55 Stalker Road, Queenstown
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 |
|
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.
Gems Kōwhai Limited is one of three privately owned early childhood education services in Queenstown with common ownership. The newly formed management team consists of a centre manager who is supported by a general manager and the centre owner. A small number of Māori children attend this service.
The curriculum is based on Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. There is a focus on nature play. Children are involved in a curriculum that is based on their interests. Infant and toddlers experience calm and slow-paced interactions. Teachers engage in meaningful and positive interactions, consistent with the values in the service’s philosophy.
The environment, premises and facilities are resourced and maintained to support the provision for indoor and outdoor play as well as opportunities for small group interactions. Policies and procedures guide the operation of the centre. Consistent implementation of health and safety practices is required to meet all aspects of the regulatory standards.
ERO found areas of non-compliance in the service relating to:
the review of the annual emergency plan on at least an annual basis, and the implementation of improved practice as required
evaluation of emergency procedures to inform the review of the emergency management plan
the completion of documentation required for when children leave the premises on excursions, including the signature of the person responsible giving approval for the excursion to take place.
Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, HS7, HS8, HS17.
ERO recommends that the Ministry reassess the licence issued to this service provider. ERO will not undertake a further review of this service until the Ministry of Education is satisfied that the service meets regulatory standards.
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
21 November 2022
|
Early Childhood Service Name |
Gems Kōwhai Limited |
|
Profile Number |
47263 |
|
Location |
Queenstown |
|
Service type |
Education and care service |
|
Number licensed for |
70 children, including up to 16 aged under 2 |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
|
Service roll |
75 |
|
Review team on site |
October 2022 |
|
Date of this report |
21 November 2022 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, February 2019 |
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 license to operate.
having its first ERO review – including if it is part of a governing organisation
previously identified as ‘not well placed’ or ‘requiring further development’
that has moved from a provisional to a full licence
that have been re-licenced due to a change of ownership
where an Akanuku | Assurance Review process is determined to be appropriate.
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:
curriculum
premises and facilities
health and safety practices
governance, management and administration.
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:
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; safety checking; teacher certification; ratios)
relevant evacuation procedures and practices.
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO also gathers and records evidence through:
discussions with those involved in the service
consideration of relevant documentation, including the implementation of health and safety systems
observations of the environment/premises, curriculum implementation and teaching practice.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Gems Educational Childcare - Shotover Country is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Gems Educational Childcare - Shotover Country is one of two privately owned and operated services in the Gems organisation. It is located next to Shotover School and provides full-day care and education for up to 70 children, including 16 under the age of two. Many children come from families of diverse cultural backgrounds.
Children play and learn in two areas. The 'Nest' is for children under the age of two and the 'Hive' is for older children. A head teacher is in charge of each area and there is a centre coordinator who oversees the daily management of the service. The owner/director and a curriculum and operations coordinator provide educational and business leadership across both services. Most of the staff are qualified early childhood teachers or teachers in training.
The director, leaders and teachers aim to 'lead the way in authentic, natural childcare'. The core values are described as 'Relationships, Natural, Respectful, Supportive, Nurturing'.
This is ERO's first review of the service.
High expectations for teaching and learning, a strong focus on improvement and a responsive curriculum are key aspects of this service that are promoting positive outcomes for children.
Children's learning is supported by interesting and stimulating programmes founded on the values and philosophy of the service. Leaders support teachers to plan programmes based on Te Whāriki (2017) The Early Childhood Curriculum and other influences such as the teachings of Emmi Pikkler and nature-based learning. Free play and free movement are key elements of the programme. As a result, children of all ages play freely and make choices about their learning from a wide range of open-ended resources and carefully prepared learning experiences.
Infants' and toddlers' learning and wellbeing benefit from teachers' close knowledge of and attention to their individual requirements. Teachers carefully plan so that they meet the learning requirements of children with additional needs and closely monitor their progress.
Teachers are increasingly building confidence to implement programmes and practices that reflect New Zealand's bicultural heritage. Māori whānau have contributed their views which is informing decision making and teacher practice to enable Māori children to know their culture is highly valued.
The centre values and a collaboratively developed philosophy effectively guide decision making in the centre and are evident in practice. There has been a strategic approach in establishing this service. The director and leaders have:
ensured there is good alignment of key aspects of the service, such as appraisal and professional development, to the vision and goals of the centre
established a positive culture for teaching, learning and the wellbeing of all within the service
managed rapid roll growth well by integrating proven systems and processes from the wider organisation
minimised the impact of staff changes by implementing a thorough induction programme, setting clear expectations, clarifying roles and responsibilities, and ongoing coaching of new and existing staff
used the findings from internal evaluations to consider what has worked well and what could be improved.
The key next steps for the leaders and teachers are to:
further develop the learning priorities for the service and use these to inform planning, assessment and evaluation practices for groups and individual children
ensure that, over time, reporting and evaluations inform the owner/director, and when appropriate, the parent community, about how well all children are progressing and achieving in relation to the values, learning priorities and aspects of the philosophy.
Before the review, the staff and management of Gems Educational Childcare - Shotover Country 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 Gems Educational Childcare - Shotover Country will be in three years.
Alan Wynyard
Director Review and Improvement Services Southern
Southern Region
1 February 2019
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 |
Queenstown |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
47263 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
70 children, including up to 16 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
91 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys: 48 Girls: 43 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori |
7 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
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 |
1 February 2019 |
||
|
Most recent ERO reports
|
No previous ERO reports |
||
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.