27 Talbot Street, Motueka
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Motueka Playcentre is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Motueka Playcentre is one of 78 playcentres in the upper South Island region. It operates for five morning sessions each week and is licensed for 30 children, including up to 15 aged up to two years. Most children attend one or two sessions each week. Many are also enrolled at another early childhood service. The centre serves a diverse ethnic community.
At the time of its 2015 ERO review the centre was one of 13 administered by the Nelson Playcentre Association under the umbrella of The New Zealand Playcentre Federation Inc. In June 2019 the 32 associations nationwide amalgamated into one new entity, a charitable trust, Playcentre Aotearoa, (the organisation). Nelson playcentres are now managed as part of a regional hub of the new organisation.
A centre support worker (CSW) employed by the organisation regularly visits the playcentre and provides professional advice and feedback to strengthen the programme for children. A centre administrator (CA) works with parents and caregivers (members) to support compliance with regulations. Day-to-day management is the role of centre-elected office holders. Three paid session facilitators with recognised levels of training provide ongoing support for the implementation of the daily programme.
Playcentre philosophy recognises the importance of parents working together, alongside their children, to support their self-initiated play and promote their learning.
The May 2015 ERO report identified key next steps for this service as building bicultural practice and parent input into assessment, and strengthening self review. In addition, Nelson Playcentre Association had several key next steps to attend to.
This review is one of a cluster of five in Playcentre Aotearoa, Nelson region.
The daily programme is largely child led with adults providing activities to provoke interest, new ideas and investigation. Aspects of literacy, mathematics and science are introduced in play-based ways. Creativity is encouraged. Dedicated space and materials for infants are in place. Children are assisted to make good choices about their play and participation which should help to promote their independence as learners.
Children benefit from the wide range of learning experiences provided. Well-organised areas of play promote their interest and participation. The outdoor play space is equipped to promote adventure and challenge. Regular excursions extend the learning environment and familiarity with the local community. Children enjoy the opportunities provided. Many sustain their play for long periods. To further enrich the programme, members should consider using centre routines more effectively as learning times.
Children's needs and emerging interests form the basis of the planned programme. The centre's approach to assessment is led and mostly implemented by the session facilitators. A recent review of centre assessment has resulted in improved practice and parent participation. The CSW and session facilitators should prioritise:
continuing to support parents to identify, respond to and record their children's learning
strengthening the overall focus on individual children's significant learning and progress over time
acknowledgement of te ao Māori, families' cultures, and parents' aspirations in children's learning plans and profile books
evaluation of 'focus plans' to identify next steps for learning.
In addition, members and the CSW should work together to identify the learning that matters in their community and develop their understanding of the revised early childhood curriculum, Te Whāriki.
Guidelines are in place to help playcentre members successfully support children's transitions to primary school. Members should continue to seek ways of best sharing information with new entrant teachers about individual children's learning to support continuity in their learning.
Members agree that the organisations acknowledgement of the importance of bicultural partnership has yet to be adequately reflected in centre practice. As a next step they intend to identify the aspirations whānau Māori have for their children's learning to support a more meaningful approach to planning for learning.
A core group of members and the session facilitators are working alongside the CSW to provide strong support for this parent collective. New initiatives are in place to attract and retain parents, remove barriers to their participation and sustain the centre's sense of community over time. Nelson-based CSWs are receiving targeted professional learning and development from the organisation linked to regional priorities for improvement. A more constructive approach to CSW support for centres, including reporting that is more responsive to needs, is in the early stages of implementation.
An appraisal process is in place to support the development of the CSW and session facilitators' practice. Implementation of the process should be strengthened to ensure sufficient rigour particularly in relation to goal setting, observations of practice and feedback. The CA should have the opportunity to participate in an appraisal process and targeted training opportunities.
A comprehensive range of Nelson Playcentre Association policies continue to support centre operation. Many are past their review date and no longer reflect current legislation. New policy guidelines, developed by the new organisation in 2018, are about to be adopted at centre level. These should support shared understanding of the new organisation's expectations and accountabilities.
Self review is valued and is resulting in some positive changes to practice. Implementation of internal evaluation is being strongly supported by the organisation. Understanding and use of this more improvement-focused approach requires strengthening. In addition, the format of the annual plan should be further developed, including identifying links to child outcomes and ongoing internal evaluation.
The restructure of Playcentre operation is being carefully worked through to support a new and more sustainable future for the organisation. The regional office provides a range of valuable support including a new role designed to redistribute the management of compliance and administration. There is also improved assistance for members to implement curriculum, internal evaluation, adult education, and manage marketing and property matters. Leaders report that recent changes are already resulting in increased collaboration between centres and interest in the Playcentre philosophy.
ERO and regional leaders agree that the organisation should continue to prioritise:
support for the CSW and session facilitators to promote playcentre members' understanding of programme planning and evaluation, internal evaluation, te ao Māori and implementation of a bicultural curriculum
development of CSW support and reporting
review and further development of the appraisal process for the CSWs and session facilitators.
The continuing focus on strengthening leadership, growing a sense of community, parent participation and collaboration between playcentres should continue.
