Pio Pio Playcentre

1 Evaluation of Pio Pio Playcentre

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

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

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

Background

Piopio Playcentre is licensed to provide mixed-age sessional education and care for 30 children once a week. This includes 10 children up to the age of two years. Older children can attend a 'Big Kids' session on Wednesday mornings. At the time of this ERO review, there were 21 children enrolled including three who identify as Māori.

The Playcentre Aotearoa philosophy, ‘whānau tupu ngātahi – families growing together’, is to empower parents and children to learn, play and grow together.

Since the September 2016 ERO report, the New Zealand Playcentre Federation has restructured by amalgamating all associations to form Playcentre Aotearoa. Piopio Playcentre is part of the Central North Island Region, and is supported by a regional manager and support persons.

Whānau and families share responsibility for the curriculum. Day-to-day operation is undertaken by session support personnel and centre-elected office holders. A centre support worker and centre administrator regularly visit playcentres to provide professional support, strengthen practice and promote improvement.

This review was part of a cluster of eight reviews in the in the Playcentre Aotearoa Central North Island Region.

The Review Findings

Children benefit from a rich learning programme. Routines are flexible where children make choices about their learning. The environment is organised in such a way that children can initiate purposeful, problem-solving activities by using a variety of materials and equipment. There are many opportunities for children to explore and experience safe physical challenges. Strong relationships with the local school is supporting children to successfully transition to their next stage of learning. Oral language, literacy, mathematics and science are well promoted and integrated into play. Assessments in children’s portfolios captures their learning and participation in the programme.

Adults respond well to children's needs and interests. Members encourage children to use trial and error to find solutions to problems. Social competency is well promoted by respectful and inclusive practice. Children enjoy involving themselves alongside their parents and other adults in meaningful play. Maori children's culture and identity is recognised in wall displays and ready access to resources that reflect te ao Māori. Members are developing their confidence in using te reo Māori with children. Children up to the age of two years are supported to play and learn alongside their older siblings and peers.

The revised parent education programme is becoming more accessible to centre members. Some members are participating in federation provided playcentre training. Useful induction processes support new members to fully participate in the centre. A recently appointed centre support worker provides useful guidance to members. Appraisal processes for session support staff have recently been strengthened to better evaluate performance in relation to specific roles and responsibilities, identify professional learning and development needs, and focus on achievement of goals.

The national restructuring process continues to require significant attention and support to implement an extensive range of systems and processes. Regular communication from Playcentre Aotearoa seeks to keep parents informed of progress, changes and upcoming requirements. National policies and procedures have recently been introduced and parents are in the process of aligning practices to these.  Ongoing support is required to enable parents to understand and implement these procedures to meet licensing requirements.

Key Next Steps

The next steps for Piopio Playcentre are to:

• implement the playcentre's self-review framework with a focus on learning outcomes for children

• continue to develop the use of te reo Māori and the language, culture and identity of other children in the centre.

Playcentre Aotearoa should continue to build knowledge and understanding of policies and procedures to ensure licensing requirements are upheld Management Assurance on Legal Requirements.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Pio Pio 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.

ERO identified an area of non-compliance relating to Premises and facilities. To meet requirements the service needs to improve its performance in the following area:

• ensuring outdoor items and surfaces, furniture, equipment and materials are safe and suitable for their intended use.

Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood and care Centres 2008, PF5.

Since the on-site phase of the review, members have provided ERO with evidence of action taken in relation to ensure that surfaces are safe and suitable for their intended use (PF5).

Darcy Te Hau

Acting Director Review and Improvement Services

Central Region - Te Tai Pūtahi Nui

19 March 2020

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.