96 Philpotts Road, St Albans, Christchurch
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
St Albans Playcentre is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
St Albans Playcentre operates under the guidance of the Canterbury Playcentre Association. The playcentre is a parent cooperative, where parents are encouraged to be involved in all aspects of the programme and centre operation. A centre support worker assists the parent group with the curriculum, relationships, parent education and health and safety practices.
The playcentre philosophy emphasises parents as the first and best teachers, and a play-based curriculum. Parents are encouraged to participate in playcentre education training to support them in their role as a parent-led early learning service.
St Albans Playcentre operates five morning sessions a week. The parent-led service provides early childhood education for children from birth to school age. Infants, toddlers and young children play and learn in a mixed age-group setting.
Since the May 2012 ERO review, the parent group have addressed the next steps identified by making better use of daily reflections in self-review, and focusing more on centre experiences that directly promote children’s learning.
At the time of this ERO review, the playcentre was being led by a centre coordinator who has responsibility for supporting the parent group. The coordinator and parent group have worked collaboratively to promote the playcentre and to increase the roll. Parents have been empowered to take on office bearing positions on the committee.
A high number of parents are actively involved in the programme and participate in playcentre professional development to build understandings and skills to support the effective operation of the centre. The playcentre philosophy is clearly evident in practice. Parents have a strong focus on children's wellbeing and promote learning through play.
The coordinator and parent group foster positive and respectful relationships. They warmly welcome children and their families into an inclusive and supportive learning environment. Adults are well supported by centre leaders through a culture of cooperation and collaboration. They interact and respond appropriately to the needs of children and families in caring and nurturing ways.
Parents are empowered to grow and learn with their children and to become valued partners in their children's learning. They use a new system to provide focus on the identification of learning that is increasing the regularity and usefulness of assessment.
Children are confident and have a sense of belonging in the centre. They have access to a well-resourced and thoughtfully considered and planned programme that provides them with choice. Children are actively involved in a wide range of interesting and challenging learning experiences that support the development of social skills, through creative, sensory and physical play. Infants and toddlers play and learn with and alongside older children in tuakana-teina relationships. Excursions into the local community enhance the learning programme offered to children.
The parent group demonstrates a commitment to developing understandings of bicultural perspectives and growing practices that are respectful of the Māori culture. They have considered the ways Māori values of manaākitanga, whanaungatanga and kaitiakitanga are incorporated naturally across all aspects of the programme.
After each daily session, adults reflect on their children's learning and interests during their centre experience, and use this to enhance the curriculum, inquiry topics and for investigation through internal evaluation.
The parent group are reflective and are making good use of strategic planning and internal evaluation to support improvement and positive outcomes for children. Parent group leaders use a range of effective communication strategies to ensure that processes are collaborative and inclusive of the views of all of their valued members.
The parent group and ERO agrees, that the key next steps are to:
strengthen understandings of children's learning and the way this is captured in assessment, planning and evaluation, including how learning will be extended
strengthen the use of te reo Māori by adults and provide regular opportunities for children to hear and use te reo Māori during sessions
provide opportunities to integrate the home language, culture and identity of children across the programme, particularly in their learning stories
continue to build a shared understanding of internal evaluation processes and practices, and evaluate the impacts of actions on valued outcomes for children.
Before the review, the staff and management of St Albans 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 St Albans Playcentre will be in three years.
Alan Wynyard
Director Review & Improvement Services
Te Waipounamu - Southern Region
12 November 2018
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 |
Christchurch |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
70128 |
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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 |
25 children, including up to 10 aged under two Monday to Thursday, 20 aged under two on Fridays |
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Service roll |
112 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 56 ; Girls 56 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā Other ethnicities |
1 100 11 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
0-49% |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:1 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Over 2 |
1:5 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
September 2018 |
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Date of this report |
12 November 2018 |
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Most recent ERO reports |
Education Review Education Review |
May 2012 June 2008 |
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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:
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.
St Albans Playcentre is one of 49 operating playcentres that are administrated by the Canterbury Playcentre Association. The playcentre is open for five sessions each week.
The playcentre operates as a parent cooperative. All parents take responsibility and share leadership for the day to day operation of the playcentre. The association offers opportunities for parents to train in Playcentre’s early childhood education training programme.
The centre experienced minimal damage and disruption as a result of the Canterbury earthquakes.
Coordinators and parents provide a warm, caring and supportive environment for adults and children. The centre is well established, spacious and well resourced.
The programme strongly reflects Playcentre philosophy. There were high levels of parent participation at the time of the review.
Other positive features of the centre include:
Parents are aware of the need to extend assessment practices to make sure children’s learning is clearly identified so they can better support next learning steps.
Parents have improved self-review processes since the last ERO review.
The next steps are to make better use of daily reflections in self review, and to focus more on centre experiences that directly promote children’s learning.
ERO is confident that the service is being managed in the interest of the children. Therefore ERO is likely to review the service again in three years.
Before the review, the management of St Albans Playcentre was invited to consider its priorities for review using guidelines and resources provided by ERO. ERO also used documentation provided by the centre to contribute to the scope of the review.
