130 Roebuck Road, Gisborne Central, Gisborne
View on mapAkarangi | 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.
Not well placed | Requires further development | Well placed | Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Y Kids is a mixed-aged, early childhood service operating under the umbrella of the local YMCA in central Gisborne. The service is licensed to provide all day education and care for 35 children, including 10 aged up to two. At the time of this review, 31 Māori children attended. YMCA management provides business support for the centre.
The philosophy aligns with the values of YMCA and includes caring, respect, responsibility, honesty, open relationships and whakawhanaungatanga.
A head teacher manages the centre with support from the team leader.
The May 2015 ERO report identified areas for development as self review, including the philosophy, appraisal and assessment, planning and evaluation processes. Progress is evident in these areas.
Children engage in a play-based curriculum. Their understanding of mathematical and literacy concepts are enhanced through meaningful and interesting opportunities to use these skills in their everyday lives.
Teachers work alongside children supporting and extending their learning. They know children well and support them to develop social competence.
Warm and responsive practices are evident with infants and toddlers. Teachers effectively support older children to develop an understanding of the special characteristics of infants and toddlers as they play and learn together.
Bicultural practice is developing. Teachers show a strong commitment to furthering their knowledge in this area. Recent refurbishments have increased the visibility of te ao Māori within the environment. Leaders acknowledge that promoting educational success for Māori is an area for ongoing development. There is a current focus on developing leaders' and teachers' understanding of culturally responsive practice to improve outcomes for children.
Portfolios highlight children's learning and progress. Parents are partners in this process and regularly share their aspirations that form the basis of individual goals. Recent changes to this process have increased the alignment between planning and assessment. A next step is to develop consistent practice across the teaching team. Children's culture, language and identity should be more strongly reflected through this process.
Focused planning sets centre-wide priorities for children's learning. These priorities are highly evident in the daily programme and reflected in children's individual assessment information. This focus is leading to improved outcomes for children.
Children with additional learning needs are well supported. Teachers work in partnership with parents and external agencies to improve outcomes for children. Comprehensive assessment and ongoing monitoring of progress towards identified goals occur.
The centre philosophy is clearly evident in curriculum design and teaching practice.
The appraisal process requires strengthening to better support teacher development. Next steps should include:
A useful framework to guide internal evaluation is evident. Leaders agree that a stronger evaluative focus is required to assist teachers to effectively judge how well the curriculum and teachers' practices support positive outcomes for children’s learning.
The governing body has wide responsibilities for a number of community services. A recent transition involves the centre manager input at board level. This has resulted in a renewed commitment by governors to high quality early childhood education provision.
Leaders ensure the service's vision, goals and practices are focused on learning and improving outcomes for children.
ERO and leaders agree that areas for ongoing development include:
Before the review, the staff and management of Y Kids Community Early Childhood 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.
To meet requirements the service needs to improve its performance in the following area:
The next ERO review of Y Kids Community Early Childhood Centre will be in three years.
Alan Wynyard
Director Review and Improvement Services
Te Tai Pokapū - Central Region
25 October 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 | Gisborne | ||
| Ministry of Education profile number | 55460 | ||
| Licence type | Education & Care Service | ||
| Licensed under | Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 | ||
| Number licensed for | 35 children, including up to 10 aged under 2 | ||
| Service roll | 48 | ||
| Gender composition | Boys 30, Girls 18 | ||
| Ethnic composition | Māori Pākehā Other ethnic groups | 31 14 3 | |
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates | 80% + | ||
| Reported ratios of staff to children | Under 2 | 1:4 | Better than minimum requirements |
| Over 2 | 1:6 | Better than minimum requirements | |
| Review team on site | September 2018 | ||
| Date of this report | 25 October 2018 | ||
Most recent ERO report(s)
| Education Review | May 2015 | |
| Education Review | August 2012 | ||
| Education Review | October 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.
Y Kids is a mixed-aged, early childhood centre that operates under the umbrella of the local YMCA in central Gisborne. The service is licensed to provide all day education and care for 35 children, including 10 up to two years old. YMCA management provides business support for the centre and an early childhood services manager provides oversight for three services in the Gisborne area. The centre manager and the assistant supervisor worked at the centre at the time of the 2012 ERO review, and the majority of teachers are new.
The 2012 August ERO report identified that positive respectful relationships were evident at all levels of centre operation. These positive elements from the 2012 report have been sustained and the areas for development and review addressed.
The centre’s philosophy of developing a community of learners as part of the YMCA’s mission to ‘build strong kids, families and communities’ is clearly evident. Centre leadership acknowledge that with new staff, it is important to review the centre philosophy to enable a shared understanding.
Teachers have positive, responsive and respectful relationships with children and their whānau. Staff warmly greet children as they arrive. Interactions help foster children’s language development. Te reo Māori is naturally woven into conversations throughout the day. Children’s culture, identity and sense of place are well supported.
Responsive caregiving supports infants’ and toddlers’ need for strong and secure attachments and effectively supports their wellbeing. Consistency and continuity of care are implemented. Staff maintain a calm, slow pace in which children have the time and space to engage in their learning.
The curriculum effectively recognises and builds on the knowledge that children and whānau bring to the service. Each term an individual learning plan is developed for each child that takes into account whānau and teacher-identified interests. Communication with parents is ongoing and valued by centre staff.
Teachers are highly responsive to children’s emerging and developing interests. Group planning should be strengthened by showing clearer links to children’s interests and inquiries.
Profile books contain a good range of learning stories that demonstrate how children’s interests are fostered and extended. These include emerging interests in literacy, mathematics, art and science.
Transition to school is well implemented. It takes into account the changes children experience as they progress onto school and supports transition to before and after school care.
Educators are collaborative and work well together. Leadership is effective in establishing strong positive staff relationships. This permeates through the centre which has a positive and settled tone and atmosphere.
Teachers follow a self-review framework to make decisions to improve centre practices. Leadership recognise that self-review understandings and practices require development. Professional development is appropriately focused on self review. An external facilitator is assisting this process through a focus on literacy and mathematics.
Privacy of information about children is well considered. All reasonable steps are taken to ensure that children are appropriately protected.
A new appraisal process has been introduced recently. This requires strengthening to ensure that the Registered Teacher Criteria are fully incorporated, and provides teachers with regular feedback, including observations that support their ongoing development.
Management and ERO agree on the following next steps to support ongoing improvement:
Before the review, the staff and management of Y Kids Community Early Childhood 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 Y Kids Community Early Childhood Centre will be in three years.
Joyce Gebbie
Deputy Chief Review Officer Central
26 May 2015
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 | Gisborne | ||
| Ministry of Education profile number | 55460 | ||
| Licence type | Education & Care Service | ||
| Licensed under | Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 | ||
| Number licensed for | 35 children, including up to 10 aged under 2 | ||
| Service roll | 40 | ||
| Gender composition | Girls 21, Boys 19 | ||
| Ethnic composition | Māori Pākehā Other ethnic groups | 22 15 3 | |
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80% Based on funding rates | 80% | ||
| Reported ratios of staff to children | Under 2 | 1:5 | Meets minimum requirements |
| Over 2 | 1:10 | Meets minimum requirements | |
| Review team on site | April 2015 | ||
| Date of this report | 26 May 2015 | ||
Most recent ERO report(s)
| Education Review | August 2012 | |
| Education Review | October 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.