12 Chester Street, Riversdale
View on mapAkarangi | Quality Evaluations evaluate the extent to which early childhood services have 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 and Early Childhood Education (ECE) Improvement Framework (teacher led services) are the basis for making judgements about the quality of the service in achieving equity and excellence for all learners. Evaluations for improvement | Ngā Aronga Whai Hua is integrated across all the above domains.
ERO’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 |
| Curriculum | Meeting |
| Premises and facilities | Meeting |
| Health and safety | Not meeting |
| Governance, management and administration | Meeting |
At the time of the review, ERO identified areas of non-compliance with regulatory standards that are an unacceptable risk to children.
Funshine Early Learning Centre is a rural service guided by a Christian based philosophy that aligns to
Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. A new centre manager leads a team of mostly qualified teachers. A quarter of children attending the service are Māori and a small number of children come from diverse ethnic backgrounds.
The curriculum is informed by assessment and planning. Teachers engage with children in meaningful interactions that support connections between home and centre. The environment is reflective of children’s cultural connections. Children have opportunities to be involved in decisions about their learning experiences and to learn about the local context from a bicultural perspective.
The premises and facilities support the provision of indoor and outdoor play with easy flow between the play areas. This supports children’s choice and provides opportunities for physical exploration.
Some aspects of health and safety monitoring and the implementation of personnel processes require strengthening to meet the Regulatory Standards.
ERO found areas of non-compliance in the service relating to:
[Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care 2008, HS9.]
Since the onsite visit, the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:
[Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care 2008, GMA7A, GMA8.]
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 will be in consultation with the Ministry of Education.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini
12 October 2022
| Early Childhood Service Name | Funshine Early Learning Centre |
| Profile Number | 45688 |
| Location | Riversdale |
| Service type | Education and care service |
| Number licensed for | 37 children over two years |
| Percentage of qualified teachers | 80-99% |
| Service roll | 60 |
| Review team on site | August 2022 |
| Date of this report | 12 October 2022 |
| Most recent ERO report(s) | Education Review, July 2018; Education Review, October 2014 |
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 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:
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO also gathers and records evidence through:
Not well placed | Requires further development | Well placed | Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Funshine Early Learning Centre is located in Riversdale, a rural community close to Gore. The centre is licensed for 30 children aged two-to-five years. The centre is governed by a board of trustees that is connected to the Presbyterian Church.
A new teaching team has been established this year. There are two fully registered teachers, two provisionally registered teachers and two teacher aides. A head teacher has been appointed in the past year. She is new to the role of head teacher.
The centre philosophy is based on shared values and beliefs. These include Christian values, bicultural perspectives and building reciprocal relationships with the community and whānau.
The trustees, leader and teachers have responded well to the recommendations from the 2014 education review.
Positive interactions between teachers and children and a caring and supportive environment, help children to develop a sense of wellbeing and belonging. There is an intentional focus on valuing all cultures. A broad range of curriculum opportunities engage children in and extend their learning. Increasing use is being made of community resources to enhance children's learning opportunities and connections to their local community.
A commitment to a bicultural curriculum and te ao Māori is highly evident. Children's culture and language is acknowledged and well supported in the programme. They benefit from the opportunity to learn te reo Māori and are taught to perform their mihi.
The head teacher is developing and embedding systems and processes. These are to ensure teachers have a shared understanding of expectations and demonstrate consistency of practice. This has included clarifying roles and responsibilities for all people involved with the centre. A next step is to continue to embed, refine and consolidate new systems to be more consistent for all children.
The head teacher and trustees have developed a strategic and annual plan that outlines key priorities for the centre. There is a shared responsibility taken for achieving the vision and priorities for improvement. The head teacher keeps the board well informed about progress she is making towards achieving the strategic priorities.
Strong reciprocal partnerships with parents and whānau effectively support children's learning. Parents' involvement in their children's care and education is highly valued and sought after. Teachers work closely with parents and whānau to learn about children's interests, strengths and identity. A next step is to more consistently show in documentation, how teachers are responding to parent aspirations.
The leader, teachers and children benefit from ongoing and well-planned professional development. They make good use of networking to build leader and teacher capability. A useful system for appraisal has recently been introduced. New teachers are well supported by useful induction and mentoring processes.
Newly-developed systems for assessment, planning and evaluation clearly recognise and reflect children's language, culture and identity. Teachers identify and use intentional strategies to support children's learning. They clearly specify the desired valued outcomes for children's learning. Group planning needs to show more clearly the intended learning, and to deepen the evaluation for effectiveness.
Internal evaluation processes are contributing to improvements to processes and practices at the centre.
The key next steps for the trustees, leader and teachers are to:
Before the review, the staff and management of Funshine 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:
All early childhood services are required to promote children's health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.
Leaders and trustees need to amend their child protection policy to reflect the direct reporting requirements under the Vulnerable Children's Act. This has been updated since the on-site stage of the review.
The next ERO review of Funshine Early Learning Centre will be in three years.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern
Te Waipounamu - Southern Region
26 June 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.
| Location | Riversdale | ||
| Ministry of Education profile number | 45688 | ||
| Licence type | Education & Care Service | ||
| Licensed under | Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 | ||
| Number licensed for | 30 children aged over 2 years | ||
| Service roll | 49 | ||
| Gender composition | Girls: 23 Boys: 26 | ||
| Ethnic composition | Māori: Pākehā: Other: | 10 37 2 | |
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates | 80% + | ||
| Reported ratios of staff to children | Over 2 | 1:8 | Better than minimum requirements |
| Review team on site | May 2018 | ||
| Date of this report | 26 June 2018 | ||
| Most recent ERO report(s) | Education Review | October 2014 | |
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.