Ara Early Learning Centre

Education institution number:
70341
Service type:
Education and Care Service
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
42
Telephone:
Address:

130 Madras Street, Christchurch Central, Christchurch

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Ara Early Learning Centre

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 (PDF 3.01MB) are the basis for making judgements about the effectiveness of the service in achieving equity and excellence for all learners. The Akarangi Quality Evaluation Judgement Rubric (PDF 91.30KB) derived from the indicators, is used to inform the ERO’s judgements about this service’s performance in promoting equity and excellence.

ERO’s judgements for Ara Early Learning Centre are as follows:

Outcome Indicators

ERO’s judgement

What the service knows about outcomes for learners

Whakaū Embedding

Ngā Akatoro Domains

ERO’s judgement

He Whāriki Motuhake

The learner and their learning

Whakawhanake Sustaining

Whakangungu Ngaio

Collaborative professional learning builds knowledge and capability

Whakawhanake Sustaining

Ngā Aronga Whai Hua

Evaluation for improvement

Whakaū Embedding

Kaihautū

Leaders foster collaboration and improvement

Whakawhanake Sustaining

Te Whakaruruhau

Stewardship through effective governance and management

Whakawhanake Sustaining

2 Context of the Service

Ara Early Learning Centre is a not-for-profit service, on the campus of Ara Institute of Canterbury. The Institute oversees the governance of the centre. A manager and shared leadership team support day-to-day centre operations and the education and care of children from six months to five years of age. A Whānau advisory committee is consulted to inform decisions.

3 Summary of findings

The strong shared philosophy and vision clearly state what each child needs to be successful in life. The image of the child as capable and confident is actively promoted, within a child-led curriculum that prioritises the virtues of aroha/love and compassion, atawhai/kindness, te rongo/peace, and kotahitanga/unity. Kaiako foster positive, respectful relationships to nurture children’s wellbeing and mana as a learner, in the context of family and culture. The localised curriculum is consistent with Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, giving expression to children’s language, culture and identity.

Leaders and kaiako work collaboratively to develop deep professional knowledge and expertise to implement a rich, culturally responsive and inclusive curriculum for all children. Assessment for learning documentation does not yet consistently capture the intentional teaching strategies and priorities for learning.

Children with additional learning needs are well supported to succeed. Teachers provide a secure and nurturing environment where infants and toddlers flourish ā tōna wā – in her/his own time. Leaders and kaiako value and celebrate diverse ethnicities of children and their families for who they are and what they bring to the service.

Teachers model care and respect for one another, and for children, whānau and the environment. They encourage parent-child-teacher partnerships in learning to promote holistic development and positive learner outcomes. Transitions into, within and onto school are personalised to the needs of each child. Children benefit from calm, unhurried, respectful interactions that foster independence, curiosity, exploration, and social competence.

Leaders collaboratively develop and enact the service’s philosophy, vision, goals and priorities recognising Te Tiriti o Waitangi as foundational. Relational trust at every level supports collaboration and openness to promote equitable outcomes for all children. Coherent organisation conditions enable the use of in-depth evaluation for ongoing improvement, innovation inquiry and knowledge building for sustained growth. Purposeful connections with outside specialist agencies, and other leaders in the wider education profession, enhance community wellbeing, teacher capability and learner outcomes.  

4 Improvement actions

Ara Early Learning Centre will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:

  • better reflect the richness of the curriculum provided for children by being more explicit in documenting planning of learning outcomes for children and teaching strategies that add value to learning
  • better document evaluation of the impact of teaching strategies on outcomes for children and how this information is used to adapt practice.

5 Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Ara 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:

  • 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

2 June 2021 

6 About the Early Childhood Service

Early Childhood Service Ara Early Learning Centre
Profile Number 70341
Location Christchurch

Service type

Education and care service

Number licensed for

49 children, including up to 12 children aged under 2 years old

Percentage of qualified teachers

80%+

Service roll

54

Ethnic composition

Māori 8, NZ European/Pākehā 26, Pacific 3, Other ethnicities 17

Review team on site

March 2021

Date of this report

2 June 2021

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review, February 2014; Education Review, August 2010.

