Taranaki Street, Wellington CBD, Wellington
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 Polyhigh Community Childcare Centre are as follows:
Outcome Indicators(What the service knows about outcomes for learners) |
Whāngai Establishing |
Ngā Akatoro Domains |
|
Learning ConditionsOrganisational Conditions |
Whakaū Embedding Whakaū Embedding |
Polyhigh Community Childcare Centre is located on the campus of Wellington High School and Massey University of Wellington. A parent committee governs the centre. The centre manager oversees the day-to-day operation of the service. Some progress has been made in improving assessment practices as identified in ERO’s 2019 report. Approximately a quarter of children attending are Māori and a small number of children are of Pacific heritage.
Children benefit from a responsive bicultural curriculum that is based on the centre’s philosophy and Māori values. Children have many opportunities to learn about the bicultural heritage of Aotearoa New Zealand, including learning about local legends and places of significance. The learning environment is resourced in ways that show Māori children’s language, culture and identity is valued. Teachers have yet to deeply explore with whānau Māori, what educational success means for them.
Older children explore their ideas through long term projects and artwork. Teachers extend learning and build children’s social competency through positive guidance strategies and rich conversations. They build caring and reciprocal relationships supporting children to develop a sense of belonging. Infants and toddlers benefit from calm, attentive teachers who support them to lead their own learning and are highly responsive to their verbal and non-verbal cues.
There are useful guidelines for teachers for planning, assessing, and evaluating learning. Children’s assessment documentation forefronts learning dispositions however, documentation does not yet consistently show progression of learning in relation to the learning outcomes of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. Positive relationships with parents are evident. Teachers are increasingly working towards building learning- focused partnerships with all parents.
Leaders and teachers work collaboratively to build their professional practice. Self-review is used to inform change by reflecting on existing practice. There is a framework for internal evaluation in place. However, leaders and teachers are yet to effectively use internal evaluation for improvement.
The board is proactive and well informed about the day-to-day operations but do not yet receive sufficient reporting about learning outcomes for all children or progress towards the strategic goals. A greater focus on aspects of compliance is required.
Polyhigh Community Childcare Centre will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:
make progression of learning over time in relation to the outcomes in Te Whāriki consistently visible in children’s individual assessment documentation
continue to develop learning focused partnerships with Māori whānau and explore what educational success means for them and use this information to inform curriculum design
build leaders, teachers and governance capability to effectively undertake internal evaluation to better know what is working or not and for whom.
Before the review, the staff and management of Polyhigh Community Childcare 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:
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; safety checking; teacher registration; ratios)
relevant evacuation procedures and practices.
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:
parents/caregivers giving prior written approval of their child’s participation in and the proposed ratio for regular excursions at the time of enrolment.
[Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Services, 2008, HS17].
Kathy Lye
Director Review and Improvement Services (Acting, Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini
14 February 2023
|
Early Childhood Service Name |
Polyhigh Community Childcare Centre |
|
Profile Number |
60189 |
|
Location |
Wellington |
|
Service type |
Education and care service |
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Number licensed for |
50 children, including up to 20 aged under 2 |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
|
Service roll |
42 |
|
Review team on site |
October 2022 |
|
Date of this report |
14 February 2023 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, April 2019; Education Review, April 2015 |
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Polyhigh Community Childcare Centre is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Polyhigh Community Childcare Centre located on the campus of Wellington High School and Massey University of Wellington is governed by a parent committee. The centre operates 10 hours a day and is licensed for 50 children, including up to 20 under the age of two. Of the 59 children enrolled nine are Māori.
The centre manager oversees the day-to-day operation of the service. Assistant supervisors each lead the teaching and learning programme for the three learning areas. Most teachers are fully qualified and many are long serving.
The centre holds a gold star Healthy Heart Award and is a bronze status member of Enviroschools.
The philosophy links to the values and beliefs of its parents, families and community. It emphasises concepts of diversity, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, collaboration, partnership, belonging, environmental sustainability and a curriculum responsive to the local community. The Resources in Infant Education (RIE) and the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education are promoted within the programme.
ERO's April 2015 report identified that the service was improvement focused.
Children participate and learn in a play-based programme that supports their emerging interests. Independent and collaborative small group play is fostered through activities that engage and support children to create, explore, and have fun. Older children engage in rich conversations with their peers and teachers. The environment is well-considered and promotes curiosity and participation in learning.
