12 Raratuna Street, Turua
View on map|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
Turua Playcentre is well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Turua Playcentre is licensed to provide mixed-age sessional education and care for 22 children two days a week, this includes 13 children up to the age of two years. At the time of this review there are 11 children enrolled.
The Playcentre Aotearoa Philosophy ‘whanau tupu ngā – families growing together’, is to empower parents and children to learn, play and grow together. Alongside this the centre aims to promote a culture of manaakitanga, respecting children as capable and confident learners in a programme based on emergent play.
Since the December 2016 ERO report, the New Zealand Playcentre Federation has restructured by amalgamating all associations to form Playcentre Aotearoa. Turua Playcentre is part of the Central North Island region and is supported by a Regional Manager and support person.
Turua Playcentre is a member of the Hauraki Kāhui Ako.
This review was part of a cluster of eight reviews in the Playcentre Aotearoa Central North Island Region.
Children benefit from a broad and rich curriculum. They learn to care for the living world, growing fruit and vegetables, and using sustainable practices. Many areas of play are provided, including science, music, arts and crafts, physical, sensory, literacy and mathematics. Excursions into the local community enrich the programme. The documentation of these trips for licensing purposes now need to be consistently implemented. Māori and all other children learn about te āo Māori. This is naturally interwoven in curriculum opportunities with an effective use of resources. Māori values and te reo Māori were evident in practice. Children are highly engaged in play and learning.
Trusting relationships between children and familiar adults promotes positive learning outcomes. Children are given choice and are independent learners. Positive guidance strategies support children’s development of social competence. Oral language is promoted through rich conversations, storytelling and waiata. Flexible routines offer opportunities for children to sustain their play, alone or in small groups. An inclusive culture is evident. Children and families who have English as a second language feel welcomed and supported. Infants and toddlers play and learn alongside older and more competent children, and their home routines are followed. Children develop a sense of belonging at playcentre.
The assessment, planning and evaluation of children's learning needs to be consistently implemented for all learners. It is documented in individual portfolios, wall displays and session evaluations. Children's emerging interests are planned for as a group. There are some models of effective individual assessment practices. There is a need to continue to support newer members in how to assess, plan and evaluate learning. This should strengthen the response to all individual learning goals to show progression of learning over time.
Experienced leaders are building the capability of newer members to take on an active role in the playcentre operation and decision making. They meet regularly and have filled all key committee roles. Internal evaluation has been strengthened with a balance of strategic and emergent reviews, leading to positive outcomes for children. Effective partnerships with other education providers within the community have been established. The strategic and annual plans are clearly aligned and should support centre leaders to achieve their planned goals. Children are supported by their parents and whānau as first teachers, and emergent leadership for all is encouraged.
The revised parent education programme is becoming more accessible to centre members. At this playcentre, members are actively engaged in adult education and are working towards ensuring the centre is sustainable for licensing purposes. 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.
The key next step for Turua Playcentre is to continue to build all members capabilities in the assessment, planning and evaluation of children's learning.
Playcentre Aotearoa should continue to build knowledge and understanding of policies and procedures to ensure licensing requirements are upheld.
Before the review, the staff and management of Turua 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.
Since the on-site phase of the review, members have provided ERO with evidence of action taken in relation to ensuring that a heavy glass turtle tank that could topple or fall in the event of an earthquake was removed [HS6].
In order to improve practice, there is a need to:
embed the new excursion policy and process to ensure ratios of excursions are consistently documented and acknowledged by parents.
Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, HS17.
Darcy Te Hau
Acting Director Review and Improvement Services
Central Region - Te Tai Pūtahi Nui
18 March 2020
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 |
Turua, near Thames |
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|
Ministry of Education profile number |
32011 |
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|
Licence type |
Playcentre |
|
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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|
Number licensed for |
22 children, including up to 13 aged under 2 |
|
|
Service roll |
11 |
|
|
Gender composition |
Male 6 Female 5 |
|
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori |
2 |
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Review team on site |
December 2019 |
|
|
Date of this report |
18 March 2020 |
|
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
December 2016 |
|
Supplementary Review |
March 2014 |
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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:
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.
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.
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.
|
Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Turua Playcentre is located in the small rural township of Turua close to the Primary school. This parent-led centre provides two education and care sessions per week for children from birth to school age. It is licenced for 22 children including 13 children under two years of age. At the time of this ERO review there were 17 children on the roll, including 3 Maori children.
