Community Ownership: Parents likely have a strong say in how the service operates and what happens to children, all money earnt stays within it, and teachers may be paid better and childcare charges may be lower compared to most (but not necessarily all) private and corporate owned services. (Ask: Is it an Incorporated Society? Does it also have charitable status?)
Small Boutique Centre: Centres with 50 or fewer children make it easier for staff to provide a warm and nurturing environment, for children to have their individual needs met and skills, knowledge, and competencies extended. (Ask: For continuity of care and relationships, do children stay with the same group of children and teachers throughout their time at the service?)
100% Qualified Teacher Funded: All staff counted toward meeting the minimum adult-child ratio requirement must hold a practising certificate as a teacher if the service receives this level of Ministry of Education funding. (Ask: Does the service count teachers trained in the ECE of children birth to 5 years and not primary or secondary school trained teachers?)
Men Included on Teaching Staff (as at last year): There are strong benefits of having both men and women on the teaching team for the quality of care and education a service provides to children. Additionally, gender bias in staff recruitment and employment is not generally acceptable in society today. (Ask: How many teaching staff are employed and what proportion are men?)
(as at last year):
Clean Licence Record (last year and the year before): To be licensed a service must comply with regulations that help ensure children’s safety, care, and a suitable standard of education. When requirements are breached the Ministry of Education may downgrade a service’s licence to provisional or issue a suspension. (Check the lists of services placed on a provisional or suspended licence https://oece.nz/public/information/standards/ published each year)
(last year and year before):
Recommended Highly by 80% or More Families: At least 80% of families recommend the service and rate it as being very good to excellent on a range of aspects of quality. (Note that a response rate of at least 51% families on the OECE parent survey https://oece.nz/public/information/resources/parent-survey/ research instrument within the last three years is necessary here)
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The Children’s Garden Preschool is a privately owned all-day education and care service located in Victory Street, Welcome Bay Tauranga.
It caters for infants and toddlers. Would you like your child to attend? Visit and see if your child likes it.
Let us know how you find it, by posting a review here on its listing.
1 Review on “The Children's Garden Preschool”
We are new to the centre but it so far feels as though the teachers are caring, interested in encouraging development & want the best for the children there.