72 Sunset Road, Unsworth Heights, 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 Growing Minds Early Learning Centre are as follows:
Outcome Indicators(What the service knows about outcomes for learners) |
Whakatō Emerging |
Ngā Akatoro Domains |
|
Learning ConditionsOrganisational Conditions |
Whakatō Emerging Whakatō Emerging |
Growing Minds Early Learning Centre has two rooms for children of different ages. The service's philosophy recognises the importance of their multicultural community and fostering of relationships with whānau. This is the first ERO review of the service since it changed ownership in 2019.
Children up to two years of age experience a nurturing environment. Infants are supported to develop their independence and to confidently explore the environment. Older children are curious and capable learners who share their ideas and sustain their play for extended periods of time. Children have opportunities to play cooperatively or independently as they prefer.
Leaders and teachers maintain respectful relationships with parents. Teachers intentionally provide an environment that is inclusive and accepting for children and their families.
Teachers’ commitment to biculturalism is evident in the environment. The service integrates aspects of tikanga Māori and te reo Māori into the daily curriculum and celebrates te reo Māori and Pacific languages in planned celebrations.
Teachers are continuing to build their understanding of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, and to develop their planning and assessment processes to extend children’s learning. Current practices do not yet reliably:
consider how well the curriculum is supporting children to lead their own learning
challenge older children through more complex play opportunities
align with the learning outcomes in Te Whāriki, and the service’s learning priorities.
Review processes are in place that support teachers to reflect on, and revisit, their practices. Teachers are in the early stages of building their capability to undertake internal evaluation. Once established, teachers should use evaluation findings to determine how well their teaching practices and the curriculum support improved learning outcomes for children.
Systems are in place for leaders and teachers to regularly discuss their professional growth. Leaders and teachers require additional support to build their curriculum and legislative understandings to implement a meaningful learning programme for children.
Growing Minds Early Learning Centre will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning:
Improve curriculum planning, evaluation, and assessment processes to guide teaching practices that contribute to improved outcomes for children. These processes and practices should make clear teachers’ responses and roles in adding complexity to children’s learning, and documentation should record children’s progress over time.
Continue to build teachers’ capability to do and use evaluation for improvement to help realise the service’s valued learning outcomes for all children.
Strengthen and make more visible children’s cultures, languages, and identity within curriculum records.
Strategically develop leaders’ capability to guide curriculum implementation and robustly implement legislative requirements.
Before the review, the staff and management of Growing Minds 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:
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; safety checking; teacher registration; ratios)
relevant evacuation procedures and practices.
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 provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following
non-compliances:
Ensuring a detailed record of each component of safety checking is kept, including recording the date on which each step was undertaken, specifically the date of each risk assessment that is required to be completed after all relevant information is obtained (GMA7A).
Ensuring children are checked for warmth, breathing, and general wellbeing at least every 5 to 10 minutes, or more frequently according to individual needs (HS9).
Filivaifale Jason Swann
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki
27 January 2023
|
Early Childhood Service Name |
Growing Minds Early Learning Centre |
|
Profile Number |
10104 |
|
Location |
Unsworth Heights, Auckland |
|
Service type |
Education and care service |
|
Number licensed for |
43 children, including up to 13 aged under 2 |
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
80-99% |
|
Service roll |
33 |
|
Review team on site |
October 2022 |
|
Date of this report |
27 January 2023 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, March 2019 |
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Growing Minds Early Learning Centre is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Growing Minds Early Learning Centre is a well-established centre in Unsworth Heights, Auckland. The centre provides full-day education and care for up to 43 children, including, up to 13 under two years of age. The centre serves a multicultural community.
The centre's philosophy is aligned to the principles of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. It places value on children learning in a welcoming, respectful environment that caters for individual children's needs.
Centre staff consist of the owner, who manages the centre, seven other registered teachers and two teaching assistants.
ERO's 2016 report noted the positive relationships between the staff and children. Key next steps included continuing to move towards a more responsive, child-led curriculum. The report also suggested reviewing the centre philosophy, strategic goal and annual plan, and developing effective teaching and management structures. The centre has made good progress in some of these areas.
Children’s care and learning needs are well supported. They are warmly welcomed by staff on arrival and settle quickly. They show a strong sense of belonging in the centre. Children's wellbeing is nurtured through respectful relationships with teachers and each other.
Children make independent choices about play in a well-resourced environment. They play cooperatively with and alongside their peers for sustained periods of time. Their imagination and creativity are fostered during free play. Children’s oral language is promoted, and they express themselves confidently.
Infants and toddlers are provided with nurturing care, and they benefit from good adult-to-child ratios. Infants are supported to develop independence and to confidently explore the environment. Their individual needs are well catered for. Infants' early attempts at verbalisation are supported by teachers. They have easy access to the older children’s areas, which aids their transitions through the centre.
Teachers work collaboratively to support children's learning. Some teachers use deeper questioning to promote more complexity in children's play. Opportunities for literacy and numeracy are naturally woven into the programme. Teachers’ commitment to biculturalism is evident in the environment. They respect children's cultures and their backgrounds. In particular, Māori and Pacific children's languages and cultures are included in the programme.
Planning and assessment practices are well documented. Teachers respond to children's interests in the programme. Children's assessment portfolios contain good information about their learning over time, and learning is linked to Te Whāriki. Online portfolios provide families with ready access to information about their children’s learning and involvement in the centre.
Leaders and teachers maintain respectful relationships with parents. There are good opportunities for leaders, teachers, parents and whānau to work collaboratively to support positive outcomes for children.