Turua playcentre is one of 13 centres governed by the umbrella organisation known as Thames Valley/Coromandel Playcentre Association (TVCPA) affiliated to the New Zealand Playcentre Federation. TVPCA employs key personnel to undertake the day-to-day management and quality assurance of the association and centres.
The association also provides support to centres in relation to the commitment to the Treaty of Waitangi, tikanga and te reo Māori for centre members. Te Puriri Whakamaru o Hauraki Whānau provides advice, consultation, guidance and education that help parents understand and implement aspects of New Zealand’s dual cultural heritage, as well as support for Māori members.
The 2014 ERO review report identified the key next steps:
strategic planning
self-review
assessment practices
strengthening Māori language, culture and identity.
Centre members have worked to address these areas and have made some progress, particularly in the area of te reo Maori and strategic planning. This centre has had a mixed reporting history with a supplementary review in 2014.
This review was part of a cluster of three playcentres in the Thames Valley/Coromandel Playcentre Association.
Centre members are committed to and enjoy learning with and alongside their children. Together they demonstrate a strong sense of wellbeing and belonging to the centre. Children's interests and strengths are well known and responded to by parents. Many children demonstrate high levels of social skills and co-operation in a mixed-age setting. Children are developing their early concepts of literacy and mathematics through play. They make choices and decisions about their learning from a wide variety of good quality materials and equipment.
ERO observed some responsive and positive interactions between adults and children that include:
rich oral conversation amongst adults and children that extend children's thinking and problem solving skills and enrich their language acquisition
interactions that include flexible routines and opportunities for children to socialise together
parents highly engaged with learning and play experiences
adults sharing responsibility for the education and care of all children.
An experienced member is supporting parents to become more confident to use te reo Māori and increase their knowledge about local tribal history and places of significance to Māori. This is contributing to the success of Māori children and their whānau, and increasing members' knowledge of our bi-cultural history.
Centre members take shared responsibility to ensure effective management and organisation of centre operations. Leaders are experienced and committed to the playcentre philosophy. Under the leadership of the president, the centre has:
documented a clear strategic direction
strengthened self-review processes
placed priority on positive and supportive relationships amongst members
improved communication systems
inspired member's enthusiasm for ongoing training.
This is resulting in a growing roll and a sustainable future for the centre.
An experienced liaison officer is supporting the centre to enable parents to promote the playcentre philosophy and plan a programme that is aligned to the strands of Te Whāriki. Curriculum priorities include:
principles and aspirations of manaakitanga
wellbeing and belonging
Maori language culture and identity
priority of developing children's oral language.
Planning, assessment and evaluation sessions are collaborative, and experienced members actively share their knowledge with new members to build their skills in documenting the programme. This approach is contributing to a responsive curriculum. Centre displays celebrate children's current learning and provide useful examples of learning stories for members in training. ERO observed children and adults revisiting their learning through these displays.
There are some good examples of children's involvement in the programme being documented in learning stories and photographs. These are displayed around the environment enabling children to revisit their learning.
The TVCPA provides useful overall guidance, support and clear policies, procedures and guidelines for centre operations. They also provide ongoing parent education programmes to help build parents' knowledge and capability to provide successful outcomes for children.
While experienced members model useful strategies that guide children's behaviour, there is a need for all centre members to use these strategies consistently for all children.
Assessment, planning and evaluation requires strengthening. Further development of the documentation of learning should include:
deliberate identification of, and response to, individual children's next steps in learning
regular revisiting of children's learning and noticing of progress
a greater focus on learning rather than the activities children engage in
quality assurance processes that ensure every child has good quality assessment information.
Before the review, the staff and management of Turua 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.
In order to improve practice the association should:
The association and centre members undertake professional learning and development in the use of Ministry of Education guidelines for self review, and planning and assessment.
The next ERO review of Turua Playcentre will be in three years.
Lynda Pura-Watson
Deputy Chief Review Officer
22 December 2016
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.
|
Location |
Turua near Thames |
|
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
32011 |
|
|
Licence type |
Playcentre |
|
|
Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
|
|
Number licensed for |
22 children, including up to 13 aged under 2 |
|
|
Service roll |
17 |
|
|
Gender composition |
Boys 9 Girls 8 |
|
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori Pākehā |
3 14 |
|
Review team on site |
November 2016 |
|
|
Date of this report |
22 December 2016 |
|
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Supplementary Review |
March 2014 |
|
Education Review |
April 2013 |
|
|
Education Review |
May 2010 |
|
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.
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.