Review allows us to see which aspects of our practice are working well and what we could do better. As a result, we can make decisions about what to do to improve. Through review, our practice is transformed and, ultimately, children’s learning benefits.

Self-review and external review are complementary review processes in which all early childhood education services are involved.

Self-review and external review share a similar purpose in helping us to identify:

• the aspects of our practice we are doing well
• the aspects we may need to improve
• the actions we should take as a result of what we learn about our practice.

Together, these complementary reviews enable early childhood education services to improve practice in relation to children's learning.

Self-review

Self-review is a review that is undertaken from within an early childhood education service in order to evaluate practice. This may also be called internal review, quality review, or centre review. Self-review is usually based on the priorities set by the service. Self-review is conducted within the early childhood education service by members of that same service (who are sometimes referred to as a "learning community" in Kei Tua o te Pae, Book 1, page 3).

Self-review is both planned and spontaneous.

Planned

Planned review takes place when we set out a plan, or schedule, of what we will review and decide over what period of time we will review it. Planned review ensures that we are evaluating regularly and across all areas of practice over time. It takes account of what is happening in our service and of our priorities. It is both manageable and flexible.

Spontaneous

Spontaneous review takes place when we respond to issues or events that arise in our service on a day-to-day basis. Spontaneous review allows us to be responsive to immediate issues and priorities. We can adapt our review schedule to accommodate changing priorities.

External review

External review is a review in which an external body, such as the Education Review Office, evaluates the quality of education in an early childhood education service. External review is usually based on a combination of external and local priorities. It is conducted within each early childhood education service by people who are not members of that service. They bring an outsider's perspective to review.