- Te Whāriki update
- Mandatory reporting requirements to the Education Council
- B4 School Checks
- Clarification of changes to injury and illness licensing criteria
- Clarification of playground equipment and surfacing requirements
- Information on changes to laws for earthquake-prone buildings
- Vulnerable Children Act
Te Whāriki update
The Advisory Group on Early Learning (AGEL) has recommended that the Ministry of Education initiate an update of Te Whāriki, the Early Childhood Curriculum. This recommendation was part of the group’s wider advice about ways to strengthen curriculum implementation and early learning continuity.
We are leading an update of Te Whāriki in response to this recommendation.
Te Whāriki is considered to be world-leading in its overarching bicultural structure. As such, the structure, principles, strands and goals of Te Whāriki will not change. The update will focus on strengthening implementation.
The scope of the recommendation includes:
- updating the sections relating to the contexts for early learning
- updating advice on curriculum implementation (potentially in a complementary digital resource)
- reviewing the current learning outcomes to determine whether these need to be adapted or condensed to better support curriculum understanding and implementation
- creating links between Te Whāriki and the New Zealand Curriculum and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa
- providing advice on supporting resources that can be developed outside of this timeframe.
The update will be written by a small team of early learning specialists (academics and/or practitioners) drawn from a range of settings, including Maori medium. To support the writing group we will source advice from a wider pool of specialists, as required. We also intend to test the updated resource with user groups prior to launch.
The team will meet in August and we will keep you updated on progress via our website and this Bulletin.
Mandatory reporting requirements to the Education Council
This is a reminder that there are mandatory reporting requirements for registered teachers and all early learning services must meet these.
This is a requirement under sections 392-397 of the Education Act 1989. Employers must make a mandatory report to the Education Council under certain circumstances, including a teacher being dismissed for any reason, or if there are conduct or competence issues and the teacher resigns. All serious misconduct must also be reported.
All early learning services are also required to ensure suitable HR management practices are implemented, as per licensing criterion GMA7.
Now is a good time to check that your HR processes and practices are meeting these requirements.
The Education Council website includes detailed information about when and how to make a mandatory report. There is also detailed guidance on our website to help you meet or exceed the GMA7 licensing requirements.
B4 School Checks
We are asking early learning services to remind parents about the B4 School Check when children turn 4 years old, and to complete the Strengths and Difficulties questionnaire for each child.
The B4 School Check is available free to all children after their 4th birthday, but not all of them are participating in the check. We want all children to participate, so they can get help with any health or development issues as early as possible and build on their great start in early learning with a successful transition to school.
You may already be reminding parents and caregivers about the B4 School Check, perhaps as part of your transition to school policy. A child’s 4th birthday is a great time to remind parents and caregivers that a B4 School Check provider will be in touch soon, and to encourage them to say yes to the check.
The Strengths and Difficulties questionnaire is a vital part of the check, identifying where a child may need further help before starting school. It provides your observations, based on your professional judgement, of a child’s interactions as they participate in the early childhood education (ECE) environment. This perspective cannot be provided by the child’s parents, caregivers or health professional.
There is some useful B4 School Check information on our Parents portal. The Ministry of Health also has information about the B4 School Check for early learning services and for parents, and a pamphlet for early learning services [PDF; 253KB].
Clarification of changes to injury and illness licensing criteria
In May this year we notified you of changes to the licensing and certification criteria to ensure consistency with the requirements of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 that came into effect on 4 April 2016.
Changes to 2 of the criteria have caused confusion for some early childhood education (ECE) services. We apologise for this and offer the following clarification:
- First aid qualifications – HS25 education and care centres, HS22 home-based services
- Medical assistance – HS27 education and care centres, HS24 home-based services.
The injury record documentation requirement (previously for criterion HS25 for education and care centres and HS22 for home-based services) has been merged with the record of illness documentation requirement under HS27 for education and care centres and HS24 for home-based services, respectively.
