How well placed is Tuatapere Playcentre to promote positive learning outcomes for children?
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Tuatapere Playcentre is a small, rural centre and is one of 19 playcentres governed by the Southland Playcentre Association (SPA). This review was part of a cluster of 17 reviews in the SPA.
Children attending Tuatapere Playcentre benefit from a large, spacious indoor and outdoor environment. The outdoor area, in particular, offers many opportunities for children to develop their physical skills. This is the only early childhood centre in the area and operates two mornings a week. About 12 children aged from birth to five years attend each session. A paid educator is supported by 2 parent helpers at sessions.
The key next steps in this report continue to build on the recommendations from the 2010 ERO report.
Children at this playcentre enjoy a range of learning experiences and positive relationships which support their general wellbeing and learning.
Relationships. There is a sense of whanaungatanga in the centre. This is evident in the way:
Responding to individual needs. Parents are well aware of the needs of children of different ages and deliberately make safe spaces for infants without restricting older children’s play. Some parents are particularly skilled in extending children’s thinking through learning-focused conversations and questions.
Planning. Session discussions are valuable and provide direction for children’s learning and development. The purposeful pre-session discussions about the learning priorities of certain children guide the ways in which duty parents work with them. Examples include the use of some te reo Māori and extending children’s language through games. The post-session discussions reflect on how effectively the pre-session intentions have been met.
Parent involvement. The parents are enthusiastic and dedicated to being their child’s first teacher. Many of them are gaining playcentre qualifications. This is empowering them in their roles as parents and first educators. There is a high expectation that parents in the centre will participate in training.
Southland Playcentre Association support. The SPA provides strong support to the playcentre through:
The SPA provides strong leadership to guide the future direction and ongoing improvement of all its centres. This includes the way association team members foster emergent leadership. Currently there are high numbers of people participating in playcentre training. The association has identified, and ERO agrees, that its next step is to improve its knowledge and understanding of self review. It then needs to support playcentres to use effective self review.
Learning records. The parents and educator, with the support of the SPA and playcentre liaison officer (PLO), should make learning records more useful, better understood and used, and show more clearly the learning pathways and children’s progressions.
Programme. Consideration needs to be given to enriching children’s experiences and building their sense of identity through links to the local people, places and things. The strategic plan could have a greater focus on improving outcomes for children.
Self review. The parents, PLO and SPA need to continue to develop their knowledge, understanding and use of self review. This will help to improve children’s learning and wellbeing, and the playcentre operations.
Strategic planning. This would be more useful if it contained detail about how the goals might be met and indicators of what good practice would look like. It would also be appropriate to have a greater focus on improving outcomes for children.
Before the review, the staff and management of Tuatapere 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.
When is ERO likely to review the service again?
The next ERO review of Tuatapere Playcentre will be in three years.
Graham Randell
National Manager Review Services Southern Region
9 September 2013
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Location |
Tuatapere |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
90023 |
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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 10 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
19 |
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Gender composition |
Girls: 10 Boys: 9 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori NZ European/Pākehā Filipino Chilean |
3 13 2 1 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80% Based on funding rates |
50-79% |
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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 |
July 2013 |
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Date of this report |
9 September 2013 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) These are available at www.ero.govt.nz |
Education Review |
June 2010 |
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Supplementary Review |
May 2007 |
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Education Review |
February 2006 |
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.