ECE Update
Early Childhood Education Update 2009
Welcome to the first early childhood education Update for 2009.
2008 REGULATIONS UPDATE
On 26 November 2008 the Minister of Education announced a review of the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008.
The purpose of the review is to ensure that the 2008 regulations do not place unnecessary burden on early childhood education services or compromise the health, safety and quality of early childhood education provided to young children.
On 22 December 2008 the Minister wrote to the early childhood education sector to signal her intent to make some limited changes to the 2008 regulations to minimise the impact of the regulations on new services, ahead of the review.
On 1 February 2009 the following amendments the the 2008 regulations came into effect:
- the removal of the provision to establish a Limited Attendance Centre
- the removal of the expiry date for all licences issued under the 2008 regulations
- the removal the provision for educators under the age of 20 years to work in home-based services
- the retaining of the provision for home-based services to have a maximum of 80 children per network.
Each of the above changes will, along with other proposed changes, be fully consulted on as part of the review.
The review will take place during the first half of 2009.
STUDY GRANTS
Study Grants support students who hold particular qualifications to gain their first early childhood teaching qualification that leads to registration as an early childhood teacher. Study Grants are a one-off payment of $3000 and contribute towards the costs that students face while studying. Study Grants are available to:
qualified primary teachers who are enrolled in specific New Zealand Teachers Council-approved programmes of early childhood teacher education
primary student teachers who change their programme of study from primary to specific New Zealand Teachers Council-approved programmes of early childhood teacher education
degree-holders who are enrolled in a Graduate Diploma of Teaching (ECE) at the University of Auckland Faculty of Education, Victoria University of Wellington College of Education, University of Waikato School of Education, University of Otago College of Education or the University of Canterbury College of Education.
The semester one round is currently open for Study Grants and will close on Friday 20 March 2009 at 5.00pm.
Information Packs and Application Forms have been sent to all eligible teacher education providers. More information can be found at www.lead.ece.govt.nz or contact your local Ministry of Education office.
SOME RECENT CHANGES WITH 20 HOURS ECE
Recently the Minister of Education changed the name of 20 Hours Early Childhood Education (20 Hours ECE) to better reflect the intent of the programme.
The 20 Hours ECE programme still means no compulsory fees for three and four year old children in teacher-led early childhood education services, including some kōhanga reo, for up to six hours attendance each day and up to 20 hours attendance each week.
The Minister also removed the need for parents to complete a separate attestation form in order to enrol their child in the programme.
Since 1 February 2009 parents of children claiming 20 Hours ECE are no longer required to complete a separate attestation form. Services will be required to include on their enrolment form an attestation section which includes some of the features of current attestation form.
This change means that services only have to get parents to attest to 20 Hours ECE hours once, when they first start to claim 20 Hours ECE. When a child’s enrolment changes any change to 20 Hours ECE hours will also be recorded on the enrolment form. This means changes will now only have to be recorded once, on the enrolment form.
Every other aspect of the 20 Hours ECE programme remains the same.
More information, including sample content for 20 Hours ECE attestation, can be found at
www.lead.ece.govt.nz
B4 SCHOOL CHECK
In September 2008 the Ministry of Health introduced a nationwide free health check for four year olds, the B4 School Check. The check is supported by the Ministry of Education.
The B4 School Check is free to any child eligible for publicly funded health services. The check helps to make sure children are healthy and can get the most out of their early childhood education. It also gives parents the opportunity to discuss their child’s health and development with a registered nurse.
The B4 School Check includes a test of the child’s vision, hearing, teeth and gums, height and weight as well as an assessment of the child’s social and emotional competencies.
Over the next few weeks every early childhood education service will receive a pamphlet and a set of frequently asked questions prepared specifically for services by the Ministry of Health with more information about the programme.
INCENTIVE GRANTS
Incentive Grants support early childhood education services to assist staff to gain their first early childhood education qualification, leading to registration as a teacher. Services must use the full amount of the Incentive Grant (less GST) and the type of support offered must be discussed and agreed with the staff member.
