ERO Report

Evaluation of the Service

To view the full report click the link below:

Bowen Early Childhood Education Centre Inc. | Education Review Office (ero.govt.nz)

Context of the Service

Bowen Early Childhood Education Centre Inc. is a community-based service. A centre manager and assistant manager provide leadership. A parent committee has oversight of centre operations. The 2018 ERO report identified areas to strengthen included assessment, planning and evaluation, internal evaluation, appraisal and te ao Māori knowledge. Significant progress is evident.

Summary of findings

Kaiako know children well and use intentional teaching strategies aligned with centre learning priorities.  They provide a child-centred, well-resourced learning environment responsive to different age groups and interests. Infants and toddlers access the whole learning environment alongside their older peers supported by kaiako who are responsive to their needs.

A localised curriculum, based on the centre pepeha and natural surroundings, has been implemented and excursions to areas of local significance are undertaken. Children revisit learning in their Haerenga Ako (learning journey) books and their progress in relation to Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum learning outcomes is shared with parents and whānau.

Partnership with parents and whānau is valued and learning focused relationships are visible in some learning documentation. There are regular opportunities for parents and whānau to share their cultures, languages, and identities, however this is not yet consistently visible in learning records.

Te reo me ngā tikanga Māori are highly evident in the environment and individual learning documents. The tamariki hear and use te reo Māori throughout the day, including group times where karakia and the centre pepeha are practised. Kaiako know who the iwi of tamariki Māori are, and these are displayed in the environment for kaiako and tamariki to refer to.

Leaders are well supported by governance to promote success. Distributed leadership and relational trust enable kaiako to develop leadership skills. Kaiako strengths are shared, collaboration is promoted, and a sustained focus on improvement is evident. Internal evaluation is well understood and leads to shifts in practice. Leaders are yet to show how these changed practices lead to improvement toward equity.

Improvement actions

Bowen Early Childhood Education Centre Inc. will include the following actions in its Quality Improvement Planning: These include to:

• strengthen the visibility of the cultures, languages, and identities of children in their learning documentation
• enhance internal evaluation processes to more clearly show how innovation and improvement impacts on equitable outcomes for children at the service.