Ara Early Learning Centre - 17/07/2017

1 Evaluation of Ara Early Learning Centre

How well placed is Ara Early Learning Centre to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Not well placed

Requires further development

Well placed

Very well placed

Ara Early Learning Centre is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

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

Background

Ara Early Learning Centre is located on the campus of Ara Institute of Canterbury (formerly CPIT). The Institute oversees the operation of the centre. A parent advisory committee also supports the centre.

The centre provides education and care for babies and children to school age in two separate rooms. The preschool and the nursery have their own outdoor areas.

The centre manager has been employed at the centre for a number of years. The head teachers in the nursery and the preschool were appointed since the 2014 ERO review. All teachers are qualified early childhood teachers and many have worked at the centre for a number of years.

The centre has made good progress to meet many of the recommendations in the previous ERO report. Parents are more involved in decision making, particularly developing the strategic plan and commenting on their children's learning. While progress has been made in internal evaluation and the use of te reo and tikanga Māori, they remain key next steps in this report.

The Review Findings

The centre philosophy's emphasis on relationships, environment, whānau and Māori values are well met in the programme by the:

  • nurturing and respectful relationships evident between children, teachers and families

  • carefully considered environment that promotes sustainability, exploration, independence and engagement

  • genuine acceptance of all families by valuing their culture, knowledge and aspirations

  • integration of Māori values into relationships and the ways that children learn.

Children are self-motivated learners who confidently use the environment to discover and develop their interests and extend their creativity and imaginative play. They make effective use of the well -presented and spacious learning areas to play independently and build positive and inclusive relationships with others. Literacy and mathematics is well integrated into all aspects of the programme.

Teachers skilfully extend children's learning by the ways they listen, ask questions and provide additional resources. They make effective use of children's interests to help them develop their investigative skills and increase their understanding of the world. Children are leaders of their learning and are developing useful research skills.

Infants and toddlers are well cared for by teachers who have a good knowledge of each child and their family. Routines are flexible to meet the needs of children and their families. The programme strongly focuses on children developing their sensory and communication skills. There is a reassuring emphasis on the familiar, with new resources and experiences introduced thoughtfully into the curriculum. Children are happy, settled and engaged.

The centre has many effective governance and management systems and practices. Leaders work collaboratively and make very good use of teacher strengths and interests to improve teaching and learning. The strategic plan is strongly focused on achieving the Institute's and the centre's vision and goals. The strategic goals are closely linked to professional development and staff appraisal. Regular reporting on progress to achieve the goals and evaluation of the impact of these developments is improving the quality of learning and teaching.

The centre's contributions to the success of the Ara Institute of Canterbury are highly valued. Institute managers visit regularly and acknowledge the significant role of the centre in providing for the wellbeing of children and families. Children and their learning are highly visible at all levels of the Institute. The centre leaders receive the support that they need from the Institute to provide high quality learning and teaching for children.

Key Next Steps

Managers, leaders and ERO agree that the effectiveness of governance and management systems and practices would be improved by:

  • reviewing internal evaluation processes to more effectively identify priorities for improvement, monitoring implementation of improvement actions and evaluating their impact

  • clarifying expectations and refining processes to improve the usefulness of assessment to effectively identify learning and teaching outcomes

  • identifying bicultural understanding and practices already in place and making them more visible in the environment and documents. 

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Ara 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:

  • 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.

Next ERO Review

When is ERO likely to review the service again?

The next ERO review of Ara Early Learning Centre will be in three years.

Dr Lesley Patterson

Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern (Te Waipounamu)

17 July 2017

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

Christchurch

Ministry of Education profile number

70341

Licence type

Education & Care Service

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

49 children, including up to 12 aged under 2

Service roll

59

Gender composition

Boys: 27

Girls: 32

Ethnic composition

Māori
Pākehā
Tongan
Other

2
41
1
15

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

May 2017

Date of this report

17 July 2017

Most recent ERO report(s)

 

Education Review

February 2014

Education Review

August 2010

Education Review

June 2007

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 and Next Review

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:

  • Very well placed – The next ERO review in four years
  • Well placed – The next ERO review in three years
  • Requires further development – The next ERO review within two years
  • Not well placed - The next ERO review in consultation with the Ministry of Education.

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.