific 7%, German 4%, French 4%, African 4% |
| Service roll | 28 |
| Review team on site | August 2024 |
| Date of this report | 18 September 2024 |
| Most recent ERO report (s) | Akarangi | Quality Evaluation, June 2021; Education Review, June 2017 |
ERO’s judgements are based on Te Ara Poutama and the Early Childhood Education Improvement Framework (teacher led services).
Above the threshold for quality | |
Excelling | The service is excelling in the learning and organisation to support high quality education and care for children |
Embedded | The service has embedded its learning and organisational conditions to support ongoing improvement to the quality of education and care for children. |
Below the threshold for quality | |
Working towards | The service is working towards establishing the learning and organisational conditions to support improvements in the quality of education and care for children. |
Improvement required | The service has not yet developed the learning and organisational conditions to support quality education and care for children. |
Akarangi | 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 Tawa Montessori Preschool are as follows:
Outcome Indicators |
ERO’s judgement |
|
What the service knows about outcomes for learners |
Whāngai Establishing |
Ngā Akatoro Domains |
ERO’s judgement |
|
He Whāriki Motuhake The learner and their learning |
Whāngai Establishing |
|
Whakangungu Ngaio Collaborative professional learning builds knowledge and capability |
Whāngai Establishing |
|
Ngā Aronga Whai Hua Evaluation for improvement |
Whakatō Emerging |
|
Kaihautū Leaders foster collaboration and improvement |
Whāngai Establishing |
|
Te Whakaruruhau Stewardship through effective governance and management |
Whāngai Establishing |
Tawa Montessori is a privately owned early childhood centre. The owner manages centre operations and the head teacher has oversight of the curriculum. There are four qualified teachers, three of whom are certificated and two also have a Montessori qualification. An additional unqualified staff member makes up the teaching team. Internal evaluation and children’s planning continue to remain areas requiring improvement.
The curriculum builds children’s identity as a learner and is reflective of both Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum and the Montessori philosophy. A calm, unhurried environment results in children making decisions about where and with whom they wish to play and enables them to revisit prior learning. The learning environment encourages exploration and curiosity. Children engage in a wide range of practical life activities that helps support the running of the classroom. They regularly take responsibility for caring for the animals and gardening.
A bicultural curriculum is evident. At times te reo Māori is heard from teachers and children, waiata are sung and Matariki celebrated. Children’s culture, language and identity is not well reflected through assessment documentation. Some cultural celebrations occur however, this is not an integrated component of the curriculum.
Individual children’s planning is of variable quality and parents are not included as active contributors to this process. While there are established relationships with parents, with informal opportunities to discuss their child’s engagement and learning, this is not well reflected through assessment documentation.
Parents and whānau perspectives are not consistently used to help inform the centre’s philosophy, vision, goals and plans for children’s learning. In addition, they are not regularly consulted as part of policy review, internal evaluation and strategic planning.
Internal evaluation is not yet embedded into practice and is not yet enabling the team to take action towards realising the philosophy and strategic priorities. A useful process, if followed to investigate practices more deeply has been used at times to investigate teaching practice and guide ongoing improvements. Better monitoring of health and safety documentation and practices to ensure they reflect legislative updates is also required.
Tawa Montessori Preschool will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning to:
Before the review, the staff and management of Tawa Montessori Preschool 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
24 June 2021
| Early Childhood Service Name | Tawa Montessori Preschool |
| Profile Number | 55405 |
| Location | Wellington |
|
Service type |
Education and care service |
|
Number licensed for |
24 children aged over 2. |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80%+ |
|
Service roll |
27 |
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori 2, NZ European/Pākehā 17, Indian 3, Other ethnic groups 5. |
|
Review team on site |
April 2021 |
|
Date of this report |
24 June 2021 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, June 2017; Education Review, April 2014. |
Not well placed | Requires further development | Well placed | Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Tawa Montessori Preschool is a stand-alone, private early learning service which provides education and care for up to 24 children from two to six years of age. There is a focus on the centre reflecting and celebrating its diversity, and promoting communication and partnership with parents and whānau.
Since the 2014 ERO review, ownership of the service has changed. The new owner manages operations. The head teacher and assistant head teacher were appointed to leadership positions in 2016. Three of the four teachers are registered. Two teachers hold Montessori qualifications.
The curriculum and philosophy are underpinned by the principles of the Montessori approach and Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. The mission statement 'to nurture the child's hand, heart and mind' is evident in teaching and children’s learning.
The April 2014 ERO report identified that teachers needed to further develop assessment, planning and the appraisal process. Progress is evident.
Children enjoy learning through play. They explore, discover, and challenge themselves as they care for the gardens, plants and animals in the spacious outdoor environment.
Warm and respectful interactions between peers and teachers contribute to the calm and peaceful tone of the learning environment. Children show confidence and a sense of wellbeing as they take part in daily activities. Many engage in purposeful learning for sustained periods.
Teaching and learning focuses appropriately on Montessori values and materials to support children's emerging interests. Ongoing opportunities to build children's understanding of the natural world, science and the arts are woven throughout the programme. There is a strong focus on literacy and mathematics and the building of life skills.
Assessment and planning continue to develop. Teachers integrate Montessori learning priorities with Te Whāriki learning outcomes. Information about children's interests is gathered through teacher observations and used to inform decisions about children's learning goals. Children's portfolios include learning stories showing participation and progress in using the Montessori materials, emerging interests and strengths. Group stories are shared in newsletters to parents.
The teaching team plans to carry out a review of assessment practice. Consideration should be given to reviewing the balance between the Montessori approach and the outcomes of Te Whāriki, and of teachers' roles in the assessment process.
Understanding of te ao Māori is promoted through teacher use of te reo Māori with children, which include papatuanuku, waiata, tikanga, kupu Māori, artefacts, stories and celebration of Matariki. Teachers' attendance at te reo Māori professional learning and development is a reflection of their commitment to improve their practice.
Families' and whānau input and feedback is regularly sought and valued to support decisions about the learning programme and operation. Resources are made available for children and their parents to support the transition to primary school. Teachers write reports for children to support their continuity of learning.
ERO and teachers agree that areas for further development should include continuing to:
A revised approach to review has been recently implemented providing a useful framework to support internal evaluation. Continuing to embed the process and support team members understanding and use of internal evaluation should support ongoing improvement.
A new process for appraising teachers is in place. Leaders need to apply the revised process with focused observations of teaching practice followed up by constructive feedback.
ERO's evaluation found that further emphasis should be placed on sustainable and high quality outcomes for children in decisions about the development of teaching and learning. Centre leaders acknowledge that continued development is required in relation to:
Before the review, the staff and management of Tawa Montessori Preschool 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 Tawa Montessori Preschool will be in three years.
Patricia Davey
Deputy Chief Review Officer Central (Acting)
13 June 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 | Tawa | ||
| Ministry of Education profile number | 55405 | ||
| Licence type | Education & Care Service | ||
| Licensed under | Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 | ||
| Number licensed for | 24 children, aged over 2 | ||
| Service roll | 31 | ||
| Gender composition | Girls 19, Boys 12 | ||
| Ethnic composition | Māori Pākehā Filipino Indian Chinese | 1 15 6 3 6 | |
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates | 80% + | ||
| Reported ratios of staff to children | Over 2 | 1:9 | Meets minimum requirements |
| Review team on site | May 2017 | ||
| Date of this report | 13 June 2017 | ||
Most recent ERO report(s)
| Education Review | April 2014 | |
| Education Review | December 2010 | ||
| Education Review | December 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.