Kids Biz Pre-School And Daycare - Waiake

1 Evaluation of Kids Biz Preschool and Daycare

How well placed is Kids Biz Preschool and Daycare to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

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

Background

Kids Biz Preschool and Daycare is a privately owned, full day, education and care service that caters for children from birth to school age. Children often play together in mixed age groups.

The centre's philosophy encourages the development of a family-based setting where the centre staff work in partnership with families, and where each child is valued as an individual.

The 2009 and 2012 ERO reports noted that programmes are largely teacher led and based on activities. This report also identifies the challenge for teachers of making the programme more responsive to children's individual and group interests.

The Review Findings

Staff take pride in knowing the children and their families well. Children at the centre benefit from warm relationships with staff. They are well supported by teachers to become socially competent and they often build friendships with the other children.

Children enjoy many opportunities to play in mixed-age groups, and this enables siblings to be together. Older children support the younger children and are confident in their interactions with each other and with adults. Toddlers are able to learn though exploration and through imitating the older children.

The centre works well with parents, support workers and agencies to support children who have diverse needs. Teachers work closely with the parents of children with special needs and contribute to the development and implementation of individual education plans, as appropriate.

The educational programme includes periods of time for child-initiated play, mat times and agerelated learning times. During the mat times and group times there is a strong focus on what teachers want children to learn. During child-led play children are able to make choices and manage their own learning with teachers' support. The centre managers realise the importance of increasing opportunities for children to learn through play, and to enable more uninterrupted time for children to sustain their play.

Teachers are increasing their knowledge of te reo Māori through ongoing study. They are now more confident to speak Māori with children and the children are responding in te reo Māori. This helps to support the identity of Māori children, and contributes to all children's capacity to live with confidence in bicultural New Zealand. Developing a bicultural curriculum continues to be a priority for the service.

Teachers have been introduced to a model for observing children and are more confident in assessing children's learning, developing plans and monitoring children's progress. They now need further support to develop learning programmes that respond better to children's individual and group interests.

Centre managers are supporting teachers to improve their practice. The staff have taken part in significant professional learning and development in the areas of self review, and in planning and assessment. There are now good processes in place to guide self review and many staff have been involved in carrying out reviews to guide improvement.

The centre has strengthened its appraisal system. Teachers reflect on their practice in relation to the practicing teacher criteria and against the newly established job descriptions. The improved appraisal system should support ongoing improvements.

Key Next Steps

The centre manager agrees that it would be useful to review:

• the centre philosophy to incorporate teachers' new learning from recent professional development, and to confirm their role in supporting children's widening interests and problem solving capabilities

• the centre's timetable to increase opportunities for uninterrupted play so that children have greater control of their learning.

The centre could consider how to it might develop a more robust process for conducting regular internal evaluation in order to promote high quality practices and guide strategic planning.

Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Kids Biz Preschool and Daycare 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.

ERO recommends that centre managers review the provision of health and safety to ensure all potential risks in the environment are well managed.

ERO identified areas of non-compliance. To address these, the centre managers must:

• secure furniture and equipment that could fall and cause injury or damage

• ensure that risks to children and adults during excursions are clearly identified and strategies for their management are well documented.

Licencing criteria for Early Childhood Services, 2008, HS 6, 17.

Next ERO Review

When is ERO likely to review the service again?

The next ERO review of Kids Biz Preschool and Daycare will be in three years.

Graham Randell

Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern

29 June 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

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 toERO’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.