Centre leadership is increasingly effective. Managers promote collaboration and staff wellbeing. They provide good opportunities for staff growth through well targeted internal and external professional development. Managers focus on improvement, and are beginning to foster emergent leadership across the staff.
The centre's direction is driven by the leader's vision. There is cohesion between the vision, strategic goals and annual plan which guide centre development. This is underpinned by a sound policy and procedures framework. Some good systems to monitor health and safety are in place. Internal evaluation is increasingly contributing to improved learning outcomes for children.
Centre leaders agree their next steps are to:
continue to develop assessment, planning and evaluation practices to better identify and document children's learning over time
review the provision for older children to provide greater challenge and complexity in their learning
strengthen bicultural practice
ensure thorough systems are maintained to monitor health and safety practices
expand internal evaluation practices by measuring the impact of initiatives on improving outcomes for children.
Before the review, the staff and management of Growing Minds 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.
To improve practice, centre leaders must ensure that thorough systems to monitor health and safety practices are maintained.
Steve Tanner
Director Review and Improvement Services Northern
Northern Region
6 March 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 |
Unsworth Heights, Auckland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
10104 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
43 children, including up to 13 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
42 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls 25 Boys 17 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori |
1 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
50-79% |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:3 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:7 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
December 2018 |
||
|
Date of this report |
6 March 2019 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Supplementary Review |
November 2016 |
|
|
Education Review |
September 2013 |
||
|
Education Review |
October 2010 |
||
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 will depend on how well the service promotes 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.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Growing Minds Early Learning Centre needs support to improve the management of the centre and develop effective teaching practice.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Growing Minds Early Learning Centre is in Unsworth Heights on Auckland's North Shore. It caters for 43 children with up to 13 children under two years of age. The centre's philosophy places an emphasis on providing a learning programme based on Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum.
The owner is the centre manager. She took ownership of the centre licence on the rented property shortly before the ERO review in 2013. As well as her management role she spends a lot of time teaching.
There are two distinct teaching spaces. The head teacher oversees the programme for the older children and a lead teacher oversees the programme for infants and toddlers. Some teachers work across both age groups.
A strong sense of belonging and positive teacher interactions were identified as areas of strength in the 2013 ERO report and are still evident. Areas for improvement identified in the 2013 report are still to be actioned.
Children and whānau generally experience encouraging relationships with kind and caring teachers. Children settle quickly into the programme with teachers working alongside them following their play experiences. Children would, however, benefit from more opportunities for creative and imaginative play. Access to a wider range of resources that offers them more variety and challenges would also be beneficial.
Teachers monitor infants and toddlers and interact with children and their whānau respectfully. Play as a vehicle for learning is appreciated and valued by teachers. It is now timely for teachers to develop strategies to build on children's learning and language development.
There is variability in the quality of teaching practice. For example children's play is often disrupted as teachers move them from play activities to centre routines. Teachers need to more frequently encourage and support children to extend their level of thinking through involving them in problem solving and making decisions about their learning.
Teachers notice children's interests, do collaborative planning around those interests and evaluate the programme weekly. There is an intentional focus on children's stages of development. Teachers should focus on the impact that their teaching strategies are having on children's learning and use this information to help them set their annual appraisal goals.
Older children enjoy the outdoor play environment. Many older children are able to overcome the challenge posed by the contour of the land. However, for some children, particularly younger ones, this issue limits their outdoor play opportunities for some children. This situation needs to be reviewed to ensure that infants and toddlers, can experience equitable outdoor learning opportunities.
The lead teachers in both rooms are experienced. They provide leadership to their teams and guide teachers through planning, assessment and evaluation. Together with the centre manager, they oversee the daily programme and maintain regular communication with parents. Leaders have identified the need to continue to build the capacity of teachers in order to provide a curriculum that is more responsive to the children.
Parents receive written stories about their childrens' learning at the centre and these are compiled in portfolios. The daily 'Learning Board' also gives parents immediate feedback on children at play. Information from the 'Learning Board' is often the starting point for stories that are included in children's portfolios. Parent's aspirations for their children are noted on enrolment and updated over time. Teachers could also link children's interests and dispositions to show their learning progress over time.
Centre leaders acknowledge that there are areas of management that require urgent attention. These include:
developing clear roles and responsibilities for managers and leaders
in consultation with staff and whānau, reviewing the centre's philosophy, strategic plan and annual plan
developing and sustaining quality teaching and management practices to ensure positive learning outcomes for all children.
Before the review, the staff and management of Growing Minds 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
ERO identified areas of non-compliance relating to governance and management. To meet requirements the service needs to improve its performance in by:
developing a child protection policy that meets the requirements of the Vulnerable Children's Act 2014
implementing suitable human resource management practices
conducting annual appraisal of staff based on the practising teacher criteria
Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, HS31, GMA7
ERO recommends that the service consult with the Ministry of Education and plan to address the key next steps and actions outlined in this report.
The next ERO review of Growing Minds Early Learning Centre will be within two years.
Graham Randell
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern
23 November 2016
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 |
Unsworth Heights, Auckland |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
10104 |
||
|
Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
43 children, including up to 13 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
59 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls 32 Boys 27 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Indian Chinese Pacific other Asian other ethnicities |
7 16 13 5 4 8 6 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+Based on funding rates |
80% + |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:3 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:8 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
August 2016 |
||
|
Date of this report |
23 November 2016 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
September 2013 |
|
|
Education Review |
October 2010 |
||
|
Education Review |
June 2007 |
||
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.