Landsdowne Terrace Playcentre

1 Evaluation of Landsdowne Terrace Playcentre

How well placed is Landsdowne Terrace Playcentre to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

Landsdowne Terrace Playcentre is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.

Background

Landsdowne Terrace Playcentre operates as a parent cooperative under the governance and management of the Playcentre Federation, Upper South Island Region. This centre is licensed for up to 30 children, including 10 children under two. The centre is open four mornings a week. It operates from a community hall and has a large outdoor play space.

The playcentre employs four coordinators. Parents are rostered to help at each session. The Upper South Island Region employs a centre support person and an administrator who regularly visit the playcentre to support the parents and coordinator.

The centre's philosophy places a strong emphasis on the centre operating as a parent cooperative. It identifies the important role of parents in their children's learning and wellbeing. It states that the programme is child-led, inclusive and that children and their whānau will develop a strong sense of wellbeing.

At the end of 2018, three new centre coordinators were appointed. A number of parents are also new to the playcentre. The parent cooperative has made progress to meet the recommendations in the 2014 ERO report. However, the inclusion of te ao Māori, assessment, planning and evaluation and strategic planning still need to be improved.

This review was part of a cluster of eight playcentre reviews in the Playcentre Federation, Upper South Island Region.

The Review Findings

Children are happy, settled and fully engaged in the programme. The wide range of activities and resources in the indoor and outdoor play areas are easy for children to access. They are presented in ways that encourage child exploration and participation. Systems have also been established to help children know about additional resources and how to access them easily.

Children are confident learners who lead their learning in the playcentre environment. They are well supported by caring adults who know each child's interests, dispositions and skills well. Adults consciously encourage children to work at their own pace, problem solve and persist to experience success in their learning. Learning is ongoing and appropriate for each child.

Children are social, inclusive and accepting of others. Older children show care for babies and include younger children in their learning. Children with additional needs are well supported and included by adults and other children in activities and learning experiences.

Te reo and tikanga Māori is beginning to be included in the programme. Māori parents are being invited to become more involved in this aspect of the curriculum. A recent parent questionnaire identified te ao Māori as an area for further development. The strategic plan provides clear direction on how the parent group intends to strengthen te reo and tikanga Māori in the programme.

A number of children are now staying at the playcentre to school age. Establishing transition to school procedures would help for smooth transition to school for children and their families.

Systems and procedures for planning, assessment and evaluation are in place but some processes need to be extended to better support children's learning. All adults are involved in assessment, planning and evaluation for the programme and individual children. They are beginning to seek parent aspirations for learning. They now need to focus more on identifying children's learning goals and teaching strategies to promote this learning. Adults should also evaluate the outcomes for children and the effectiveness of the group programmes. Inclusion of te reo and tikanga Māori and children's home cultures would also improve assessment, planning and evaluation practices.

The centre operates well as a parent cooperative. The environment is welcoming and supportive. Expectations for new members are clear. Parents' skills are valued and well used to benefit all children and adults. There is a strong culture of shared decision making, respecting others and collaboration. The parent education programme is valued and is helping this new group of parents to better understand all aspects of playcentre.

Internal evaluation is well established and used to identify and make improvements to the programme and operation of the centre. It involves all parents and often children. Systems and processes are clear and well understood. In-depth analysis of evaluation findings is undertaken, and implementation of action plans monitored. To improve internal evaluation further, the parent group should identify outcomes for children and what strategies worked well.

The strategic plan provides clear direction for ongoing improvement and has resulted from internal evaluation and support from the Upper South Island Region. Regular monitoring of implementation of the plan and clear outcomes for children should ensure improvements continue to occur.

The confidence, knowledge and commitment to playcentre of parents and coordinators is increasing as a result of ongoing support and guidance from the Upper South Island Region.

Key Next Steps

The Upper South Island Region and ERO agree that the key next steps for the parent cooperative to continue to improve outcomes for children include:

• increasing parent understanding and knowledge of Te Whāriki 2017 to improve assessment, planning and programme evaluation processes and practices

• implementing, monitoring and evaluating the impact of the strategic goals with an emphasis on strengthening te ao Māori knowledge and practices

• further refining internal evaluation to include outcomes for children and to identify what strategies worked well

• developing transition to school procedures as more children approaching school age are attending the playcentre.

Upper South Island Regional Governance

There continues to be significant change occurring with the playcentre's governance and management at regional and federation levels.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Landsdowne Terrace 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:

• 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.

Dr Lesley Patterson

Director Review and Improvement Services Te Tai Tini

Southern Region

21 August 2019

The Purpose of ERO Reports

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.

2 Information about the Early Childhood Service

3 General Information about Early Childhood Reviews

ERO’s Evaluation Framework

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:

Pou Whakahaere – how the service determines its vision, philosophy and direction to ensure positive outcomes for children

Pou Ārahi – how leadership is enacted to enhance positive outcomes for children

Mātauranga – whose knowledge is valued and how the curriculum is designed to achieve positive outcomes for children

Tikanga whakaako – how approaches to teaching and learning respond to diversity and support positive outcomes for children.

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.

ERO’s Overall Judgement

The overall judgement that ERO makes will depend on how well the service promotes positive learning outcomes for children. The categories are:

• Very well placed

• Well placed

• Requires further development

• Not well placed

ERO has developed criteria for each category. These are available on ERO’s website.

Review Coverage

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.