Before the review, the staff and management of Motueka 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.
To improve current practice, the service provider should ensure that the centre has a complete set of up-to-date policy guidelines which members are supported to implement. Currently hazard and emergency management practices, and risk assessment for excursions do not match all the requirements of the new policies. In addition, the following need attention:
clarify police vetting requirements for centre administration personnel
ensure the impact surfacing under the climbing tree is fit for purpose.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services Te Tai Tini
Southern Region
18 October 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.
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Location |
Motueka |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
65106 |
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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 |
30 children, including up to 15 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
68 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 36, Girls 32 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
10 |
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Reported ratios of adults to children |
Under 2 |
1:1 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
Over 2 |
1:1 |
Better than minimum requirements |
|
|
Review team on site |
August 2019 |
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Date of this report |
18 October 2019 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
May 2015 |
|
|
Education Review |
March 2012 |
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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:
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 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.
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 |
Motueka Playcentre is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Motueka Playcentre operates under the guidance of the Nelson Playcentre Association. The playcentre is a parent cooperative. Parents are encouraged to be involved in all aspects of the programme and centre operation. A feature of Nelson Playcentres is the provision of a whānau room. These rooms are well used by parents to rest, socialise, care for very young children and participate in training.
This playcentre is open five mornings a week. The centre operates a well-attended programme two afternoons a week for mothers and their babies. The positive outcome of the programme is the enrolment of these children into the daily sessions.
The centre has made good progress in meeting the self-review recommendation in the 2012 ERO review report.
This review was part of a cluster of 14 playcentre reviews in the Nelson Playcentre Association.
Children learn in an attractive, well-organised and suitably resourced learning environment. They are highly engaged in their play and have many opportunities to select and initiate play with others or independently.
Parents work well together to support the children by listening attentively, responding appropriately to requests and encouraging children to find solutions themselves.
The indoor and outdoor spaces are used well to support a wide variety of challenging and interesting learning experiences for children. The local community has donated a number of resources to enrich the learning programme. The presence of a grandparent (the skilled handyman) contributes strongly to the whānau-friendly environment.
The learning and safety of under two year olds is supported by the provision of a well-resourced and spacious area.
Planning and assessment of children’s learning is enhanced by supervisors and adults gathering and discussing observations of children. There are strong links to Te Whāriki, the New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum and well-displayed prompts to help parents to contribute to and write learning stories.
Te reo Māori and the bicultural uniqueness of Aotearoa/New Zealand is evident in the authentic learning contexts children participate in.
Transition to school is strengthened by the regular visits and invitations the centre receives to participate in local school events.
Parents’ skills, strengths and interests are well used to enhance the learning programme and the management of the centre. Parents work well as a cooperative and are encouraged to participate in training courses that help them better support children’s learning.
Self review is supporting parents to make changes to improve outcomes for children.
The association, supervisors and parents identified, and ERO agrees that the next key steps to improve learning outcomes for children include:
The playcentres, with support from the association are increasing their interest in te reo and tikanga Māori, and getting to know Māori parents and their aspirations better. The re-establishment of Te Rōpū, a special group for Māori parents, is beginning to grow Māori parents’ confidence and pride in being Māori.
Playcentre environments are inviting, attractively presented, well resourced and spacious. Good use is made of self review to ensure the wide range of equipment and resources are regularly updated and build children’s creativity, confidence and resourcefulness. Centres often have a strong focus on literacy, mathematics and science.
Families are valued and provided with considerable support in their parenting role. Parent-education courses are held during playcentre sessions and the majority of parents attend. A high percentage of parents are progressing quickly through the education courses.
Children and parents are well supported by experienced and long-serving supervision team members, who have also been or still are playcentre parents. Supervision team members provide considerable support to parents to understand and put into practice:
Individual centres are well supported by the association executive and the liaison officers who have a good knowledge of children’s wellbeing and learning, and playcentre operation. They are committed to making playcentres work well for families.
The association and centres have a good range of policies and procedures to guide the day-to-day operation of individual playcentres. The liaison officers use their extensive knowledge of playcentre to ensure the centres provide high standards of health and safety, are well maintained and activities are well presented and interesting for children.
There continues to be significant change occurring in the structure of governance and management at association and federation levels.
The association executive and ERO agree that the key next steps for the association to continue to provide positive outcomes for all children include:
Before the review, the staff and management of Motueka 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:
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 Motueka Playcentre will be in three years.
Graham Randell
Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern
11 May 2015
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 |
Motueka |
||
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
65106 |
||
|
Licence type |
Playcentre |
||
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
||
|
Number licensed for |
30 children, including up to 15 aged under two |
||
|
Service roll |
43 |
||
|
Gender composition |
Boys 25; Girls 18 |
||
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Asian other ethnicities |
13 23 3 4 |
|
|
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 |
March 2015 |
||
|
Date of this report |
11 May 2015 |
||
|
Most recent ERO reports |
Education Review |
March 2012 |
|
|
Education Review |
August 2007 |
||
|
Education Review |
December 2004 |
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.