Karori Kids Incorporated

Education institution number:
60230
Service type:
Education & Care Service
Total roll:
24
Telephone:
Address:

29 Campbell Street, Karori, Wellington

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Karori Kids Incorporated

1 ERO’s Judgements

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 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 Karori Kids Incorporated are as follows:

Outcome Indicators

(What the service knows about outcomes for learners)

Whakaū Embedding

Ngā Akatoro Domains

 

Learning Conditions
Organisational Conditions

Whakaū Embedding

Whakaū Embedding

2 Context of the Service

Karori Kids Incorporated is a community-based service governed by a parent committee. A recently appointed centre manager is supported by established and new teachers. Staff and children are culturally diverse. A small number of children are Māori, and those of Pacific heritage attend the service. Good progress has been made against the previous report’s key next step in internal evaluation.

3 Summary of findings

Children experience a language-rich curriculum that affirms them as confident and capable learners. Teachers intentionally promote critical thought, wonder and creativity by encouraging children to express themselves and explore their local environment. A focus on sustainability, science, and physical challenge is promoted through the environment. Teachers are highly responsive in engaging children in learning focused conversations that value the child's world.

Aspects of te ao Māori are clearly evident in the curriculum. Children have regular opportunities to lead and participate in karakia and well-being experiences. Some variability is evident in teachers daily use of te reo Māori.

Excursions into the local community extend children’s learning opportunities. It is timely, to include the histories, protocols and pūrākau of mana whenua of the local region.

Leaders and teachers are yet to purposefully integrate children, parents and whānau contribution to the curriculum that recognises their cultures, languages, and identities. Some cultural artefacts are visible in the learning environment and at times through children's assessment documentation.

Effective assessment practice informs planning for learning. Teachers actively seek parent aspirations to inform intentional teaching practices. Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum learning outcomes, are well-considered when assessing children’s progress and continuity of learning.

Governance and leaders foster a culture of collaboration and improvement. The committee are well-informed and allocate resources clearly aligned to the service vision and goals. A well-considered professional growth cycle supports teachers to build capability.

Leaders and teachers engage in internal evaluation which is clearly focused on strengthening aspects of the curriculum. However, broad evaluative questions and indicators of success require refinement to better support the service to

  • clearly identify the impact of specific actions on outcomes for children

  • inform the strategic direction about what matters most for this learning community.  

4 Improvement actions

Karori Kids Incorporated will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:

  • purposefully integrate throughout the curriculum, the cultural aspirations of children, parents and whānau to respond to their cultures, languages, and identities

  • continue to build teachers capability to integrate te reo Māori into day-to-day practice

  • extend the localised curriculum to include the histories, protocols and pūrākau of mana whenua

  • continue to build service-wide understanding of internal evaluation to clearly identify the impact of strategies on outcomes for children.

5 Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Karori Kids Incorporated 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.

6 Actions for Compliance

During the review, the service provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:

  • a procedure that clearly states children who are asleep are checked for warmth, breathing and general well-being

  • the Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008 are prominently displayed.

[Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Services, 2008, HS9, GMA1].

Patricia Davey
Director of Early Childhood Education (ECE)

11 May 2023 

7 About the Early Childhood Service

Early Childhood Service Name

Karori Kids Incorporated

Profile Number 60230
Location Wellington

Service type

Education and care service

Number licensed for

24 children, aged over 2

Percentage of qualified teachers

100%

Service roll

24

Review team on site

January 2023

Date of this report

11 May 2023

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education review, May 2020; Education Review, February 2017.

Karori Kids' Incorporated - 04/05/2020

1 Evaluation of Karori Kids Incorporated

How well placed is Karori Kids Incorporated to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Not well placed

Requires further development

Well placed

Very well placed

Karori Kids Incorporated is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

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

Background

Karori Kids Incorporated is a not-for-profit community centre providing care and education for two-to five year olds. The all-day centre is licensed for 24 children. It is situated in Karori, Wellington, and is governed by a parent committee operating as an incorporated society.

The centre manager, who is also the head teacher and administrator, has responsibility for day-to-day management. Three of the five fulltime teachers are fully registered and two are provisionally certificated.

Since the February 2017 ERO review, the Ministry of Education purchased the centre from Victoria University, returned the land to the Crown and gifted the buildings to Karori Kids Incorporated. The interior of the building, and the outside play areas, have undergone extensive renovations.

Karori Kids' philosophy statement, developed in partnership with families, emphasises respectful collaborative relationships, honours Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and emphasises holistic learning and being a responsive member of the centre's learning community.

The previous ERO report identified the following areas for improvement: planning, assessing and evaluating children's learning and internal evaluation to identify next steps toward achieving the vision, mission, goals and philosophy of the service.

The Review Findings

Warm, responsive relationships are clearly evident. Teachers take time to genuinely listen to children and provide resources and environments that encourage exploration that is meaningful and enjoyable for them. Opportunities for purposeful play support children to lead their learning. The outdoor environment provides many opportunities for children to follow their interests and be creative.

Teaching and learning practices promote positive outcomes for all children. Individual and group interests inform child-centred planning. A wall planning map provides a visual tool to document, track and evaluate key learning themes. Individual profile books clearly articulate children's learning and progress.

A strong bicultural curriculum is threaded through the daily life of the centre. Teachers' frequent use of te reo Māori is integrated meaningfully into the programme and woven throughout children's learning stories. Children are enthusiastic participants in waiata, karakia and the centre's haka.

Each child's language, identity and culture are recognised and celebrated.

Children with additional needs are well supported. Teachers work with families and external support to plan specific strategies to respond to individual needs.

Transition to school is very well supported. The centre has consulted with families and local schools to develop practices that promote a smooth transition to school.

Teachers' and leaders' sound appraisal processes support and promote ongoing development of teaching practice. Teachers work collaboratively to provide each other with feedback in relation to the Standards for the Teaching Profession. Ongoing professional development responds to teacher interests and the centre's strategic focus.

The centre manager fosters collaborative ways of working with all involved in the centre. A strong commitment to teaching and learning is promoted and contributes to positive outcomes for all children.

A clear vision and philosophy sets the direction for the centre and is evident in practice. The useful, well-documented strategic plan includes goals informed by parent consultation and expected outcomes for future evaluation. Strategic goals are supported by appropriate actions and resources. The parent committee is focused on continuing improvement and has recently reviewed their governance practice.

Committee members, the manager and teachers use a sound self-review process to evaluate the effectiveness of centre processes and progress towards strategic goals. Increased emphasis on evaluation in relation to expected outcomes, particularly for children, should strengthen this process.

Key Next Steps

ERO and leaders agree that the next step is to:

  • strengthen internal evaluation with a clearer focus on expected outcomes for children.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Karori Kids Incorporated 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

4 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

Location

Wellington

Ministry of Education profile number

60230

Licence type

Education & Care Service

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

24 children over 2 years

Service roll

24

Gender composition

Male 15, Female 9

Ethnic composition

NZ European/Pākehā
Chinese
Other ethnicities

16
6
2

Percentage of qualified teachers

80% +

Reported ratios of staff to children

Over 2

1:6

Better than minimum requirements

Review team on site

December 2019

Date of this report

4 May 2020

Most recent ERO reports

Education Review

February 2017

Education Review

February 2014

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.