Queenstown Preschool and Nursery

Education institution number:
90105
Service type:
Education and Care Service
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
56
Telephone:
Address:

45 Brecon Street, Queenstown

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Queenstown Preschool and Nursery

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 Queenstown Preschool and Nursery are as follows:

Outcome Indicators

(What the service knows about outcomes for learners)

Whakaū Embedding

Ngā Akatoro Domains

 

Learning Conditions
Organisational Conditions

Whakawhanake Sustaining

Whakawhanake Sustaining

2 Context of the Service

Queenstown Preschool and Nursery is a community-based not-for profit early childhood service in Queenstown. The service has a diverse roll which includes a small number of Māori children. A parent committee provides governance and a centre manager, and a curriculum leader leads the teaching team. Good progress has been made in addressing the next steps identified in the 2019 ERO report.

3 Summary of findings

Children learn in a well-resourced play-based curriculum. Their unique strengths and identities are celebrated. Meaningful opportunities are available for children to investigate, discover and take risks in their play and learning. Leaders and teachers foster respectful relationships with children, parents and whānau.

Under two’s are welcomed and nurtured with warmth and care in an inclusive family-focused learning environment. Teachers promote a secure sense of belonging so that infants and toddlers feel confident to explore.

Teachers are inclusive and welcoming for children and families from diverse backgrounds. Children’s cultures, languages and identities are highly valued and made visible within the learning environment and learning documentation. Teachers facilitate a culturally responsive learning environment and intentional opportunities to learn te reo me ngā tikanga Māori. Reflecting te ao Māori perspectives through reviewing the service’s philosophy and learning priorities is a next step.  

Teachers integrate the learning outcomes from Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, and document children’s learning over time. The learning outcomes are not yet being used reliably to inform planning and evaluation and support assessment of children’s learning. Curriculum developments are informed by professional learning and development.

Child and parent perspectives are valued, and teachers collaborate on well-considered teaching strategies. Teachers work closely with parents and at times external agencies to promote positive outcomes for children who need additional support.

The service is improvement focused and a culture of learning is evident. Leaders and kaiako build their professional knowledge and expertise through robust teacher inquiries. Internal evaluation of the curriculum results in improvements to practice. The service is effectively governed by a parent committee of annually elected parents who prioritise the learning and wellbeing of children in the context of whānau.

4 Improvement actions

Queenstown Preschool and Nursery will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:

  • Purposefully use the learning outcomes to inform planning and evaluation to support assessment of children’s progress.

  • Strengthen internal evaluation process through the consideration of current research and theories to inform evidence gathering and the design of quality improvement actions.

5 Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Queenstown Preschool and Nursery 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

Early Childhood Service Name

Queenstown Preschool and Nursery

Profile Number

90105

Location

Queenstown

Service type

Education and care service

Number licensed for

70 children, including up to 24 aged under 2

Percentage of qualified teachers

80-99%

Service roll

68

Review team on site

25 May 2022

Date of this report

8 September 2022

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review, February 2019; Education Review, July 2015

Queenstown Preschool and Nursery - 20/02/2019

1 Evaluation of Queenstown Preschool and Nursery

How well placed is Queenstown Preschool and Nursery to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Not well placed

Requires further development

Well placed

Very well placed

Queenstown Preschool and Nursery is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

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

Background

Queenstown Preschool and Nursery is a community-based all-day centre located in central Queenstown. The centre is licensed for 70 children including 20 under two years of age. It is governed by a parent committee with the centre manager and education manager providing the day-to-day leadership. Children are grouped in three rooms according to their age. Each room is led by a team leader.

The focus of the philosophy is to provide a centre that is 'a heart focused home away from home' with an emphasis on developing children's social skills and relationship building.

Since the last ERO review in 2015, the long-serving manager has retired and some staff have left. The current leadership team has significant combined experience working at the centre. Good progress, especially in 2018, has been made in addressing the next steps identified in the 2015 ERO report.

The Review Findings

Positive outcomes for children are being promoted. Recent changes and developments have led to:

  • higher expectations for teaching and learning
  • a curriculum that is more responsive to the needs and interests of all children.

The managers and committee provide effective leadership for the centre. They have set clear direction through the philosophy, priorities for learning and the strategic plan. Well-considered change management is supported by ongoing and appropriate professional learning and development for leaders and teachers. Leaders maintain a strong focus on developing consistent and coherent practice to grow teacher effectiveness. This has included: 

  • clarifying the roles and responsibilities of all staff
  • strengthening the appraisal process
  • genuinely consulting with the different groups within the centre community
  • responding positively to the external and internal feedback received.

Teachers have a shared understanding of expected practices as a result of increased collaboration between them. As a result children benefit from being in settled environments and learning within programmes that are very child-centred.

The strong improvement focus across the centre has led to positive changes in the curriculum and to teaching practices. Teachers and leaders make good use of internal evaluation to identify what is working well and what needs improving. This is particularly so for teaching and learning. The streamlining of policies and processes has resulted in staff and parents having a greater understanding of relevant centre expectations. Leaders and teachers critically reflect on their practices. This level of reflection has led to a collective ownership of improvement and meaningful goals for improvement being put in place. Improvements include:

  • well-considered changes in the nursery with the use of primary care givers
  • extended time in areas of responsibility to allow for teachers to develop the complexity of learning over longer periods of time
  • more inclusive ways of gathering and responding to the contributions of parents.

Key Next Steps

The centre leadership team and teachers need to continue to embed recent improvements to establish sustained, consistent and high quality practices. This should include:

  • ensuring the philosophy and priorities for learning are key drivers for decision making and planning
  • reporting to the governing committee about centre-wide progress in relation to learning priorities and aspects of the philosophy.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Queenstown Preschool and Nursery 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 Queenstown Preschool and Nursery will be in three years.

Alan Wynyard
Director Review and Improvement Services Southern
Southern Region

20 February 2019 

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

Queenstown

Ministry of Education profile number

90105

Licence type

Education & Care Service

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

70 children, including up to 20 aged under 2

Service roll

54

Gender composition

Boys:     30
Girls:      24

Ethnic composition

Māori
Pākehā

  2
52

Percentage of qualified teachers

80% +

Reported ratios of staff to children

Under 2

1:4

Better than minimum requirements

Over 2

1:8

Better than minimum requirements

Review team on site

December 2018

Date of this report

20 February 2019

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review

July 2015

Education Review

October 2012

Education Review

March 2009

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.