BestStart Stokes Valley

1 Evaluation of BestStart Stokes Valley

How well placed is BestStart Stokes Valley to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

BestStart Stokes Valley is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

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

Background

BestStart Stokes Valley, previously ABC Stokes Valley, is licensed for 61 children including up to 20 aged under two years. Of the current roll of 78 children, 22 are Māori and three are of Pacific heritage. The centre is divided into two learning spaces designed for the different age groups. BestStart Educare Ltd (the organisation) owns a number of early childhood services across New Zealand.

Regional managers have oversight of curriculum and operation. Day-to day responsibility is delegated to the centre manager. At the time of this review, the preschool head teacher had recently been appointed and the organisation was in the process of recruiting a head teacher for the infants’ and toddlers' area. Staff are a mix of in-training and trained teachers. They represent a diverse range of ethnic groups.

The service vision is 'together we enrich the lives of others'.

The May 2017 ERO report identified areas requiring improvement. These included: assessment, planning and evaluation; understanding educational success for Māori and Pacific children; use of te reo Māori and internal evaluation. While some progress has been made, these continue to require development.

This review was one of five in BestStart Educare Ltd, Wellington Region.

The Review Findings

Children have ongoing opportunities to create, construct, challenge themselves and have fun. They confidently lead their learning within the well-resourced learning spaces. Excursions into the local community extend learning opportunities. Sensory experiences are used well by teachers to support children's social skills and wellbeing. Teaching interactions are encouraging and responsive.

Provision for infants and toddlers is well developed. They benefit from teachers’ respectful, calm and attentive approach to support their learning. Care moments are tailored to home routines and suitably responsive to known preferences.

Children with diverse learning needs are well supported. Teachers work closely with parents and external agencies to promote their wellbeing and learning.

Leaders and teachers have been working to grow their understanding of te ao Māori and capability and confidence in the use of te reo me ngā tikanga Māori. They are integrating aspects into the curriculum. ERO affirms that this should be an ongoing priority for development.

As the service is about to review its philosophy, it is timely that leaders engage with whānau Māori and families of Pacific heritages to determine what education success means for them and their children. This should assist them to support the learning outcomes that matter most to these communities.

The quality of assessment practice is variable. In some good examples, teachers draw on conversations they have had with parents to inform their teaching strategies, and positive learning outcomes are evident for children. Next steps are for leaders to develop clear guidelines that promote consistent, high quality practice, and strengthen acknowledgment of children’s cultures, languages and identities in assessment documentation.

A well-considered appraisal process supports teachers’ ongoing development and inquiry into the effectiveness of their practice. Purposeful appraisal goals focus on strengthening leadership and practice to promote children’s learning and wellbeing.

Teachers regularly review elements of practice using key early learning research as a guide. Their collective approach and well-considered actions result in improvements for children. A next step is to strengthen the use of internal evaluation processes, with a focus on measuring the impact current practices are having on outcomes for children. This should better support teachers’ decisions about where to make refinements to their practice.

The organisation should establish clear and consistent understandings, expectations and practices around promoting educational success for Māori and Pacific children. Leaders and teachers should be supported to purposefully draw on the cultural expertise and aspirations of families and whānau, key staff and community. The organisation should then monitor the impact of this development, on teacher practices as well as outcomes for Māori and Pacific children.

Senior managers effectively foster a collective sense of responsibility to implement the vision, values and mission of the organisation. Systems, processes and guiding templates are well developed and regularly reviewed to continually improve provision for children. Recently revised induction information for relieving teachers includes clearer guidance around expectations for interactions and positive guidance, specific to individual centres and their learners. Embedding its use across BestStart centres should further promote consistency of practice, benefitting children.

A distributed approach to leadership is valued and encouraged. ERO affirms that leaders should continue to maximise the skills and cultural capital of the teaching team.

Key Next Steps

ERO, managers and teachers agree that priorities are to:

• strengthen assessment, planning and evaluation processes, focusing on growing consistency of teacher practice and better reflecting children's cultures, languages and identities in their learning records

• develop understanding of educational success for Māori and Pacific children, in partnership with whānau and community

• grow knowledge and practices around te ao Māori and use of te reo me ngā tikanga Māori

• improve internal evaluation.

In addition, the organisation should support teachers’ understanding around promoting success for Maori and Pacific children.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of BestStart Stokes Valley 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

28 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

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.