Tui Road Playcentre

Education institution number:
25236
Service type:
Playcentre
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
7
Telephone:
Address:

159 Tui Road, Papatoetoe, Auckland

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Tui Road Playcentre - 03/06/2020

1 Evaluation of Tui Road Playcentre

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

Not well placed

Requires further development

Well placed

Very well placed

Tui Road Playcentre requires further development to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

Tui Road Playcentre needs external support to review and improve the quality of all aspects of centre operations.

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

Background

Tui Road Playcentre is a well-established service in Papatoetoe. It operates as a parent cooperative under the umbrella of the Playcentre Aotearoa, Auckland Regional Hub (ARH). The centre is open for three sessions per week. The majority of the member families are new. It is licensed for 25 children, including 15 infants.

A newly appointed centre support worker (CSW) helps members to develop a shared understanding about the curriculum and centre operations. Two service support workers (SSW) are employed to support members during the centre's hours of operation.

The Playcentre philosophy of 'whānau tupu ngātahi', adults and children learning together, continues to underpin the culture of the centre. Every member is responsible for the quality of teaching and learning as well as aspects of management and governance. Parents and whānau are valued as being the best educators of their children. Sessions are guided by Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, and a commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

The 2016 ERO report noted families' enjoyment of their time in the centre. A range of learning experiences supported children’s participation in play. It identified next steps to improve the curriculum and recognised the challenge of attracting membership. Building and sustaining centre membership continues to be a challenge. Changes in the Playcentre organisational structure have had an impact on aspects of this centre's operations.

The new structure of Playcentre Aotearoa is now fully operational and a review of this new structure is currently underway. The organisation provides a sound management framework as well as support personnel to assist centre members in managing their centres. Playcentre Aotearoa administers centres’ funding and provides an adult education programme for parents/whānau to achieve Playcentre qualifications. Centre members have adopted planned approaches to embracing and implementing the Playcentre Aotearoa policy framework. A new licensee/contact person is in the process of being appointed.

This review was part of a cluster of four reviews in the Playcentre Aotearoa, Auckland Regional Hub.

The Review Findings

Children are happy and settled. Centre members provide a well-resourced environment that encourages child-initiated play for a mixed age group. Children choose from a wide range of activities. Adults are available to provide assistance as needed. The large outside area enables children to participate in physically challenging, active play. Children play well alongside their peers and engage in sustained play.

The CSW and SSW support members to design a learning programme that is responsive to children's interests and developmental needs. They should continue to provide leadership and model ways of supporting and extending children’s play.

Most members are new and are supported by leaders to enact the Playcentre philosophy. This has resulted in families’ strong sense of belonging. Warm, caring relationships between adults and children underpin positive interactions. New centre members are encouraged to take an active role in the management of the centre and are gaining a better understanding of their dual roles as parents and educators.

The regional management team takes responsibility for supporting effective centre operations. They are aware of the strengths and needs of the centre and provide professional leadership to promote improvement and growth. The centre support worker is guided by the regional centre support coordinator. This support helps the centre to continue to develop quality programmes for children, and sound health and safety monitoring practices.

The ARH should support members at Tui Road to develop and implement a strategic plan that identifies clear goals. They should also support the implementation of internal evaluation processes that focus on continuous improvements in the programmes for children and centre operations.

More comprehensive support by ARH personnel will be needed to help centre members to establish and sustain good practices in all areas of centre operations, and particularly in implementing Te Whāriki.

Key Next Steps

With ARH support, key next steps for centre members are to continue building their capability to:

  • plan, implement and evaluate programmes for children based on their interests, strengths and needs
  • implement Playcentre's commitment to bicultural practices
  • develop and implement a robust process of improvement-focused internal evaluation
  • develop shared understandings about how to implement and monitor the framework of policies and procedures.

Key next steps for Playcentre Aotearoa, Auckland Regional Hub, are to:

  • clarify new roles and engage service leaders in the implementation of the new structure across Auckland Playcentres
  • increase the rigour of monitoring and quality assurance, and strengthen internal evaluation at all levels
  • identify and implement strategies for achieving greater consistency of the practices that are strengths in some centres.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Tui Road 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.

To improve current practice, centre members need to ensure that children are wearing hats and have sunscreen on when playing outside.

Actions for compliance

ERO identified areas of non-compliance relating to health and safety practices, governance and management and the curriculum. To meet requirements the service needs to improve its performance in the following areas:

  • providing a curriculum that promotes the cultural heritages of both parties to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and supporting the right of every child to be confident in their own culture
  • a record of emergency drills carried out and evidence of how evaluation of the drills inform the annual review of the service's emergency plan
  • a record of all excursions that includes a documented assessment and management of risk, and evidence of parental permission and approval of adult:child ratios
  • an ongoing self review process that helps the service maintain and improve the quality of its education and care
  • an annual plan to guide operations and identify who, what and when, in relation to key tasks undertaken each year.

Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, C5,6, HS8,17, GMA6,8.

Development Plan Recommendation

ERO recommends that the service, in consultation with the Ministry of Education, develops a plan to address the key next steps and actions outlined in this report.

Steve Tanner

Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)

Northern Region - Te Tai Raki

3 June 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

Location

Papatoetoe, Auckland

Ministry of Education profile number

25236

Licence type

Playcentre

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

25 children, including up to 15 aged under 2 years

Service roll

12

Gender composition

Girls 8 Boys 4

Ethnic composition

Māori
NZ European/Pākehā
other ethnic groups

1
5
6

Review team on site

December 2019

Date of this report

3 June 2020

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review

January 2016

Education Review

February 2011

Education Review

May 2008

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.

Tui Road Playcentre - 22/01/2016

1 Evaluation of Tui Playcentre

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

Not well placed

Requires further development

Well placed

Very well placed

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

Background

Tui Playcentre is a long established centre in residential Papatoetoe, Auckland. It has recently reopened after an eighteen month closure while being renovated. Long standing centre members have remained and are working to rebuild the numbers of families using the centre to make its operation more viable. The centre is open for three morning sessions per week for up to 25 children.

The centre is one of 16 Playcentres in the Tamaki Playcentre Association. The Association provides a management and policy framework to guide centre operations. Liaison officers and other Association staff provide support for the centres, including adult education programmes to encourage children’s learning.

The centre is cooperatively managed and programmes for children are implemented by centre members who have many years' experience. The Playcentre philosophy of whānau and children learning together underpins centre operations.

This review was part of a cluster of three Playcentre reviews in the Tamaki Playcentre Association.

The Review Findings

Children show a strong sense of trust and of belonging. They confidently approach adults to ask questions, share achievements and socialise. Children play independently and cooperatively with each other. They choose from a wide range of easily accessible resources when initiating their own play. The centre has a sense of calm and purposefulness.

Adults/whānau value children’s play. They follow and support children in the session. Children’s ethnic language is valued and encouraged. Adults provide a range of literacy activities that enable children to observe, listen and practise language. They use open questions to encourage children to develop language skills, think critically and problem solve.

The centre programme is clearly linked to the principles and strands of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum. A key feature in this centre is the way in which members’ are beginning to use learning dispositions well to build on children’s skills. This is having an impact on children’s learning and is a result of recent professional development for members undertaken following focused self review to identify next steps for progressing the centre.

Te reo Māori is strongly integrated throughout the programme. Children benefit from a focused commitment to New Zealand’s bicultural heritage. Multicultural aspects are also developing within centre programmes.

Centre members work collaboratively to provide well-coordinated and purposefully resourced programmes. They respect each child’s uniqueness and build on their interests.

Adults evaluate each session to help them plan future programmes. The shared knowledge they have about individual children and families promotes a cohesive learning environment.

In collaboration with the umbrella Tamaki Playcentre Association, Tui Playcentre has developed a tailored strategy to support the re-establishment of its renovated centre. A position of pouawhina has been created to complement the existing members’ skills. The pouawhina is helping to ensure that the Playcentre is well organised and managed. This strategy allows the experienced adults to concentrate on supporting the children with their play. Continuing education and training for all adults is an ongoing priority.

Association governance practices are well established. Raising awareness of the playcentre within the community so that centres are well attended is an ongoing focus for the Association. The Association is responsive to the needs of individual centres and provides support and guidance to manage the centres. Members are appreciative of the Association’s collaborative approach to assist them in promoting positive outcomes for children. Association leaders have made significant progress in aligning and monitoring systems and practices for centres. They could now further strengthen processes for reporting and monitoring progress in each centre.

Key Next Steps

Centre members and ERO agree that key next steps include:

  • develop strategies for responding in a more timely and responsive to children’s emerging interests and for developing the complexity of their learning
  • responding more strategically to the diverse cultures and languages of children and their families/whānau
  • continuing to develop supports and systems for a collaborative and interdependent community
  • promoting the centre and attracting new members.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Tui 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.

Next ERO Review

When is ERO likely to review the service again?

The next ERO review of Tui Playcentre will be in three years.

Graham Randell

Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern

22 January 2016

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

Location

Papatoetoe, Auckland

Ministry of Education profile number

25236

Licence type

Playcentre

Licensed under

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Number licensed for

25 children, including up to 12 aged under 2

Service roll

12

Gender composition

Girls 9 Boys 3

Ethnic composition

Māori

Pākehā

Vietnamese

Cambodian

Chinese

Cook Island Māori

Fijian

Tongan

2

2

3

1

1

1

1

1

Reported ratios of staff to children

Under 2

1:3

Better than minimum requirements

 

Over 2

1:3

Better than minimum requirements

Review team on site

September 2015

Date of this report

22 January 2016

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review

February 2011

 

Education Review

May 2008

 

Supplementary Review

May 2004

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 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.