ECE Update
Early Childhood Education Update 2009
Welcome to this issue of the early childhood education Update.
With cases of seasonal influenza on the rise, and the continued spread Influenza A (H1N1) Swine Flu, good hygiene practices in early childhood education services are essential.
Some good hygiene practices are to:
• provide children with tissues – preferably in dispensers placed at their height to enable easy access – and remind children to use the tissues provided
• teach children to cover their mouths – either with the crook of their elbow or a tissue – when they cough and/or sneeze
• dispose of all used tissues in a lined rubbish bin with a lid or a plastic bag
• teach children to wash and dry their hands thoroughly and remind children to wash their hands and dry their hands before meals, after using the toilet and after blowing their noses
• remind teachers to wash and/or use alcohol-based hand sanitiser after assisting a child to blow their nose
• ensure the service is hygienically cleaned, such as washing door knobs and taps and soaking resources with a bleach/water mix of 25mls of household bleach per 1 litre of water.
If you would like health and hygiene resources for your early childhood education service, such as posters for effective hand washing, go to www.minedu.govt.nz
On 28 May 2009 the Minister of Finance announced Budget 2009.
Key announcements for early childhood education services are that:
• from July 2010 20 Hours ECE will be extended to Playcentres, all kōhanga reo and five year old children enrolled in and attending early childhood education services
• the Early Childhood Advisory Training Education Fund (also known as Te Whāriki professional development), the ECE ICT Framework (also known as ECE ICT Professional Learning) and Kei Tua o to Pae Early Childhood Exemplars will finish, as scheduled, at the end of December 2009
• the early childhood education Centres of Innovation programme, involving four early childhood education services and research associates, will end on 30 July 2009.
The new funding rates for early childhood education services have not yet been finalised; the Minister of Education intends to announce new rates before 1 July 2009
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.
INFLUENZA A (H1N1) SWINE FLU UPDATE
The information available regarding Influenza A (H1N1) Swine Flu is constantly being updated. As a result, it is recommended that you
check the Ministry of Education website www.minedu@govt.nz before acting on the following information.
Moving to the next phase
New Zealand is transitioning from the “containment” phase to the “manage it” phase in its Influenza A (H1N1) Swine Flu strategy. The containment phase has helped restrict the number of cases and slowed the spread of the virus. The continuing aim is to reduce the impact of the virus on people, communities and the health system at a time when they are already managing increases in the spread of usual seasonal flu cases.
Key announcements are that:
• public health authorities in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington have announced that they have moved into the “manage it” phase. It is likely that most other areas of New Zealand will follow very shortly
• it is unlikely that early childhood education services will be advised to close if they have suspected or confirmed cases of the virus, unless they are in an area still in the “containment” phase
• gatherings, such as parent-teacher evenings, can continue with the usual precautions
• care should be taken to ensure that children who are susceptible to infection should avoid contact with people who have symptoms.
Getting your service ready
Influenza A (H1N1) Swine Flu continues to spread throughout New Zealand. Although the symptoms have been mild, it is a good time to get prepared in the event that your early childhood education service is affected by Influenza A (H1N1) Swine Flu.
To get your early childhood education service prepared you can:
• assign roles for employees, including communicating with parents, caregivers and whānau
• prepare to keep all of the relevant people informed, including your management committee, employees, other services and schools in your area; the Ministry of Education can support you with this
• make arrangements for paying your staff and any other invoices such as power and the telephone
• prepare staff and child contact lists for the Ministry of Health; you will need to provide two local emergency contacts for each child and you will also need home contact details for employees.
Your local Medical Officer of Health will advise you on the steps you should follow if you are advised or required to close your service.
Funding
In the event that your early childhood education service should close due to Influenza A (H1N1) Swine Flu, the Ministry of Education will provide emergency funding, on a case-by-case basis, for up to seven days. If your service needs to remain closed for more than seven days, the Ministry will consider your request on a case-by-case basis.
In order to verify this funding the Ministry of Education will require evidence that your service has been closed due to the spread of Influenza A (H1N1) Swine Flu. This could be a letter or an email from the local Medical Officer of Health.
If children at your early childhood education service are unwell, as usual, you should apply the absence rules in the Ministry of Education’s Early Childhood Education Funding Handbook, which can be found at www.lead.ece.govt.nz
For more information on Influenza A (H1N1) Swine Flu go to the Ministry of Health’s website at www.moh.govt.nz or call Healthline on 0800 611 116.
If you would like more information on how to prepare your early childhood
education service for a pandemic or you would like a Pandemic Planning Kit
go to the Ministry of Education’s website at www.minedu.govt.nz or email pandemic.planning@minedu.govt.nz
The Ministry of Health, in consultation with the Ministry of Education, is developing a set of Breastfeeding Guidelines for early childhood education services.
Currently, there are no breastfeeding guidelines in place for early childhood education services. The development of the set of guidelines will ensure that services protect, promote and support breastfeeding for parents, caregivers and whānau.
The Ministry of Health’s Food and Nutrition Guidelines recommend that infants be fed exclusively on breast milk for the first six months, at which time complementary foods can be introduced alongside continued breastfeeding until the infant is at least one year of age or beyond.
It is anticipated that the guidelines will be finalised by July 2009, and distributed to early childhood education services soon after.
For more information on breastfeeding go to www.breastfeeding.org.nz and www.moh.govt.nz/breastfeeding.
20 Hours ECE Absence Funding
and Charges to Parents
Over recent months there have been a number of enquiries from early childhood education services around 20 Hours ECE funding received from the Ministry of Education where a child – aged three or four – is absent for more than three weeks.
For Services: A service may claim funding from the Ministry of Education for every hour a child is enrolled to attend under the 20 Hours ECE programme, but is absent from, within a three week period. The three week period begins on the first day of absence.
It is important for services to clarify with parents exactly what is provided under the 20 Hours ECE programme, this includes any fees the service intends to charge parents once Ministry funding ends, following an absence of three consecutive weeks.
The Ministry does not interfere in the enrolment policies of early childhood education services. Services are required to have policies relating to the governance and management of services, including enrolment and complaints. Services should discuss their enrolment policy, including any fees associated with absences and/or service closures, with parents to prevent misunderstandings, services should also ensure that their policies are non-discriminatory.
For Parents: 20 Hours ECE means that the Government funds 100 percent of the average cost of early childhood education for three and four year old children for up to six hours each day, and up to a maximum of 20 hours each week. Your service must not charge you compulsory fees for the hours that they provide under the 20 Hours ECE programme, however, your service may set fees for hours outside of 20 Hours ECE.
If your child is absent - for a period of up to three continuous weeks - the Ministry will continue to fund your service while your child is away. The funding provided to your service for your child will stop after three continuous weeks of absence. Once funding for the 20 Hours ECE programme ceases, your service may charge you fees for those hours after your three week absence period ends. Your service should inform you of any fees associated with absences and/or service closures.
Parents should also ensure that they have read and understood the enrolment policy of your chosen service; you should discuss any concerns you may have with your service
2008 REGULATIONS REVIEW UPDATE
The Minister of Education is currently considering the recommendations submitted by the Working Group in late April.
It is intended that any new early childhood education regulations will be in place by early July 2009.
The next early childhood education Update will appear in Volume 88 Issue 12, which is available from Monday 27 July 2009.
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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, fax 0800 660 663 or email orders@thechair.minedu.govt.nz