Evaluation of Kelly's Preschool

How well placed is Kelly's Preschool to promote positive learning outcomes for children?

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Well placed

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

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Background

Kelly's Preschool is located in Henderson, Auckland. The privately owned, family-orientated centre is licensed for up to 30 children from two to five years of age. Full day and sessional options are available for families. The roll reflects the cultural diversity of the community.

The centre's philosophy promotes early childhood practices that focus on children learning through play. Underpinning this philosophy is the creation of a homely environment where children are happy, safe and secure. The centre has built close and reciprocal relationships with families.

Since the 2014 ERO report the centre has a new owner and head teacher. There have also been recent changes in the teaching team. There are currently three qualified teachers and one teacher in training.

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The Review Findings

Children and their parents/whānau are warmly welcomed into the centre. Parents value the nurturing, respectful relationships that their children experience, and the good teacher to child ratio.

Children are friendly and play collaboratively with their peers. Teachers work alongside children, and use play based practices from Te Whāriki, Early Childhood Curriculum, to facilitate activities and learning with children.

The environment has a home-like and calm atmosphere. This provides a sense of security and well-being for children. Easy access through the centre to the spacious and attractive indoor and outdoor learning environments supports children in their learning and play.

Children's records of learning outline their participation in the programmes. They provide an attractive record of individual learning dispositions and development. It is timely to review these records so that they reflect each child's identity, language and culture, and show evidence of children's learning over time.

Celebrating different cultural events that reflect the cultural diversity of children is a feature of the centre. Aspects of this can be seen in children's spoken word and in centre cultural celebrations. The head teacher models bicultural practice. She willingly shares her knowledge of te ao Māori and te reo ōna tikanga Māori with teachers and children. This continues to be a priority area for the service.

Teachers use what they notice about children's interests to respond to and promote children's learning. Teachers meet regularly to plan activities for children. The head teacher agrees that teachers could think more deeply about how the programme and resources contribute to extending children's learning experiences, and encourage children to experiment and use their imagination.

Managers have focused on building an effective team, and using clear centre frameworks to provide guidance and support for teachers. The owner provides professional development for staff. She values a collaborative working approach that promotes leadership opportunities for teachers. The head teacher has embraced opportunities to build her leadership capability.

The owner and head teacher are continuing to refine the centre's good systems and processes. Governance policies and procedures are regularly reviewed. The strategic plan is aligned to the annual plan to guide the future direction of the centre. A new teacher appraisal system is about to be implemented.

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Key Next Steps

The owner and head teacher agree that key next steps include, accessing external professional development to:

• review the learning environments and resources to ensure there are sufficient challenges and exploration opportunities to provoke children's critical thinking

• improve programme planning and the evaluation of learning outcomes for children.

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Management Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the staff and management of Kelly's Preschool 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.

In order to improve current practice, the owner should annually implement an appraisal system that aligns with updated Educational Council requirements and reflects effective current teaching practice.

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Next ERO Review

When is ERO likely to review the service again?

The next ERO review of Kelly's Preschool will be in three years.

Julie Foley
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)

Te Tai Raki - Northern Region

22 February 2018 

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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.

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