438 Halswell Road, Halswell, Christchurch
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Halswell Playcentre is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Halswell Playcentre operates under the guidance of the Canterbury Playcentre Association. The playcentre is a parent cooperative, where parents are encouraged to be involved in all aspects of the programme and centre operation. A newly appointed centre support worker assists the parent group with the curriculum, relationships, parent education and health and safety practices.
The playcentre philosophy emphasises children's whānau as the first and best teachers, and a play-based curriculum. Parents are encouraged to participate in playcentre education training to support them in their role as a parent-led early learning service.
Halswell Playcentre operates four morning sessions a week. The parent-led service provides early childhood education for children from birth to school age. Infants, toddlers and young children play and learn in a mixed age-group setting.
Since the June 2012 ERO review, the parent group have made progress in building on current initiatives to extend assessment and planning and explore effective ways of promoting children's thinking and reasoning skills.
At the time of this ERO review, the playcentre was led by a centre coordinator who has responsibility for supporting the parent group. The coordinator and parent group have worked collaboratively to promote the playcentre and to make close connections within the local community. Parents have been empowered to take on office bearing positions on the committee and to develop a sustainable succession plan should those parents move on from the centre.
Parents are actively involved alongside children in the programme, and base themselves at children's levels. They are empowered to become valued partners in their children's learning. They have a strong focus on children's wellbeing and promote learning through play. Adults interact and respond appropriately to the needs of children and families in supportive ways. The enacted playcentre philosophy demonstrates that children's whānau are valued as first and best teachers of their children.
The coordinator and parent group foster positive and respectful relationships with each other. They warmly welcome children and their families into an inclusive and supportive learning environment.
Adults have made a shift to better understand quality learning practices and to provide increased consistency across learning stories, which is resulting in positive learning outcomes for children. Literacy and numeracy is clearly evident within the programme and a range of assessments are completed by a number of contributors that capture children's voice well.
Children are actively involved in a wide range of interesting learning experiences to develop social skills including, creative, sensory and physical challenge in play. Children have easy access to a well-equipped environment that is presented in interesting ways.
Learning is child-led and responsive to children's interests and strengths. Child voice is highly valued by adults and parents. Young children are well supported during the mixed-age sessions with opportunities to experience tuakana-teina relationships, which are highly promoted within the programme. Good connections with, and excursions into the local community enhance the learning programme offered to children.
The parent group has a commitment to developing better understandings of bicultural perspectives and growing practices that are respectful of Māori culture. The parent group are reflective and are using internal evaluation to support improvement and positive outcomes for children. They also use a range of effective communication strategies to ensure that processes are collaborative and inclusive of the views of all of their valued members.
The centre's parent group and ERO's evaluation has confirmed, that the key next steps are to:
review the philosophy statement to explicitly outline the valued outcomes for children and to align this with the strategic plan and priorities of the centre
strengthen understandings of children's learning and how this can be extended
strengthen the use of te reo Māori by adults, and broaden opportunities for children to hear and use te reo Māori during sessions
expand opportunities to integrate home language, culture and identity of children across the programme, particularly in learning stories
continue to build a shared understanding of internal evaluation processes and practices, and evaluate the impacts of actions on valued outcomes for children.
Before the review, the staff and management of Halswell Playcentre 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 Halswell Playcentre will be in three years.
Alan Wynyard
Director Review & Improvement Services Southern
Te Waipounamu - Southern Region
5 December 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 |
Christchurch |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
70060 |
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Licence type |
Playcentre |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
23 children, including up to 15 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
40 |
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Gender composition |
Boys: 27 Girls: 13 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Pacific Other ethnicities |
5 27 1 7 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
0-49% |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:5 |
Meets minimum requirements |
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Over 2 |
1:5 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
September 2018 |
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Date of this report |
5 December 2018 |
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Most recent ERO reports |
Education Review: Education Review: |
June 2012 April 2009 |
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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.
Halswell Playcentre is a long-established centre in Christchurch. It is one of 49 playcentres administrated by the Canterbury Playcentre Association.
The playcentre is open for four sessions per week. It employs two coordinators who have responsibility for two sessions each.
The centre operates well as a parent cooperative with all parents taking responsibility and sharing leadership of the day-to-day operation of the centre. The association provides ongoing support to the parent committee and opportunities for parents to train in the playcentre’s early childhood education courses.
Other positive features of the playcentre include:
The next steps for improving the programme are for the parent committee, with the support of the association, to:
ERO is likely to review the service again in three years.
Before the review, the management of Halswell Playcentre was invited to consider its priorities for review using guidelines and resources provided by ERO. ERO also used documentation provided by the centre to contribute to the scope of the review.
The detailed priorities for review were then determined following a discussion between the ERO review team and the management and staff. This discussion focused on existing information held by the centre (including self-review information) and the extent to which potential issues for review contributed to positive outcomes for children atHalswell Playcentre.
All ERO education reviews in early childhood focus on the quality of education. For ERO this includes the quality of:
ERO’s findings in these areas are set out below.
