North Beach Playcentre 100 Leaver Terrace, North New Brighton, Christchurch
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
North Beach Playcentre is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
North Beach Playcentre operates as a parent-led cooperative under the governance and management of Te Whānau Tupu Ngātahi o Aotearoa - Playcentre Aotearoa. The playcentre employs a lead coordinator who facilitates the sessions. Playcentre Aotearoa employs a centre support worker and an administrator who regularly visit the playcentre to support the parents and coordinators.
The playcentre operates four mornings a week. It is licensed for 24 children, including 10 children up to two years. Children play and learn together in the shared indoor and outdoor areas. Parents are rostered to help at each session.
The playcentre's philosophy emphasises the importance of play and creativity for children's development, and the belief that children should initiate their own learning challenges with adult support.
Since the 2014 ERO review, the coordinator and parents have made good progress towards meeting the key next steps. They have extended internal evaluation to include curriculum, children's learning and strengthened their knowledge of te reo and tikanga Māori. They are continuing to strengthen assessment, planning and evaluation.
This review was part of a cluster of four playcentre reviews in the Northern South Island Regional Hub of Te Whānau Tupu Ngātahi o Aotearoa - Playcentre Aotearoa.
Children are settled and confident in the playcentre environment. They choose their interests from a wide variety of resources and activities. Children are well supported to extend their learning and creative play. Infants and toddlers have a safe space to explore easily accessed resources. They are very well supported to be involved in the playcentre's programme.
Parents purposefully follow children's play interests and the cues of infants and toddlers. They work with their own and other children. Parents talk with children about what they are doing, and some use a range of questions to further develop children's ideas. Parents regularly document children's interests and participation in the programme. With the support of the coordinator, they could now place a stronger emphasis on children's progress and learning in assessment portfolios and planning.
The parent group is supported by a collaborative lead coordinator who sensitively guides and builds parents' knowledge and skills. They are a welcoming and inclusive group who establish positive relationships with each other and children.
Te reo Māori is naturally incorporated into the programme. Some parents and the coordinator have very good levels of fluency. They support each other to gain confidence in the use of te reo Māori.
The playcentre has a newly-developed strategic plan that sets clear priorities. The centre is planning to evaluate the effectiveness of its implementation. Internal evaluation is becoming established and results in improvements for children and whānau.
Playcentre Aotearoa has a well-established philosophy that acknowledges and values parents as the first educators of their children. It provides a broad range of support for playcentres, including nation-wide training courses and personnel who liaise with and assist centres. The effective implementation of a recently-reviewed policy and procedure framework will help parents and whānau to ensure that children have safe and healthy learning environments while at playcentre.
Key next steps for the playcentre include:
strengthening the emphasis on learning in assessment and planning by planning strategies to extend children's learning, and evaluating the effectiveness of learning and other strategies over time
continuing to weave te reo and tikanga Māori into the daily programme.
Key next steps for Playcentre Aotearoa and the Northern South Island Hub are to provide better support to playcentres in relation to planning for learning, internal evaluation, strategic planning, and health and safety practices including relevant risk assessment and management for excursions.
Before the review, the staff and management of North Beach Playcentre 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.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region - Te Tai Tini
1 May 2020
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.
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Location |
Christchurch |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
70090 |
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Licence type |
Playcentre |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
24 children, including up to 10 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
38 |
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Gender composition |
Girls 19, Boys 19 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
4 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
0-49% |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:1 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Over 2 |
1:5 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
November 2019 |
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Date of this report |
1 May 2020 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
November 2014 |
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Education Review |
February 2012 |
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Education Review |
July 2010 |
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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.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
North Beach Playcentre is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
This playcentre operates under the guidance of the Canterbury Playcentre Association. The playcentre is a parent cooperative with parents encouraged to be involved in all aspects of the programme and centre operation.
North Beach Playcentre has three morning sessions a week.
Since the beginning of 2014, the roll has increased with the enrolment of new families to the centre. As a result, the centre has increased the number of sessions to three a week.
The centre is making good progress towards addressing the recommendations from the 2012 ERO report with the support of external professional support. This includes improving planning and assessment practices.
This review was part of a cluster of 11 playcentre reviews in the Canterbury Playcentre Association.
Relationships and interactions between adults and children and among children are caring and nurturing. Parents provide a welcoming, accepting and supportive environment for all children and their families.
Children lead their own learning and parents readily support children’s requests for assistance with their play. The centre makes good use of parents’ strengths, interests and values. There is a strong sense of shared ownership.
A designated area is set aside for children under two years of age to encourage infants and toddlers to play safely and explore the resources.
Children experience a wide range of learning opportunities within the centre and the community. The environment is reflective of the centre’s plans to strengthen the inclusion of bicultural values and practices.
Parents are encouraged to undertake training to familiarise themselves with the playcentre philosophy and the important role they play as educators of their children. Leadership strengths are developing through participation in training, planning and observing children at play.
There are good systems in place to involve all parents in gathering information about children’s emerging interests and making links to Te Whāriki, the New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum.
The centre is actively making strong links with the community. It works with local schools as a member of a learning cluster.
The centre is developing appropriate self-review practices. Further improvement will increase the benefits for children’s learning.
Parents acknowledge the next key steps to improve outcomes for children are to:
This is the third cluster review of a number of playcentres that ERO has undertaken in collaboration with the association. Each of the previous cluster reviews have identified emerging strengths from all playcentres reviewed. This process has resulted in key next steps for the association to further support playcentres to improve learning outcomes for children.
The association has made some good progress in addressing the recommendations from the previous two cluster reviews. This includes:
Further work is required to develop a stronger understanding of the government’s focus on priority learners so that the association can better support parent groups to respond to these children.
There continues to be significant change occurring in the structure of governance and management at association and federation levels. This has had a major impact on the association’s positive response to ERO’s recommendation from the previous cluster review, to document future planning.
During this cluster review, the association has identified, and ERO agrees, that the next steps for the association include:
Before the review, the staff and management of North Beach Playcentre 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 North Beach Playcentre will be in three years.
Graham Randell
National Manager Review Services
Southern Region
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 |
Christchurch |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
70090 |
||
|
Licence type |
Playcentre |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
25 children, including up to 10 aged under two |
||
|
Service roll |
28 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys 18; Girls 10 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori NZ European/Pākehā British Brazilian |
2 21 2 2 |
|
|
Reported ratios of adult to children |
Under 2 |
1:1 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:5 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
July 2014 |
||
|
Date of this report |
8 November 2014 |
||
|
Most recent ERO reports |
Education Review |
February 2012 |
|
|
Education Review |
July 2010 |
||
|
Education Review |
June 2004 |
||
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 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.