In 2009 there will be 2500 Incentive Grants available for allocation across New Zealand. The Ministry of Education encourages all licensed teacher-led early childhood education services and home-based network services to apply if their staff members are:
- permanently employed by the early childhood education service on a full-time or part-time basis and
- studying towards their first early childhood education teaching qualification approved by the New Zealand Teachers Council.
Note that other grant criteria apply; see the Incentive Grant Information Pack and Application Form for details.
Early childhood education services can use the Incentive Grant for a single purpose or in several different ways, including:
- paying the staff member for days away from work if they are not usually paid, for example, on practicum, days on campus/in class or study leave
- contributing to a staff member’s teacher education programme fees
- purchasing study resources where the staff member would not be able to complete their programme of study without the resource, for example, textbooks, computer access, contributing towards additional tuition
- contributing towards costs incurred by travelling to and from study
- paying for a reliever while the staff member is away from the early childhood education service due to study commitments.
The Incentive Grant is worth $2094 (GST inclusive) for each successful application every year, up to a maximum of $7329 (GST inclusive) over a three and a half year period.
The Incentive Grant round for 2009 will open on Sunday 1 March 2009 and will close on Friday 3 April 2009 at 5.00pm. All applications must be post marked by this date.
Information Packs and Application Forms are available on www.lead.ece.govt.nz or you can contact your local Ministry of Education office.
ESTABLISHMENT FUNDING
On 13 February 2009 the Minister of Education announced $315,000 of Establishment Funding.
Establishment Funding is a pool of funding available to community-based groups in the process of establishing a licensed service, and existing services significantly increasing their licensed places due to a building extension. It provides a contribution to assist services with the operational costs associated with meeting licensing requirements. The funding is available to meet two types of operational costs:
- equipment and resources
- staffing and recruitment costs for qualified and registered staff.
This round of Establishment Funding has assisted twelve early childhood education centres.
Establishment Funding is allocated in four rounds each financial year. Applications for round four close on Thursday 30 April 2009 at 5.00pm.
Education Amendment Bill (No 3)
On 3 October 2008 the Education Amendment Bill (No 3) lapsed and was not reinstated.
The Amendment Bill, introduced to the House in September 2008, proposed that every person who may have unsupervised access to children at an early childhood education service has police clearance and also recommended removing the current costs associated with completing the police clearance process by enabling services to go directly to New Zealand Police. The Ministry of Education will provide the Minister of Education with advice early in 2009 on options to progress the amendments that were proposed in this Bill.
ADULT:CHILD RATIOS
Recently the Minister of Education confirmed her intention to improve the adult:child ratio for children under the age of two.
As a result, the changes to ratios planned by the previous government will not come into effect in July 2009.
All current age bands will remain in place.
Centres of Innovation reports online
The Centres of Innovation programme was established to improve quality in early childhood education. The intention of the programme is to promote a deeper exploration of innovative teaching and learning processes already underway in early childhood services.
Wilton Playcentre was designated as a round 1 Centre of Innovation from 2003-2005. Wilton Playcentre’s final report Transforming Learning at Wilton Playcentre was recently published by the New Zealand Council for Educational Research, and is now available online.
Te Kōpae Piripono was designated a round 2 Centre of Innovation from 2005-2007. Te Kōpae Piripono’s research report Ko koe kei tēnā kīwai, ko au kei tēnei kīwai o te kete (You carry your handle, and I’ll carry my handle of our kete), is also available online.
The Ministry of Education is very proud of what both services have achieved as Centres of Innovation and encourage you to access, read and discuss these final reports.
ORDERING RESOURCES AND PUBLICATIONS
The way you order early childhood education resources and publications has changed.
Wickliffe now provides customer services for the Ministry of Education publications. If you need to order anything phone 0800 660 662 or fax 0800 660663.
NEXT ISSUE OF UPDATE
The next early childhood education Update will appear in Volume 88 Issue 05, which is available from Monday 23 March 2009.
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