This means the focus of HS25/HS22 is purely on the first aid qualification of the adults present at the service, and the documentation requirements reflect this.
In turn, the focus of criterion HS27/HS24 is on managing sudden child illness and injury, and again the documentation requirements reflect this.
The requirement to keep a record of child injury and illness has not changed, but has been shifted to be only under HS27/HS24 rather than split across 2 criteria. Services must continue to record all child injuries and illnesses that occur at the service, and to inform parents when children fall ill or are injured.
Clarification of playground equipment and surfacing requirements
In February this year we provided information in He Pānui Kōhungahunga – the Early Learning Bulletin about the revision of the New Zealand Standard for playground equipment and surfacing. We would like to clarify 2 key points:
- ECE services must provide a safe environment for children
Regulation 46 of the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 requires services and kōhanga reo to provide a safe environment for children. When it comes to your playground, the best way to ensure that play equipment and surfacing is safe is by following the New Zealand Playground Equipment and Surfacing Standard.
You can conduct your own assessment using the new Standard NZS 5828:2015, or you can engage the services of a playground safety expert (such as a playground inspector, an engineer or playground equipment company) to assess your play equipment and surfacing for compliance with the Standard. - Changes to free height of fall and moveable playground equipment requirements
The new Standard NZS 5828:2015 will supersede NZS 5828:2004 from 9 December 2016. There are many changes that services and kōhanga reo need to be aware of, including but not limited, to:- A maximum free height of fall of 1200mm applies for moveable boxes or similar equipment, and 1500mm for all other equipment
- A minimum fall zone of 1500mm applies for moveable play equipment items that measure more than 600mm from ground level. Note: moveable play equipment items do not require handrails, guard rails or barriers.
If you have any queries about the Standard please contact Standards New Zealand.
Information on changes to laws for earthquake-prone buildings
The Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has developed a new framework to address current problems with our system for managing earthquake-prone buildings. It draws on lessons from the Canterbury earthquakes, and subsequent Royal Commission findings and public submissions.
One of the ways that improvements to how New Zealand manages earthquake-prone buildings can be put into effect is through the Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Act, which contains major changes to the current system for identifying and remediating earthquake-prone buildings under the Building Act 2004. The Act has been passed by Parliament. Before it takes effect, there will be public consultation on the supporting regulations and guidance will be developed. We will keep you informed about when submissions can be made.
In addition, there is a new methodology that describes how territorial authorities (TAs) and councils can identify potentially earthquake-prone buildings. This includes a profiling tool and cites engineering guidelines and criteria for TAs to accept engineering assessments.
It is important for early childhood education (ECE) services to know about this because the Act specifically includes education providers in medium to high seismic risk areas in the new category of priority buildings, which are required to be identified and strengthened within half the standard time. We recommend that you find out how the new laws impact on you, whether you are a building owner or a tenant.
MBIE has some useful information to help you understand what the new laws require, the timeframes, areas of seismic risk, the types of buildings that have been prioritised for remedial work or demolition, and who the changes will likely effect.
You can email your queries about the new framework to: epb@mbie.govt.nz.
Vulnerable Children Act
From 1 July 2016, there are new requirements for all early learning services under the Vulnerable Children Act (VCA).
You now need to safety check your new non-core children’s workers, as well as your new core children’s workers.
The workforce restriction now applies to all existing core children’s workers, as well as those newly appointed. This means that you cannot employ or engage a person in a core children’s worker role if they have been convicted of a specified offence, unless they hold an exemption.
If you believe that a core children’s worker you’re employing or engaging has a conviction for a specified offence, and does not hold an exemption, you must follow the process in section 28 of the VCA. More information about the workforce restriction and exemption process is available on the Children’s Action Plan website.
A guide will be available on our website from the end of July 2016 to help you navigate the VCA. The guide brings together information and resources already published and complements the advice and guidelines produced by the Children‘s Action Plan.
In the meantime, you can continue to access information and resources about safety checking and child protection policies on our website. If you have any questions please email: ECE.info@education.govt.nz.