The playcentre’s philosophy promotes child-led learning through play. Parents are regarded as children’s first teachers. Families are encouraged to attend each session. Parents are expected to attend education courses so that they are better able to support their children’s learning. The philosophy states that parents and children will have opportunities to learn new skills and develop in confidence which the parents believe bring benefits to the whole family.
Adults relate to children sensitively and positively and are keen to help them with their learning. They look for opportunities to engage with children to support their play. During the review, children asked for things confidently and had their requests attended to promptly. Adults often sat beside children and at their level to chat with them and extend their language and understanding. Adults made changes to equipment and resources to vary children’s play and make it more interesting and challenging.
ERO observed children of all ages playing happily together or alongside others for lengthy periods of time. They had fun together, often laughing loudly at their shared discoveries. Adults have developed consistent ways of promoting successful relationships among children and fostering children’s self-management skills. Children have contributed to a set of rules to guide their behaviours and interactions.
Parents plan regular trips and experiences to extend children’s learning. The playcentre is well resourced with a variety of equipment and materials that children use in creative and investigative ways. Playground equipment gives children suitable opportunities to test and reinforce their developing physical skills. Adults give appropriate emphasis to environmental learning and sustainable practices.
Improvements to the layout of the indoor and outdoor areas are helping children and teachers to make better use of the space and resources. Additional seating outdoors includes climbing areas that provide physical challenge for children and a space for adults and children to gather together. The activities are presented attractively to encourage children’s participation. The newly painted indoor area gives greater prominence to bicultural learning.
Adults are working well to share responsibilities and plan the programme.
Parents support each other effectively during sessions. The centre has developed useful ways for adults to share information about children and the planned programme before, during and after sessions.
Two comprehensive reviews have had a positive effect on the programme and children’s learning. These changes include increasing children’s awareness of their bicultural heritage and promoting sustainable practices.
Parents have begun to make changes to improve the way they assess children’s learning and use the information they gather about children’s interests, strengths and needs. This process is in the early stages and is being further developed as part of an ongoing review.
While improvements have been made to bicultural aspects of the programme, the parents acknowledge that they need to increase their own confidence and skill in using te reo Māori during each session.
Some high-quality interactions were observed where parents used a range of questions and responses to encourage children to explain their thinking and extend their problem solving. Coordinators need to take a more prominent role in modelling effective practices for developing children’s thinking and reasoning skills. This would help to make all parents more aware of how they could support children’s learning more purposefully, particularly for older children.
Before the review, the staff of Halswell Playcentre completed an ERO CentreManagement Assurance Statement and Self-Audit Checklist. In these documents they have attested that they have taken all reasonable steps to meet their legal obligations related to:
During the review, ERO looked at the service’s documentation, including policies, procedures and records of recent use of procedures. ERO also checked elements of the following areas that have a potentially high impact on outcomes for children:
ERO is likely to review the service again in three years.
Graham Randell
National Manager Review Services
Southern Region
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Type |
Sessional, Playcentre |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Centres) Regulations 1998 |
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Number licensed for |
24 children, including up to 10 aged under two |
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Roll number |
36 |
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Gender composition |
Girls 16; Boys 20 |
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Ethnic composition |
New Zealand European/Pākehā 34 |
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Review team on site |
April 2012 |
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Date of this report |
22 June 2012 |
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Previous three ERO reports |
Education Review April 2009 |
22 June 2012
These are the findings of the Education Review Office’s latest report on Halswell Playcentre.
Halswell Playcentre is a long-established centre in Christchurch. It is one of 49 playcentres administrated by the Canterbury Playcentre Association.
The playcentre is open for four sessions per week. It employs two coordinators who have responsibility for two sessions each.
The centre operates well as a parent cooperative with all parents taking responsibility and sharing leadership of the day-to-day operation of the centre. The association provides ongoing support to the parent committee and opportunities for parents to train in the playcentre’s early childhood education courses.
Other positive features of the playcentre include:
The next steps for improving the programme are for the parent committee, with the support of the association, to:
ERO is likely to review the service again in three years.
When ERO has reviewed an early childhood centre we encourage management to inform their community of any follow up action they plan to take. You should talk to the management or contact person if you have any questions about this evaluation, the full ERO report or their future intentions.
If you would like a copy of the full report, please contact the centre or see the ERO website, http://www.ero.govt.nz.
Graham Randell
National Manager Review Services
Southern Region
ERO is an independent, external evaluation agency that undertakes reviews of schools and early childhood services throughout New Zealand.
ERO follows a set of standard procedures to conduct reviews. The purpose of each review is to:
Reviews are intended to focus on outcomes for children and build on each centre’s self review.
ERO’s framework for reviewing and reporting is based on four review strands.
ERO reviews do not cover every aspect of centre performance and each ERO report may cover different issues. The aim is to provide information on aspects that are central to positive outcomes for children and useful to this centre.
Most ERO reports include recommendations for improvement. A recommendation on a particular issue does not necessarily mean that a centre is performing poorly in relation to that issue. There is no direct link between the number of recommendations in this report and the overall performance of this centre.