Early Childhood Education Update 2009
New early childhood education funding rates
New early childhood education funding rates effective from 1 July 2009 will be paid to services in the 1 November 2009 payment. More than $1.1 billion has been allocated for early childhood education. The total increase per funded child hour ranges from between one and sixty cents.
Included in the new funding rates is a 1.95% adjustment for non-teacher costs and adjustments for salary increases.
The funding rates have been adjusted to fund services for the increased costs they face, reducing the need for services to increase fees charged to parents. Some funding rates also include funding set aside in previous Budgets for increasing teacher costs.
Recognition of the varying costs faced by different service types is acknowledged in the new funding rates. For example, services that employ higher proportions of registered teachers face higher costs. As a result, some service types may receive more funding than others.
Recent settlements with the Kindergarten Teachers Collective Agreement are included in the new funding rates.
From July 2010, Playcentres, all Kōhanga reo and 5 year olds, if they are not enrolled at school, will be eligible for 20 Hours ECE. Also, from July 2011 the six-hour funding limit per day will no longer apply to 20 Hours ECE.
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Early Childhood Education Funding Rates for 2009/10 Effective from 1July 2009
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$ per child
funded hour
(including GST)
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Under 2 Funding Subsidy
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2 and over Funding Subsidy
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20 Hours ECE
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All day teacher-led centre-based services
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100% registered teachers
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$12.94
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$7.79
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$12.35
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80-99% registered teachers
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$12.16
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$6.91
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$11.42
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50-79% registered teachers
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$10.36
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$5.46
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$9.83
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25-49% registered teachers
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$8.35
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$4.35
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$8.64
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0-24% registered teachers
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$7.14
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$3.62
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$7.88
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Sessional teacher-led centre-based services
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100% registered teachers
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$12.09
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$6.07
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$7.26
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80-99% registered teachers
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$10.80
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$4.95
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$6.30
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50-79% registered teachers
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$9.24
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$4.12
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$5.40
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25-49% registered teachers
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$7.53
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$3.55
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$4.77
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0-24% registered teachers
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$6.55
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$3.19
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$4.41
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Home-based education and care services
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Quality
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$7.91
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$4.24
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$8.83
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Standard
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$6.94
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$3.75
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$8.34
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Te Kōhanga Reo
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Quality
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$8.40
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$4.22
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$7.88
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Standard
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$7.35
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$3.70
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$7.42
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Playcentre
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Quality
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$8.40
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$4.22
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From 2010
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Standard
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$7.35
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$3.70
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From 2010
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Protected rate
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$6.51
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$3.26
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$4.41
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Playgroups
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$1.37
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$1.37
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n/a
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For more information on the new early childhood education funding rates go to the Ministry of Education’s website at www.ece.govt.nz
INFLUENZA A (H1N1) SWINE FLU UPDATE
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.
Early childhood education services are actively taking steps to prepare for or manage absences of children and employees. This is particularly relevant in the Wellington region, which is experiencing high rates of the Swine Flu virus.
If 30% or more children are absent due to illness, please inform your region’s public health unit. This helps them to monitor the situation. They can also advise you about managing outbreaks. Contact information for the regional public health units can be found on the Ministry of Health’s website www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/indexmh/contact-us-public-health-services
Basic hygiene practices, especially good hand washing practices, are among the most effective things an early childhood service can do to reduce the spread of the virus. Another is ensuring that sick children and employees stay at home as outlined in regulations 28 and 29 of the Education (Early Childhood Centres) Regulations 1998, or regulations 46 and 57 of the Education (Early Childhood Services Regulations) 2008.
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.
If your early childhood education service is advised to close to control the spread of Influenza A (H1N1) Swine Flu by a local Medical Officer of Health, 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.
For more information on staffing and funding go to www.minedu.govt.nz/pandemic or ring the Education Helpline 0800 225 580.
For general 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.
Māori Language Week 2009 – Te Wiki o te Reo Māori
Māori Language Week, from 27 July to 2 August, has been celebrated for over 30 years. It provides a great opportunity for early childhood education services to celebrate and encourage the use of te reo Māori.
This year the theme for Māori Language Week is “Te Reo i te Hapori - Māori Language in the Community.” So, whether you already speak te reo Māori at your early childhood education service or only know a few words – get involved and make Māori Language Week fun.
For more information on Māori Language Week, or if you would like resources, such as posters, go to www.korero.maori.nz
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 two round opens on 3 August and will close on Friday 4 September 2009 at 5.00pm.
Correction
The 29 June 2009 (Volume 88 Issue 11) Update stated that the Centres of Innovation programme would end on 30 July 2009. This is incorrect. The Centres of Innovation programme ended on 30 June 2009 as announced in Budget 2009.
Changes to 2008 regulations and licensing criteria
On 1 July 2009, the Minister of Education announced the Government’s decisions on changes to the regulations and licensing criteria. These changes are the result of the review of the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 that the Minister announced on 26 November 2008.
In addition to the changes already announced and summarised below, the Minister of Education has recently approved changes to three criteria in the Licensing Criteria for Education and Care Centres 2008. These criteria were identified as ambiguous in feedback on the consultation document.
The recent changes are:
Storage (PF8): removes references to ‘indoor and outdoor’ to avoid confusion that separate storage spaces are required and clarifies that children should be able to access stored equipment and materials, where practicable
Adult workspace (PF9): deletes reference to ‘withdraw from children’ to avoid confusion that a separate staff room is expected in all services
Outdoor activity space (PF13): removes the reference to ‘directly connected’ and ‘independent access’ to allow for flexibility in assessment and reduce potential costs for some services.
What happens next?
The changes to the regulations and licensing criteria will come into effect in late August. The revised criteria booklets will be available as a PDF document that can be downloaded from the Lead website www.lead.ece.govt.nz when the changes come into effect.
The Frequently Asked Questions on the Lead website provide information on how to access copies of the amended regulation. These questions will be continually updated in response to queries from the sector. The guidance on the website will also be updated by late August to reflect the changed criteria.
A fact sheet outlining the changes announced on 1 July, the Frequently Asked Questions, the summary report of the consultation feedback and the sector working group’s report are available on the Lead website
www.lead.ece.govt.nz.
Establishment Funding
On July 6 2009, Hon Anne Tolley, Minister of Education announced $127,095 of Establishment Funding to assist six early childhood education centres that applied in round four of 2008/09.
Establishment Funding is available to community-based groups in the process of establishing a licensed early childhood education centre and existing centres that are undergoing a building extension to increase their licensed child places. The funding provides a contribution to assist centres 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
Funding is allocated in four rounds every financial year. Applications for the first 2009/10 round closes on Friday 31 July 2009 at 5pm.
Eligible services need to apply in a funding round that closes three to six months before their intended date of licensing to ensure they can make best use of the funding.
THINGS TO NOTE
NEXT ISSUE OF UPDATE
The next early childhood education Update will appear in Volume 88 Issue 15, which is available from Monday 24 August 2009.
If your service does not currently receive the Education Gazette you can subscribe by going to www.edgazette.govt.nz
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ORDERING RESOURCES AND PUBLICATIONS
To order early childhood education resources and publications contact Wickliffe.
Wickliffe 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
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