88 Mt Royal Avenue, Mount Albert, Auckland
View on mapAkarangi | 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 Mt Royal Early Learning Centre are as follows:
Outcome Indicators(What the service knows about outcomes for learners) | Whakatō Emerging |
Ngā Akatoro Domains | |
Learning ConditionsOrganisational Conditions | Whāngai Establishing Whāngai Establishing |
Mt Royal Early Learning Centre is privately owned and operated. Since ERO’s last visit there has been a change of ownership and leadership. The new centre owner oversees governance responsibilities as well as the curriculum. A small number of tamariki Māori and children of Pacific heritages attend.
Children experience a language-rich environment which encourages them to be creative and expressive. It fosters the development of literacy and numeracy concepts within a play-based context. Teachers intentionally promote children’s developing social competence and understand care to be an integral part of their practice. As a result, peer relationships are evident and children demonstrate an understanding of the centre rules and rights of others.
Children’s individual assessment records evidence their participation in various activities, experiences, and cultural celebrations which aim to support their learning. Planning and assessment documentation is yet to show the progression of children’s learning over time. An alignment with the learning outcomes from Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, is also needed.
The teachers have begun to consider appropriate cultural practices for their learners. This is evident in their promotion of te reo Māori, Pacific and Korean language through song, dance, stories, and cultural celebrations. The views of parents and families are currently sought informally through conversations. Leaders have self-identified the need to purposefully seek, record and utilise parent aspirations to strengthen their curriculum planning.
The conditions which support the development of relational trust across the teaching team have been successfully established. The leader has been pro-active in seeking professional learning and has identified that evaluative reasoning needs to be a learning focus across the team. As a result, the team are beginning to use relevant research to generate solutions and support decision making.
The service’s owner has demonstrated a commitment to employ qualified teachers that reflect the cultural diversity of the community. Leaders and teachers have opportunities for mentoring and coaching. A stronger focus on critical mentorship is required to support improvements in teaching practice.
Mt Royal Early Learning Centre will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:
Before the review, the staff and management of Mt Royal Early Learning Centre completed an ERO 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:
All early childhood services are required to promote children's health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.
Since the onsite visit, the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:
Patricia Davey
Director of Early Childhood Education (ECE)
24 June 2024
| Early Childhood Service Name | Mt Royal Early Learning Centre |
| Profile Number | 10351 |
| Location | Mt Albert, Auckland |
| Service type | Education and care service |
| Number licensed for | 24 children, including up to 4 aged under 2 |
| Percentage of qualified teachers | 100% |
| Service roll | 28 |
| Review team on site | April 2024 |
| Date of this report | 24 June 2024 |
| Most recent ERO report(s) | Education Review, September 2018; Education Review, June 2016 |
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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.
Mt Royal Early Learning Centre in Mt Albert is privately owned and provides full day care for up to 24 children, including up to four children under two years of age. The centre caters for a diverse community. Children play as a mixed-age group for the majority of the day. The owner manages the centre with the support of a supervisor and a team of teachers, most of whom are qualified.
The centre's ERO reporting history has not always been positive. In response to concerns raised in the 2016 ERO report, the centre engaged a number of external advisers to help staff improve the quality of the environment, teaching and learning practices, and compliance with regulations and legislation. As a result, centre staff have made, and are continuing to make progress with improving these areas.
Children are settled and play happily with and alongside their peers. Teachers have a focus on children's wellbeing. They warmly greet children on arrival in the centre and help them to engage with the programme. Children make choices from the resources offered, and sometimes play in friendly groups with high levels of discussion. They enjoy long periods of uninterrupted play and teachers' conversations help to extend children's activities.
Children are enthusiastic and highly engaged in their weekly visits to local forested areas. The Māori value of kaitiakitanga is embedded in teachers' rationale for this programme. Children are learning about sustainability and the protection of natural environments.
Children are making good use of natural materials found in and around their own playground and provided by teachers. It would be useful to build on these experiences to engage in thought-provoking conversations and extend children's learning.
Children up to two years of age are included in programme activities. Teachers could more closely monitor these children's engagement in the programme and provide alternative activities when necessary, for their ongoing learning.
The roll includes a small number of Māori and Pacific children. Teachers have strong partnerships with whānau and have received good support to increase their understanding of children's languages and cultures. Teachers focus on supporting all children to appreciate the bicultural heritage of Aotearoa New Zealand and their multicultural community. Teachers should continue to strengthen their understanding of children's cultural backgrounds and include references to individual children's cultures in their portfolios.
Teachers and whānau share warm, respectful relationships. Whānau willingly contribute time and ideas to enhance the programme. They speak highly of the teachers and enjoy the quiet, homely atmosphere provided for children.
The owner and staff have had considerable external support. Teachers have made improvements in their teaching and assessment, and internal evaluation practices. They have also addressed health and safety requirements and improved learning environments.
The owner has reviewed and updated policies and procedures to match recent legislation and regulatory requirements. There is further work to be undertaken to ensure that the policy information includes reference to legislation, and is collated to make information easily accessible. A further review of the centre's philosophy should make mention of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, and te Tiriti o Waitangi as underpinnings for centre practices.
The owner now needs to support teachers to continue making progress in providing good quality programmes for children. Next steps and further developments include:
embedding improved assessment and planning processes
teachers' reflective practices, including developing more focused internal evaluation to provide useful information about the effectiveness of teachers' work with children
understanding Te Whāriki as a tool for improving professional practice and maintaining higher levels of commitment to quality practice
continuing to refine policies and procedures.
Before the review, the staff and management of Mt Royal 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:
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 Mt Royal Early Learning Centre will be in three years.
Violet Tu’uga Stevenson
Director Review and Improvement Services
Te Tai Raki - Northern Region
21 September 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 |
Mount Albert, Auckland |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
10351 |
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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 |
24 children, including up to 4 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
24 |
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Gender composition |
Girls 13 Boys 11 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
4 |
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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 |
1:4 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Over 2 |
1:6 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
August 2018 |
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Date of this report |
21 September 2018 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
June 2016 |
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Supplementary Review |
March 2013 |
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Supplementary Review |
July 2011 |
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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.