Nurtured at Home (Gisborne) 2

1 Evaluation of Nurtured at Home (Gisborne) 2

How well placed is Nurtured at Home (Gisborne) 2 to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

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

Background

Nurtured at Home Limited is a privately owned company providing home-based care for children across the Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Hawke's Bay, Auckland and Waikato. The owner is a fully qualified early childhood teacher. She provides governance and leadership support for the service. A training and development support officer provides professional learning for the teaching teams.

Nurtured at Home (Gisborne) 2 opened in February 2016. The network caters for families in the wider Gisborne region. It is licensed for 80 children, including 40 up to the age of two. Currently 47 children are on this network's roll, the majority of whom are Māori and Tongan.

The service employs two full-time, registered teachers and a manager who provides leadership and management support. Teachers visit educators at least twice a month. Each visiting teacher supports a maximum of 13 educators. They supply resources, and guidance in the care and education of infants, toddlers and older children. They provide educators with written and oral feedback on their practice.

This is the first ERO review for the Nurtured at Home (Gisborne) 2 service.

This review was part of a cluster of two home-based reviews in the Nurtured at Home Limited organisation.

The Review Findings

Visiting teachers foster positive and respectful relationships with educators, children, parents and the extended families they serve. They support educators to use teaching strategies and approaches that promote positive outcomes for children. Their play ideas and activities encourage the use of natural materials and home-made educational resources.

Connections between educators and children are promoted through playgroups and discovery days. These events provide different learning experiences for children and useful educational ideas for educators. Visiting teachers are presently working with Sport Gisborne Tairāwhiti to support children, whānau and educators to learn more about healthy eating and lifestyle choices. 

In many cases, educators share the same cultural background as the children in their care. This means that care and educational practices are responsive to the cultures of children and their families. Educators prioritise the use of children's first or home languages. Visiting teachers value and are responsive to the various cultures in each network. They know their educators and children well. Teachers and leaders use a variety of successful approaches to maintain connections with parents. Bicultural practice is woven throughout the network’s operations. Culturally responsive teaching and learning approaches are integrated throughout the organisation's professional learning.

Visiting teachers have good professional knowledge and understanding of early childhood educational theory and practice. They support educators to develop their skills in recording children's progress over time. Profile books highlight the connections between children's play and learning. Some educators notice, recognise and respond well to children's interests and strengths.

Visiting teachers maintain clear and useful records of their visits to educators. They identify how well educators interact with children, and how effectively they support children's health and wellbeing. They engage educators in discussions about children's learning and support them to reflect on and improve their practice.

Leaders work collaboratively with each other and with the visiting teacher team. They recognise strengths in teachers and educators, and empower others to take on leadership roles. Professional learning for teachers is responsive to the needs of teachers and educators in the home-based care context.

The appraisal system supports teachers to reflect on and improve their practice. Leaders ensure that strategic planning, service goals, appraisal and professional learning are well aligned. They make carefully considered appointments in relation to their home-based beliefs and to meet the cultural diversity of the community they serve.

Effective systems and processes promote ongoing improvement and accountability for legislative requirements. Recent restructuring of senior management team responsibilities has further improved systems and practices across the organisation. This improvement includes a well-executed and up-to-date policy framework.

Self review for improvement is regularly used and has led to positive change. Leaders recognise that a next step is to continue to strengthen their knowledge and understanding of internal evaluation to measure how well their programmes are supporting improved outcomes for children.

Key Next Steps

Management and ERO agree that leaders and teachers should continue to strengthen their knowledge and understanding of internal evaluation. 

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Nurtured at Home (Gisborne) 2 completed an ERO Home-based Education and Care 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.

Next ERO Review

When is ERO likely to review the service again?

The next ERO review of Nurtured at Home (Gisborne) 2 will be in three years.

Alan Wynyard
Deputy Chief Review Officer Central (Acting)

Te Tai Pokapū - Central Region

5 March 2018 

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 Home-based Education and Care 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 the draft methodology for ERO reviews in Home-based Education and Care Services: July 2014

ERO’s Overall Judgement and Next Review

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:

• Very well placed – The next ERO review in four years
• Well placed – The next ERO review in three years
• Requires further development – The next ERO review within two years
• Not well placed - The next ERO review in consultation with the Ministry of Education

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.