Boundary Road, Ashburton
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 |
Meeting |
|
Governance, management and administration |
Meeting |
At the time of the review, ERO found the service was taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.
Longbeach Playcentre is a parent-led early childhood education service administered by Te Whānau Tupu Ngātahi o Aotearoa – Playcentre Aotearoa. Since ERO’s 2016 report there has been significant restructuring and change at the national playcentre level. Longbeach Playcentre is open two mornings a week. Regular support is provided by a Centre Advisor. A small number of the children attending identify as Māori.
Children experience a curriculum that is designed to be inclusive and responsive. They are seen as confident and competent learners and their preferences are respected. The playcentre curriculum provides a language-rich environment that supports learning. It is informed by assessment, planning and evaluation that demonstrates an understanding of children’s learning, their interests, whānau and life contexts. Parents and whānau are involved in the decision-making about their child’s learning.
A national policy, procedure and process framework guides the operation of each playcentre. The design and layout of the premises support effective adult supervision. Reasonable steps are taken to promote health and wellbeing of children.
Next steps include:
continuing to build parent and whānau knowledge and capability to show children’s learning and progress in relation to the learning outcomes in Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, in assessment, planning and evaluation documentation.
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini
22 November 2022
|
Early Childhood Service Name |
Longbeach Playcentre |
|
Profile Number |
70050 |
|
Location |
Ashburton |
|
Service type |
Playcentre |
|
Number licensed for |
24 children, including up to (10) aged under 2 |
|
Service roll |
11 |
|
Review team on site |
September 2022 |
|
Date of this report |
22 November 2022 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, September 2016; Education Review, June 2012 |
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 licence 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 |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Longbeach Playcentre is located in a small, rural community next door to the school. At the time of the review it was open for three morning sessions a week for children from birth-to-school age.
Each session is led by a paid supervisor and playcentre members. They are gaining playcentre qualifications through an adult-education training programme provided by the Mid Canterbury Playcentre Association.
Longbeach Playcentre is one of seven playcentres in the Mid Canterbury Playcentre Association. The association is made up of a group of dedicated paid and elected members. The association provides a framework for centre management and operations, as well as parent-education programmes and personnel to support centre members in their work with children.
The Mid Canterbury Playcentre Association is experiencing a time of change as all playcentre associations throughout New Zealand merge with the New Zealand Playcentre Federation to reduce duplication and make cost savings. This restructure will mean significant changes at the local association level.
ERO's 2012 report noted a number of areas for review and development. These included strategic and annual planning, self review, assessment and the bicultural programme. ERO found there are still improvements to be made in these areas.
This review was part of a cluster of seven playcentre reviews in the Mid Canterbury Playcentre Association.
Children at Longbeach Playcentre have a sense of belonging. Many of them have been attending since birth. They have an easy familiarity with each other, the adults and the playcentre environment. Parents appreciate the family support they receive through their involvement in the playcentre.
Children play and learn in well-resourced indoor and outdoor areas. They are settled, make choices about what they want to do and help decide how to set up the play areas and activities. They play for sustained periods of time with and alongside each other. Older children naturally include younger children in their activities. Infants and toddlers have a range of suitable resources and experiences provided for them.
Positive aspects of the programme that support children's learning include:
regular visits to and from the school next door
outings into the local community, such as the nearby reserve
many opportunities for open-ended exploration and physical play
the way the supervisors provide interesting experiences based on their own skills and strengths.
The adults know all the children well. They take joint responsibility to care for each other's babies during the session. They:
follow children's interests and leads
join children in their play and celebrate their successes
ensure that children can revisit favourite activities over time.
The centre supervisors and parents are slowly building their confidence in including Māori perspectives in the programme. This includes introducing simple te reo Māori, art work and celebrating Matariki with centre families. The next step is for the supervisors and parents to continue to work on this and find ways to enrich the bicultural programme.
The supervisors have a purposeful discussion before each session begins to set the direction for the day. After sessions they discuss what the children were interested in and what activities should be continued in the next session. These discussions and the written notes that are kept need to focus on what learning adults are supporting. The supervisors are exploring how they can ensure there is greater continuity between the sessions.
The supervisors and parents are implementing new systems for planning arising from the association's improvements in this area. The next step is for them to continue to build their confidence in this area. This includes finding ways for all children's next steps for learning to be known and included in session planning.
The playcentre philosophy is regularly reviewed. It contains the parents' shared values and beliefs, and recognises the importance of families being involved in their children's learning. Documentation and the conversations ERO had with parents showed that they have clear ideas about what the desired learning outcomes were for their children. When the philosophy is next reviewed, these desired learning outcomes should be included and linked to planning and self review.
The parents have made good use of self review to improve aspects of centre programmes and practices. The process would be further improved by developing and using indicators (criteria showing what good practice looks like) at all stages of the review. They need to develop a schedule to ensure they review key aspects of the playcentre's programmes and practices over time.
The parents meet regularly to oversee the smooth running of the playcentre. All parents are encouraged to complete the adult-education programmes so there are enough qualified adults to run the sessions. This is an ongoing priority for the playcentre. They are yet to develop an annual plan to guide their work and this should be done without delay.
The Mid Canterbury Playcentre Association responded well to the issues and trends emerging from the 2012 ERO reports for each playcentre. The board is very supportive of the playcentres and provides additional support for centres in response to their needs. It should ensure it receives evaluative reporting on key aspects relating to the centre support and supervisor support roles.
The board has a strategic plan with purposeful actions to help guide its work. This should be more formally monitored. Board members meet regularly to discuss key aspects of the smooth running of the association. They are working proactively to assist the smooth transition through the New Zealand Playcentre Federation changes. The board has an expectation that each playcentre will have its own annual plan, however these are not yet in place. The association's appraisal system for the supervisors has been reinstated and needs to continue to be embedded.
Key next steps for the association are to:
monitor the board's annual plan and support all playcentres to prepare annual plans
ensure it receives evaluative reporting on key aspects of playcentre operations.
The Longbeach Playcentre supervisors and parents, with the support of the Mid Canterbury Playcentre Association, need to:
review the playcentre philosophy and include their commitment to the Treaty of Waitangi and their desired outcomes for children
continue to improve and embed assessment, planning and evaluation practices, and ensure continuity of learning between sessions
build the parents' confidence in using self review and develop a schedule for reviews
develop and implement a Longbeach Playcentre annual and strategic plan
enrich the bicultural programme.
Before the review, the staff and management of Longbeach 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 Longbeach Playcentre will be in three years.
Lesley Patterson
Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern
27 September 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 |
Ashburton |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
70050 |
||
|
Licence type |
Playcentre |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
24 children, including up to 10 aged under 2 |
||
|
Service roll |
25 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Girls: 13 Boys: 12 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Pākehā Other |
24 1 |
|
|
Percentage of qualified teachers |
Parent led |
||
|
Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:1 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:5 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
July 2016 |
||
|
Date of this report |
27 September 2016 |
||
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
June 2012 |
|
|
Education Review |
May 2009 |
||
|
Education Review |
September 2005 |
||
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.
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.