6 Cosgrove Road, Kaiapoi
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 The Rainbow Early Learning Centre are as follows:
Outcome Indicators(What the service knows about outcomes for learners) |
Whāngai Establishing |
Ngā Akatoro Domains |
|
Learning ConditionsOrganisational Conditions |
Whāngai Establishing Whakaū Embedding |
The Rainbow Early Learning Centre is a Christian, community-based early childhood service governed by the Person to Person Help Trust. The center is led by a center manager supported by a head teacher. Over a quarter of children attending are Māori. A small number of children are of Pacific heritage. Progress since the last ERO review in relation to internal evaluation, is ongoing.
The service’s Christian philosophy and values are strongly evident in practice. Teachers know children and their whānau well. They foster children’s sense of belonging through intentional teaching and being attuned to them as individuals.
Infant and toddlers experience a calm, slower paced environment. Teachers are highly responsive to their verbal and non-verbal cues. The spacious natural outdoor environments support exploration and encourage children of all ages to lead their own learning.
The team have undertaken significant work to design and implement a local curriculum. Deepening the curriculum by exploring the local cultural narratives, histories, and greater integration of te ao Māori is an ongoing focus and requires further development.
The service has developed an effective working partnership with local primary schools. This helps to support successful transition for children and their whānau. Children with additional learning needs are well supported. Teachers remove barriers to ensure that children have access to full participation at the service.
Leaders and teachers gather relevant information on children’s learning and development aligned with the strands and goals of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. Te reo Māori is regularly used in assessment documentation. However, documentation does not consistently show:
continuity and progress of learning over time in relation to the learning outcomes in Te Whāriki
specific teaching strategies planned to extend learning
parents’ contributions and how teachers respond to these.
Leaders and teachers are collaborative, and improvement focused. They engage in regular professional learning and development aligned to the service’s priorities. Internal evaluation is used to inquire into aspects of practice and to understand what changes need to be made, however the process requires refinement to be fully effective.
Governance and management prioritise the learning and wellbeing of children and their whānau when making decisions and allocating resources.
The Rainbow Early Learning Centre will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:
improve the consistency of assessment documentation to be assured of all children’s learning and progress over time
further develop the local curriculum in consultation with whānau to include te ao Māori perspectives including local cultural narratives and histories
build the capability of governance, leaders, and teachers to do and use effective internal evaluation. This includes refining the evaluative focus, and indicators to guide the evaluation, and monitoring changes made to know the impact on outcomes for learners.
Before the review, the staff and management of The Rainbow Early Learning 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.
Kathy Lye
Director Review and Improvement Services (Acting, Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini
14 February 2023
|
Early Childhood Service Name |
The Rainbow Early Learning Centre |
|
Profile Number |
65085 |
|
Location |
Kaiapoi |
|
Service type |
Education and care service |
|
Number licensed for |
48 children, including up to 12 aged under 2 |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
|
Service roll |
69 |
|
Review team on site |
November 2022 |
|
Date of this report |
14 February 2023 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, November 2019; Education Review, October 2016 |
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
The Rainbow Early Learning Centre is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
The Rainbow Early Learning Centre is a Christian, community-based centre governed by the Person To Person Help Trust. It provides a full-day service and is licenced for 48 children, including 12 aged under two years. The centre is led by a long-serving head teacher with a team leader, and all teachers are fully qualified.
The separate nursery and preschool areas each have adjacent indoor and outdoor areas. Interaction between older and younger children, including siblings, is encouraged.
The centre has made progress in addressing the key next steps identified in the October 2016 review, particularly improving the quality of planning and assessment practices.
The centre's philosophy is Christian-centred and underpinned by Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. It states that through play-based and child-led programmes children are supported to be competent and confident learners, and that the service values reciprocal learning relationships with families. It also says that the cultural background of each child, and the unique place of Māori as tangata whenua will be valued.
The Rainbow Early Learning Centre is a member of the Katote Kāhui Ako | Community of Learning.
Children actively lead their own learning, empowering them to grow in competence and confidence physically, emotionally, cognitively and socially. Teachers respond to individual learning needs through effective curriculum planning and assessment. Te ao Māori and Christian concepts are clearly aligned with outcomes from Te Whāriki to help determine learning. Māori children are well supported in their learning.
Assessment records children’s strengths, interests and learning dispositions, and demonstrates progress in a range of contexts. Parents' and whānau aspirations for their children are known and valued. Teachers proactively learn about, and respond to, children’s cultural values.
Teachers engage in positive, responsive relationships with children. Their conversations with children, which also incorporate some te reo Māori, meaningfully promote curiosity, social engagement and learning. Teachers provide authentic learning experiences that offer opportunities to learn within and about the local community. Children’s sense of belonging is nurtured, with close whānau involvement, through individualised transitions into and within the service, and when moving on to school.
Infants experience warm, caring interactions with their key teachers. Their routines are calm and unhurried. The initiative of the child is respected, and their learning environment provides stimulation and challenge.
The centre's extensive learning environment supports curriculum implementation and makes use of many natural resources that invite exploration, wondering and creativity. Children experience the care of animals and sustainable practices that foster responsibility and gentleness. They are encouraged to take responsibility for their own and others' wellbeing and their environment.
Trustees, leaders and teachers demonstrate a strong, shared understanding of, and commitment to, the centre’s Christian philosophy. They provide an inclusive education for children with diverse needs through their collaborative practices and continual learning. The Trust resources the centre well as part of its mission of service and equity in its community. Leaders and teachers provide emotional and practical support and advocacy for children and whānau. Children are valued, affirmed and celebrated for who they are and what they bring to their learning.
Centre leaders and teachers are active participants and contributors to the wider education community. This has led to improvements in building cultural responsiveness and positive transitions to school. Professional learning is enhanced by teacher inquiry practices and sharing new knowledge within the team.
The key next steps for leaders and teachers are to continue to focus on:
Before the review, the staff and management of The Rainbow Early Learning 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.
To improve current practice, the early childhood service management should ensure that parents are notified in a timely manner in the event of their child sustaining an injury.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services Southern
Southern Region
27 November 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 |
Kaiapoi |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
65085 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
48 children, including up to 12 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
62 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Male 34, Female 28 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori |
16 |
|
|
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 |
1:7 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
October 2019 |
||
|
Date of this report |
27 November 2019 |
||
|
Most recent ERO reports
|
Education Review |
October 2016 |
|
|
Education Review |
June 2013 |
||
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.