Infants and toddlers are able to move freely and explore in an unhurried, relaxed environment. Teachers respond respectfully to their wellbeing needs. An important next step is to evaluate the programme to determine how effectively it provides purposeful learning opportunities that are responsive to children's interests.
Children with additional needs are identified and agencies are appropriately accessed.
Teachers provide opportunities for children to sustain play independently and in groups, and enrich their learning. Relationships between teachers and children and between their peers are respectful.
Relevant learning opportunities support children of Pacific heritages. Teachers continue to develop their response to children and their aiga.
Teachers have strengthened curriculum provision through a centre-wide focus on environmentally sustainable practices and te ao Māori perspectives. Local excursions provide meaningful opportunities for older children to connect to their local environment and community. It is timely to further explore ways to strengthen the implementation of Te Whāriki, the Early Childhood Curriculum to clearly articulate the learning that matters and expectations for responsive teaching practice.
Increased whānau engagement in the programme provides a clear direction and shared vision for curriculum development. Teachers engage in purposeful conversations about children's learning needs with families. Learning opportunities promote Māori children's identity. They recognise the importance of continuing to strengthen learning focused partnerships with families and further developing responsiveness to Māori learners and their whānau.
Learning portfolios provide a record of children’s interests and participation in the programme. Teachers plan for group themes. Individual planning recognises children's dispositions. Teachers focus on describing experiences and resources. A key next step is to develop teachers' shared understanding of and consistent practice in assessment. This should include:
better identifying children’s learning
reflecting children's culture, language and identity
showing intentional teaching strategies and responsiveness to parent and whānau aspirations
showing continuity and progress in children's learning.
This should enable teachers to better connect assessment to planning and evaluation of the curriculum.
Regular self review is informing change and development to promote improvement. Leaders and teachers need to develop a clear shared understanding of internal evaluation. Development of a common framework with a clear evaluative focus and indicators of good practice, should support teachers to more effectively measure outcomes for children.
A useful appraisal framework guides teacher practice. Leaders agree that further developing and strengthening the process to include clear goals, observations of teachers' practice and next steps in relation to identified areas for improvement is needed. This should support teachers to better identify the effectiveness of their practice to promote positive learning outcomes for children. Leaders should also ensure the appraisal process more clearly aligns with Teaching Council of Aotearoa requirements.
The leadership team regularly meets to discuss aspects of practice and centre operations. There are opportunities for teachers to lead aspects of curriculum development and improvement. Continuing to strengthen leadership capability and develop shared understandings is an appropriate focus. Ensuring that roles and responsibilities are well defined, and systems and processes are clear and consistently implemented, should provide a more cohesive approach to leadership.
Governance, leaders and teachers have a strong commitment to the centre. A collaboratively developed strategic action plan provides a useful framework for guiding direction and improvement. Trustees have a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities and are well informed about curriculum and aspects of centre operations. It is timely for trustees and leaders, in consultation with their community, to more clearly identify indicators of valued outcomes that align to priorities for their children's learning. This should better inform areas for improvement.
As a priority, governance and leadership need to strengthen the monitoring of implementation and reporting in relation to health and safety practices. This includes identifying and managing risks for excursions, analysis, and reporting incidents and hazards.
ERO, and professional leaders agree the key next steps are to continue to:
develop the appraisal process
strengthen assessment and planning
develop collaborative leadership across the centre
strengthen internal evaluation to better inform decision making and measure the impact of the programme on children's learning.
Before the review, the staff and management of Polyhigh Community Childcare 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:
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.
ERO found an area of non-compliance in the service related to health and safety. Trustees must:
ensure appropriate safety checking of the workforce is undertaken and documented
[Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, GMA7A]
To improve practice, the early childhood service management should:
strengthen systems for monitoring, reviewing and reporting health and safety policies and practices.
Alan Wynyard
Director Review and Improvement Services Southern
Southern Region
9 April 2019
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 |
Wellington |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
60189 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
50 children, including up to 20 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
59 |
||
|
Gender composition |
31 Boys, 28 Girls |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori |
9 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
80% + |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:3 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:8 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
January 2019 |
||
|
Date of this report |
9 April 2019 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review |
April 2015 |
|
|
Education Review |
July 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:
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.
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.
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.