The detailed priorities for review were then determined following a discussion between the ERO review team and the management and staff. This discussion focused on existing information held by the centre (including self-review information) and the extent to which potential issues for review contributed to positive outcomes for children atSt Albans Playcentre.
All ERO education reviews in early childhood focus on the quality of education. For ERO this includes the quality of:
ERO’s findings in these areas are set out below.
The playcentre’s mission and vision strongly focus on empowering children and families through supportive and caring relationships. Parents are recognised as children’s first educators. The curriculum document, Te Whāriki, New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum is the basis for the programme.
The child-led programme provides children with many opportunities to make choices, and to follow and develop their own interests. Children have a wide range of activities available to them, both inside and outside. They are asked to help parents set up the activities they are most interested in. Parents actively involve themselves in play and foster children’s independence and self-help skills. Literacy is a feature across the programme. Children are familiar with expectations and routines. Parents make sure the programme is flexible so children’s interests can be adequately followed and met. This results in sustained interactions and activities.
Profile books provide children and parents with a useful record of their participation. Children’s activities and achievements are attractively recorded through photos and written descriptions. Children have access to their profiles and often read them with their parents.
Children benefit from warm, caring and supportive relationships. Parents know each other’s children well. They respond to children’s interests and play, and help them to settle and sustain activities. Adults interact well together providing appropriate role models for children.
Parents support the development of children’s social skills through cooperative play and sharing. Children are given good opportunities to extend their oral language. First language use is encouraged for children from other cultures. Some parents are using questioning skills effectively to extend children’s thinking and learning. Children’s efforts and achievements are well recognised and affirmed.
The environment provides children with a wide range of opportunities to explore and develop their interests. The centre is spacious and well planned, both indoors and outdoors. There is a wide range of resources that stimulate children’s interests and support their play and development. Wall displays are attractive. They feature children’s work and provide information to parents about the programme, parent education and their children’s participation in activities.
Since the last review, parents have made good progress in establishing a self-review process. This includes daily reflections about the programme and children’s participation that parents share at the end of the session. Parents are also formally reviewing some aspects of the programme.
ERO supports centre coordinators who have identified the need to extend assessment and programme planning. The next steps are to:
Before the review, the staff of St Albans Playcentre completed an ERO CentreAssurance Statement andSelf-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 documentation, including policies, procedures and records of recent use of procedures. ERO also checked elements of the following areas that have a potentially high impact on outcomes for children:
ERO is confident that the service is being managed in the interest of the children. Therefore ERO is likely to review the service again in three years.
Graham Randell
National Manager Review Services
Southern Region
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Type |
Sessional Playcentre |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
25 children, including up to 10 aged under two |
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Roll number |
30 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 19 Girls 11 |
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Ethnic composition |
NZ European/Pākehā 28; Other Ethnicitiies 2 |
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Review team on site |
March 2012 |
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Date of this report |
24 May 2012 |
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Previous three ERO reports
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Education Review June 2008 Education Review June 2004 Accountability Review March 1998 |
24 May 2012
These are the findings of the Education Review Office’s latest report on St Albans Playcentre.
St Albans Playcentre is one of 49 operating playcentres that are administrated by the Canterbury Playcentre Association. The playcentre is open for five sessions each week.
The playcentre operates as a parent cooperative. All parents take responsibility and share leadership for the day to day operation of the playcentre. The association offers opportunities for parents to train in Playcentre’s early childhood education training programme.
The centre experienced minimal damage and disruption as a result of the Canterbury earthquakes.
Coordinators and parents provide a warm, caring and supportive environment for adults and children. The centre is well established, spacious and well resourced.
The programme strongly reflects Playcentre philosophy. There were high levels of parent participation at the time of the review.
Other positive features of the centre include:
Parents are aware of the need to extend assessment practices to make sure children’s learning is clearly identified so they can better support next learning steps.
Parents have improved self-review processes since the last ERO review.
The next steps are to make better use of daily reflections in self review, and to focus more on centre experiences that directly promote children’s learning.
ERO is confident that the service is being managed in the interest of the children. Therefore ERO is likely to review the service again in three years.
When ERO has reviewed an early childhood centre we encourage management to inform their community of any follow up action they plan to take. You should talk to the management or contact person if you have any questions about this evaluation, the full ERO report or their future intentions.
If you would like a copy of the full report, please contact the centre or see the ERO website, http://www.ero.govt.nz.
Graham Randell
National Manager Review Services
Southern Region
ERO is an independent, external evaluation agency that undertakes reviews of schools and early childhood services throughout New Zealand.
ERO follows a set of standard procedures to conduct reviews. The purpose of each review is to:
Reviews are intended to focus on outcomes for children and build on each centre’s self review.
ERO’s framework for reviewing and reporting is based on four review strands.
ERO reviews do not cover every aspect of centre performance and each ERO report may cover different issues. The aim is to provide information on aspects that are central to positive outcomes for children and useful to this centre.
Most ERO reports include recommendations for improvement. A recommendation on a particular issue does not necessarily mean that a centre is performing poorly in relation to that issue. There is no direct link between the number of recommendations in this report and the overall performance of this centre.