Cardrona Alpine Resort Ltd Cardrona Valley Road, Wanaka
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 |
Not meeting |
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Governance, management and administration |
Not meeting |
At the time of the review, ERO identified non-compliance with regulatory standards that must be addressed.
The Cardrona Nursery and Ski Kindy is owned by the Cardrona Alpine Resort. It operates from the resort complex at the base of the Cardrona Ski field. The service is open only during the ski season. The centre's philosophy is to develop children's life-long love of snow, skiing and the mountain.
Teachers engage with children through positive and meaningful interactions. Children’s preferences are respected, and they are involved in decisions about their learning. The service’s curriculum provides children with a range of experiences both indoors and out. Leaders and teachers optimise the opportunity for children to participate in snow sports opportunities.
An increased level of monitoring health and safety practices is required. The service’s premises and facilities do not currently meet regulatory standards. Consistent implementation of governance and management systems is required to meet all aspects of regulatory compliance.
ERO found areas of non-compliance in the service relating to:
Licencing Criteria for Early Childhood Education & Care Services 2008 HS8, GMA7A.
Since the onsite visit the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:
Licencing Criteria for Early Childhood Education & Care Services 2008 HS6, HS12, HS17, HS28, HS31 GMA3.
ERO recommends the Ministry follows up with the service provider to ensure that non-compliances identified in this report are addressed promptly.
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akanuku
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini
29 October 2021
| Early Childhood Service Name | Cardrona Nursery & Ski Kindy |
| Profile Number | 80069 |
| Location | Wanaka |
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Service type |
Education and care service |
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Number licensed for |
50 children, including up to 15 aged under 2. |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
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Service roll |
Variable; casual attendance centre |
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Ethnic composition |
Variable ethnicities |
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Review team on site |
September 2021 |
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Date of this report |
29 October 2021 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, January 2018; Education Review, October 2013. |
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.
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:
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO assesses whether the regulated 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:
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO also gathers and records evidence through:
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
This centre is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
The Cardrona Nursery and Ski Kindy is owned by the Cardrona Alpine Resort and operates from the resort complex at the base of the Cardrona Skifield. The Cardrona Nursery and Ski Kindy is open seven days a week during the ski season to cater for the needs of New Zealand and overseas families at the resort.
The centre provides learning and care for children mostly from 3 months up to five years of age. It has recently been licensed for 50 children, including up to 15 aged under two. Most of the children are enrolled short term, with some attending more regularly. Some children also attend the resort ski programmes.
Since the October 2013 ERO review, the centre and resort have changed ownership. An experienced centre supervisor and some returning teachers provide continuity for the team. Most of the teachers are employed for just one season. Some teachers are from overseas. The organisation provides induction and training at the start of each season for the new teaching team. The centre's philosophy is to develop children's life-long love of snow, skiing and the mountain.
Children and their families are warmly welcomed when they arrive at the centre. Teachers strive to quickly build a sense of belonging for the children, within a short period of time.
Children's feelings are sensitively managed, at drop off time, in transitions within and between the centre's indoor and outdoor experiences and with the resort's ski programme. Teachers show genuine care for children and effectively collaborate to positively manage children's behaviour and ensure their wellbeing. They are responsive to the very young children’s non-verbal cues and support them to settle into the programme at a calm and gentle pace.
Centre programmes strongly integrate the mountain environment to develop children's life-long love of snow, skiing and the mountain. Teachers seek and quickly respond to children's interests. Children's creativity is encouraged through a range of art, drama and other activities of interest. Parents are kept well informed about their children.
Teachers, particularly those new to the centre, are well supported to develop their knowledge and teaching capabilities. They are provided with clear guidelines and expectations for fulfilling their roles and responsibilities.
Where possible, teachers seek to acknowledge aspects of the children’s culture and language in their time at the centre. The children are introduced to aspects of Māori culture, language and New Zealand’s bicultural heritage. The centre's value for manaakitanga, whanaungatanga and ako are highly evident in centre practices.
The centre is well led. The Cardrona resort organisation has many systems and structures that support the centre operations and the wellbeing of children and staff. Teachers at the centre use effective communication/systems. The centre leader models strong relational trust, reciprocity and respect for staff, children and parents. She has strengthened the use of internal evaluation and strategic planning to foster improvement to programmes and operations. Effective partnerships, such as those with resort managers and the ski programme, are maintained within and beyond the centre.
Managers, leaders and ERO agree that teachers should extend planning for children to show:
what teachers will do to extend children's learning
more regular and ongoing planning for returning children.
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 Cardrona Nursery & Ski Kindy will be in three years.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern
Te Waipounamu - Southern Region
12 January 2018
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 |
Wanaka |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
80069 |
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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 |
50 children, including up to 15 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
Casual |
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Gender composition |
N/A |
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Ethnic composition |
N/A |
N/A |
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Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
80% + |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:2 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Over 2 |
1:7 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
October 2017 |
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Date of this report |
12 January 2018 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
October 2013 |
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|
Education Review |
November 2009 |
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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.