Queens Preschool

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 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 Queens Preschool are as follows:

2 Context of the Service

Queens Preschool is a small community-based centre. It is governed by a parent committee and day-to-day management is overseen by a centre manager and two curriculum leaders. Leadership and staffing have been very stable over recent years. Since the last ERO review in 2019, the service made significant progress on the key next steps.

3 Summary of findings

Children are empowered as independent and confident learners in an inclusive learning environment. Infants and toddlers experience a calm, slow pace that gives them space and time to lead their own learning. The curriculum is designed to foster individual learning dispositions.

Kaiako provide intentional and engaging open-ended learning opportunities that enhances children’s identity as learners. Children are well supported through kaiako building caring and trusting learner-focused partnerships with them and their whānau.

The agreed learning priorities of relationships, independence, resilience, culture, and transitions are strongly reflected in assessment for learning documentation. Assessment and curriculum design is underpinned by the principles and strands of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. Kaiako are beginning to explore the use of the learning outcomes from Te Whāriki.

Leaders and kaiako facilitate opportunities for children to develop knowledge and understanding of the cultural heritage of Aotearoa | New Zealand. This includes:

• a curriculum that reflects te ao Māori values

• promoting a sustainable learning environment is raising children awareness of the importance of protecting and nurturing Papatūānuku

• building kaiako capability to integrate te reo Māori authentically in the daily programme.

There is not yet clear evidence of how teachers support each child to be confident in their own language, culture, and identity.

Leaders and kaiako work collaboratively to improve outcomes for children. Internal evaluation is improvement focused and is becoming embedded. Having a more in-depth focus on evaluation including evidence which identifies what is and is not working and for whom is required.  

4 Improvement actions

Queens Preschool will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:

• Co-construct the curriculum with whānau and mana whenua to develop a responsive and localised curriculum that reflects the local cultural narrative.

• Embed good quality assessment for learning processes including the use of the learning outcomes from Te Whāriki to support and inform future curriculum development.

• Build leaders and kaiako capability for internal evaluation that identifies and gathers the evidence required to demonstrate what is and is not working and for whom in the curriculum.

5 Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Queens 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:

• 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

8 September 2022 

6 About the Early Childhood Service