Teachers at Raumanga Kindergarten have established inclusive practices that foster a sense of belonging for families/whānau. Staff have warm, reciprocal relationships with families and work with parents to plan for children's learning. Parents are very positive about the kindergarten. They spend time in the centre and feel welcome to participate in the programme. Teachers have established consultative review practices and many parents give feedback about proposed kindergarten initiatives.
Children's health and wellbeing is promoted and children enjoy positive, friendly relationships with each other and with teachers. The programme provides many learning opportunities for children and they are eager participants in self-initiated play and activities provided by teachers. The kindergarten environment is bright and attractive and children have good access to a wide range of resources to support their play and creative ideas. Children are now able to choose whether to participate in group mat times. This flexibility enables them to maintain their engagement in play activities of their choice for extended periods.
The kindergarten philosophy clearly outlines teachers' commitment to honouring the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and including te ao Māori in approaches to teaching and learning. This commitment is evident in teaching practices and in the programme. Some teachers use te reo Māori extensively as they talk with children. Professional development is supporting teachers to continue developing their knowledge and skills in the use of te reo Māori.
Attractive displays clearly document the current programme and previous learning experiences. Noticeboards inform parents about events and activities for each session. Teachers take time to talk informally with parents about their child's day. Children's individual portfolios are valuable records that increasingly show the progression of children's learning. Teachers have developed a useful assessment and planning model that outlines how they notice, recognise, respond to, and revisit children's learning.
The kindergarten operates under the umbrella of the Northland Kindergarten Association, which provides a range of support and management systems to guide kindergarten operations. At the beginning of Term 3 2008, licence changes enabled a roll increase to 40 children per session, with four teachers. All staff are new to the kindergarten since the previous ERO review in November 2005. Teachers are exploring ways of working together as a result of these changes. Centre managers are well placed to address the areas for improvement identified in this report and to respond to ERO's recommendation that they document strategies to foster the development of children's oral language.
Future Action
ERO is confident that the service is being managed in the interests of the children. Therefore ERO is likely to review the service again as part of the regular review cycle.
When ERO has reviewed an early childhood centre we encourage management to inform their community of any follow up action they plan to take. You should talk to the management or licensee if you have any questions about this evaluation, the full ERO report or their future intentions.
If you would like a copy of the full report, please contact the centre or see the ERO website, http://www.ero.govt.nz.
Elizabeth Ellis
Area Manager Reporting Services
for Chief Review Officer
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT REVIEWS
About ERO
ERO is an independent, external evaluation agency that undertakes reviews of schools and early childhood services throughout New Zealand.
About ERO Reviews
ERO follows a set of standard procedures to conduct reviews. The purpose of each review is to:
improve quality of education for children in early childhood centres; and
provide information to parents, communities and the Government.
Reviews are intended to focus on outcomes for children and build on each centre's self review.
Review Focus
ERO's framework for reviewing and reporting is based on four review strands.
Quality of Education - including the quality of the programme provided for children, the quality of the learning environment and the quality of the interactions between staff and children and how these impact on outcomes for children.
Additional Review Priorities - other aspects of the operation of a centre, may be included in the review. ERO will not include this strand in all reviews.
Areas of National Interest - information about how Government policies are working in early childhood centres.
Compliance with Legal Requirements - assurance that this centre has taken all reasonable steps to meet legal requirements.
Review Coverage
ERO reviews do not cover every aspect of centre performance and each ERO report may cover different issues. The aim is to provide information on aspects that are central to positive outcomes for children and useful to this centre.
Review Recommendations
Most ERO reports include recommendations for improvement. A recommendation on a particular issue does not necessarily mean that a centre is performing poorly in relation to that issue. There is no direct link between the number of recommendations in this report and the overall performance of this centre.
| Disclaimer Individual ERO school and early childhood centre reports are public information and may be copied or sent electronically. However, the Education Review Office can guarantee only the authenticity of original documents which have been obtained in hard copy directly from either the local ERO office or ERO Corporate Office in Wellington. Please consult your telephone book, or see the ERO web page, http://www.ero.govt.nz, for ERO office addresses. |
This report has been prepared in accordance with standard procedures approved by the Chief Review Officer.