148 Estuary Road, South New Brighton, Christchurch
View on mapERO’s Akanuku | Assurance Review reports provide information about whether a service meets and maintains regulatory standards. Further information about Akanuku | Assurance Reviews is included at the end of this report.
Regulatory standards |
ERO’s judgement |
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Curriculum |
Meeting |
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Premises and facilities |
Meeting |
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Health and safety |
Meeting |
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Governance, management and administration |
Meeting |
At the time of the review, ERO found the service was taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.
Estuary Road Preschool is one of two early childhood centres owned and governed by a private company. The owner works closely with the centre managers. This service has an increasingly diverse community including small numbers of children who identify as Māori and of Pacific heritage. This is the first ERO review under new ownership.
Children experience a curriculum based on Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. It is informed by assessment, planning and evaluation that shows an understanding of children’s interests, learning and development and their whānau contexts. Positive steps are taken to respect and acknowledge the aspirations held by parents and whānau for their children. The design and layout of the premises support the provision of different types of learning experiences and includes opportunities for physically active play both indoors and outside.
A suitable policy and procedure framework and annual plan guide the service’s operation. Parents have opportunities to contribute to the development and review of operational documents, and to their child’s learning.
Next steps include:
prioritising the unique place of Māori as tangata whenua and providing children with further opportunities to develop knowledge and understanding of the cultural heritages of both parties to the Treaty of Waitangi
further developing the curriculum to enable children to be confident in their own culture and make this and their learner identity more visible in learning documentation
continuing to implement assessment, planning and evaluation processes and practices to support the use of the learning outcomes from Te Whāriki and children's timely learning progression.
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Kathy Lye
Director Review and Improvement Services (Acting, Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini
14 February 2023
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Early Childhood Service Name |
Estuary Road Preschool |
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Profile Number |
70582 |
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Location |
Christchurch |
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Service type |
Education and care service |
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Number licensed for |
46 children, including up to 13 aged under 2 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
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Service roll |
47 |
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Review team on site |
November 2022 |
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Date of this report |
14 February 2023 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review December 2017; Education Review September 2015
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All services are licensed under the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008. The legal requirements for early childhood services also include the Licensing Criteria for Education and Care Services 2008.
Services must meet the standards in the regulations and the requirements of the licensing criteria to gain and maintain a licence to operate.
having its first ERO review – including if it is part of a governing organisation
previously identified as ‘not well placed’ or ‘requiring further development’
that has moved from a provisional to a full licence
that have been re-licenced due to a change of ownership
where an Akanuku | Assurance Review process is determined to be appropriate.
All early childhood services are required to promote children’s health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements. Before the review, the staff and management of a service 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.
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO assesses whether the regulatory standards are being met. In particular, ERO looks at a 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 certification; ratios)
relevant evacuation procedures and practices.
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO also gathers and records evidence through:
discussions with those involved in the service
consideration of relevant documentation, including the implementation of health and safety systems
observations of the environment/premises, curriculum implementation and teaching practice.
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Estuary Road Preschool Limited is a privately-owned centre providing care and education for babies, toddlers and children to school age. A centre manager oversees the daily operation of the centre. Most staff are registered early childhood teachers.
This centre is one of two centres owned by the same service provider. The other centre is Templeton Nursery and Preschool. A curriculum leader works across both centres. She provides support and guidance to this centre in curriculum and planning.
The centre was significantly rebuilt in 2016 to better meet the 2008 Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations. There are separate nursery and preschool buildings with distinct outdoor areas.
The centre owner and leaders have made good use of the support they received from the Ministry of Education and professional development providers to improve the areas identified for development in the 2015 ERO report. The most improvement has occurred in appraisal, strategic planning and internal evaluation practices.
The centre is an active member of a local learning cluster with other early childhood services and schools.
A collaboratively developed and well defined philosophy helps guide centre practices. There are appropriate systems in place to ensure the regular review of the philosophy.
Teachers provide a curriculum with a wide range of learning opportunities where:
children's self-help and independence skills are well supported
routines are calm and unhurried, providing flexibility for infants, toddlers and children
children have regular opportunities to hear and use te reo and tikanga Māori
children's opportunities to interact and learn to play successfully with others are encouraged.
Teachers interact with infants, toddlers and children in ways that are positive and affirming. They make sure infants and toddlers are supported by adults who are familiar to them and who know them well. They actively seek parent's aspirations for children's learning and are beginning to make more use of this information in planning and assessment practices.
Teachers promote children taking the lead in their play and following their own interests and ideas. They join children in their play and extend oral language and conversation skills.
Curriculum leadership is actively supporting improved teacher practice in assessment, planning and evaluation. Teachers consistently recognise individual children's interests and learning tendencies. They are developing more consistent documentation of how they are responding to and evaluating children's learning.
The centre culture is becoming increasingly reflective and supportive at improving professional practice among teachers. Appraisal practices have been strengthened. Centre leaders are providing appropriate support for professional dialogue.
Centre leaders have a greater understanding of internal evaluation processes as a result of professional development. Evaluation has been useful in identifying strategic goals for centre improvement and planning to support the achievement of these goals.
The centre leaders and ERO agree that to improve outcomes for children, the key next steps are to:
complete and embed new planning, assessment and evaluation initiatives
increase the focus on outcomes for children and the effectiveness of teaching practices in internal evaluation, strategic planning, planning and assessment, and evaluation
develop a clearer appraisal process for centre managers
support teachers to become more familiar with Tātaiako and how this is reflected in centre practices to more effectively support educational success for Māori children.
Before the review, the staff and management of Estuary Road Preschool 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.
The next ERO review of Estuary Road Preschool will be in three years.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern
Te Waipounamu - Southern Region
22 December 2017
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 |
70582 |
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Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
47 children, including up to 13 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
64 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 35 Girls 29 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Other ethnic groups |
11 44 9 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% + |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:4 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Over 2 |
1:8 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
October 2017 |
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Date of this report |
22 December 2017 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review Education Review Education Review |
September 2015 April 2013 February 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:
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.