Reviewing the learning opportunities and experiences
Playgroups are required to review the experiences and opportunities planned for and provided at playgroup at least every twelve months. Reviewing these will help you to make sure they are consistent with the curriculum framework.
Reviewing the educational programme can be done in different ways and each playgroup will determine how best to do this for themselves. Many groups will find it useful to review what is being provided on a more regular basis than once a year. Talking at monthly meetings about what is or has been working well, and what you might want to do differently is a good starting point for regularly reflecting on how well your playgroup is working for its members.
Your MOE advisor can provide you with advice about how to undertake a review. However you decide to undertake a review, the following big picture questions are important:
- What do we want to know? (eg Do the environment and our interactions encourage children to actively explore? Are we protecting the health and well being of the youngest children in our playgroup?).
- What are we doing now?
- How satisfied are we with what is happening now?
- What do we want to introduce, continue with, adapt or abandon?
Start by reminding yourself about what it is you are trying to achieve (go back to Te Whāriki and your playgroup philosophy statement) and decide on an aspect that you want to review.
Decide what information you need – and how you might go about getting it. Focus on the children – what are they interested in? What do they keep going back to? What do they spend a long time at? What do they concentrate on?
Think about information you already have on hand that you can use such as documented plans, photos, daily diaries, meeting minutes.
Gather the information, then make sense of the information you have gathered – what does it tell you about what is working well and what is not?
Decide on what actions need to be taken, how they will happen and who will be involved.