Te Papapa 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 (PDF 3.01 MB) are the basis for making judgements about the effectiveness of the service in achieving equity and excellence for all learners. The Akarangi Quality Evaluation Judgement Rubric (PDF 91.30 KB) derived from the indicators,is used to inform the ERO’s judgements about this service’s performance in promoting equity and excellence. Information about Akarangi | Quality Evaluations can be found here.

ERO’s judgements for Te Papapa Preschool are as follows:

2 Context of the Service

Te Papapa Preschool is in the grounds of Te Papapa School. The preschool is governed by the Te Papapa Early Childhood Education Trust,a not-for-profit organisation. A centre manager is responsible for day-to-day operations of the service,supported by a team of five qualified teachers and two support staff. Children,families and teachers reflect the diverse cultures of the local community.

3 Summary of findings

Children’s mana is fostered in an environment that supports them to take increasing responsibility for their own and others’ wellbeing. Their learning is well supported by reciprocal and responsive relationships with teachers. Teachers who work with infants and toddlers promote tuakana/teina relationships. They thoughtfully resource the learning environment and encourage children to explore and be involved in a wide variety of learning experiences.

Māori children and whānau contribute to developing a curriculum that reflects Māori ways of knowing,being and doing. Service leaders and teachers value and celebrate Pacific cultures,and diverse groups of children for who they are and what they bring to the service. There are good opportunities for children to enrich their knowledge and understanding of cultures and languages.

Teachers use a range of effective teaching strategies and practices to support children with additional needs. Transitions into the service and when children move onto school,are responsive to individual child and whānau needs. Leaders advocate for children and whānau to ensure they have access to an inclusive education.

A positive team environment and effective professional relationships have resulted in high staff retention. Professional development has helped to build the teaching teams’ collective capability to assess and document children’s learning. The manager recognises this is an area for ongoing improvement.

Trust members and teachers work closely with the community to remove barriers to participation and to promote equitable opportunities for children. Relational trust supports collaboration and an openness to change and improvement. Positive community outcomes,such as networking groups,have resulted from the continued actions of trustees and teachers. Their commitment to their local community contributes to the individual and collective mana of children,families and teachers.

4 Improvement actions

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

• developing a system to monitor the review of policies and procedures to ensure legislative updates are consistently implemented
• continuing to foster leadership opportunities for teachers to deepen their knowledge and understanding of curriculum assessment and planning approaches that enhance children’s learning. 

5 Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review,the staff and management of Te Papapa 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.

Since the onsite visit the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliances:

• medication records include parental acknowledgment that medicines have been administered to children (HS28)
• processes for human resource management include ensuring that personnel files consistently meet licensing requirements relating to safety checking (GMA7).

Steve Tanner
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki

23 December 2020  

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