Te Ako o Te Tui Early Childhood Centre - Grafton - 11/02/2021

ERO’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.

ERO’s Judgement

Regulatory standards	ERO’s judgement
Curriculum	Meeting
Premises and facilities	Meeting
Health and safety	Not meeting
Governance, management and administration	Not meeting

At the time of the review, ERO identified non-compliance with regulatory standards that must be addressed.

Background

Te Ako o te Tui Early Childhood Centre - Grafton caters primarily for tamariki of University of Auckland students and staff. The centre opened in 2018 and is licensed for 90 children, including 30 under the age of 2 years. It is one of six services managed by Campus Life located in the University. A general manager and a centre leader lead a team of 13 qualified teachers and three staff members.

Summary of Review Findings

Children experience a programme based on Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. Teachers value te ao Māori and are beginning to develop a bicultural programme for children. Children freely access a wide range of learning resources and are supported in developing their emotional and social competence. The modern purpose-built premises feature an extensive natural playground and accessible indoor/outdoor learning environments. Children enjoy the healthy, nutritious meals that are cooked on site.

Consistent implementation of health and safety practices is required to meet all aspects of regulatory compliance.

Actions for Compliance

ERO found an area of non-compliance in the service relating to:

police vetting every three years of all non-registered staff recorded under the category of core children’s worker before commencing employment
excursions are consistently approved by the Person Responsible, have an assessment and management of risk, and parental permission and approval of adult:child ratios.

Licensing criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centre 2008, GMA7A, HS17.

Next ERO Review

The next ERO review will be in consultation with the Ministry of Education.

Steve Tanner

Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)

Northern Region | Te Tai Raki

11 February 2021

Information About the Service

Early Childhood Service Name	Te Ako o Te Tui Early Childhood Centre - Grafton
Profile Number	47443
Location	Grafton, Auckland
Service type	Education and care service
Number licensed for	90 children, including up to 30 aged under 2.
Percentage of qualified teachers	80%
Service roll	100
Ethnic composition	Māori 1% NZ European/Pākehā 28% Indian 18% Chinese 11% European 4% other European 8% Vietnamese 7% other Asian 5% other ethnic groups 18%
Review team on site	October 2020
Date of this report	11 February 2021
Most recent ERO report(s)	First ERO review of the service

General Information about Assurance Reviews

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.

ERO undertakes an Akanuku | Assurance Review process in any centre-based service:

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.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

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 regulated 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; police vetting; teacher certification; ratios)
evacuation procedures and practices for fire and earthquake.

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.