- Playground standard review
- Education for Māori: Relationships between schools and whānau
- Hand hygiene safety reminder
- Offering OSCAR and other out of school programmes
- First aid in ECE services
- Reminder about emergency preparedness
- Early Childhood Advisory Committee
Playground standard review
Standards New Zealand has initiated a review of the current standard for playground equipment and surfacing, which was published in 2004 (NZS 5828:2004). Appendix A of the standard relates specifically to supervised early childhood education (ECE) services and kōhanga reo.
The Ministry of Education and representatives from the ECE sector are part of the expert technical committee undertaking the review.
The scope of the review is primarily to adopt updates to the European standards that make up the majority of the New Zealand standard, and to refresh the appendices.
The proposed draft changes are unlikely to mean any change of practice for service providers.
Standards New Zealand will put up the draft changes for public comment in early April.
Service providers can access a free copy of the handbook for ECE services that supports these standards through the Standards New Zealand online shop.
Education for Māori: Relationships between schools and whānau
The Office of the Auditor-General (OAG) has released a report into relationships between schools and Māori whānau that may interest you, your staff and the whānau you work with.
The Education for Māori: Relationships between schools and Māori whānau audit report says that good relationships between home and school can have an important influence on Māori student achievement.
While the report is based on the schooling sector, the overall concept of quality relationships between home and formal learning settings also applies to the early learning sector. You may like to share the report with staff and whānau. Many of its findings can be grounds for conversations about the way you work together.
Sixty percent of whānau surveyed believe they have effective relationships with their local school, which is a good start. But the report cautioned that some schools do not focus enough on improving relationships because they believe they are in better shape than whānau think they are.
The report also refers to a Ministry self-review tool that you may want to explore. The tool helps schools and whānau understand what an ‘educationally powerful’ relationship looks like. Again, it is designed for the schooling sector but you may find some of the ideas it raises are useful for your work.
This is the second OAG report in a five-year programme of work to find out how well the education system supports Māori students to achieve their potential.
Hand hygiene safety reminder
To ensure the good health of their staff and children, early childhood education services should ensure everyone at the service washes their hands thoroughly.
The Ministry of Health advises that washing hands with soap and water, and drying them properly, is sufficient for hygiene and to prevent the spread of disease.
Where possible, staff should supervise children when they wash their hands to check they are being thorough.
Use of hand sanitiser is not necessary if there is an ample supply of warm water and soap. Services providing hand sanitiser must supervise its use by children, as misuse, such as consumption, can have very serious health consequences.
If your service uses hand sanitiser, then it should be included in your regular health and safety checks as a potentially harmful substance. The risk it poses to children should be eliminated or minimised through where it is placed and through general supervision practices.
The Ministry of Health has some helpful resources on handwashing for both services and children.
- Nga Kupu Oranga Healthy Messages: A health and safety resource for early childhood services [PDF; 268kb]
- Homai kai rimia mō ngā ringa mā
- High Five for Clean Hands
Offering OSCAR and other out of school programmes
With school holidays coming up, some early childhood education centres may consider offering out of school care for school-aged children.
Centres should note that children enrolled at school cannot participate in an ECE programme offered at an ECE centre.
OSCAR and other out of school programmes can be delivered in licensed ECE premises outside the ECE service’s licensed hours.
However, during licensed hours, these programmes can be delivered in separate or adjacent premises to the licensed ECE service and can share some of the ECE service’s amenities.
For more information contact your regional Ministry of Education office.
First aid in ECE services
We want to remind people that early childhood education (ECE) centres and kōhanga reo must at all times have one first aid qualified person present for every 50 children attending.
For home-based services there must be a first aid qualified adult present at all times while children are attending.
To be counted as first aid qualified an adult must:
- have a current New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) approved first aid qualification:
- adults in ECE centres and kōhanga reo need unit standards 6401 and 6402 or 26551 and 26552
- educators in home-based services need unit standard 25459
OR
- be a registered medical practitioner or nurse with a current practising certificate, or a qualified ambulance officer or paramedic.
If a child is injured, any required first aid must be administered or supervised by an adult meeting these qualification requirements.
First aid certificates must be issued by an NZQA-registered first aid provider and are kept current through attending a refresher course every two years.
For more information please look at the First Aid section on our website.
Reminder about emergency preparedness
Early childhood education (ECE) services and kōhanga reo need to be prepared for a range of potential emergencies (including fire, chemical contamination, threats, earthquake) to keep children safe. This includes situations:
- when an emergency evacuation is required, and
- when it would be dangerous to leave the premises.
We want to remind services their written procedures and supplies need to cover all types of emergencies, not just those requiring evacuation.
Further information about the requirements for emergency planning for ECE centres can be found on ECE Lead under Health and Safety Criterion 7 – Emergency Procedures and Supplies.
The requirements for home-based services are under Health and Safety Criterion 4 – Emergency Evacuation.
For ngā kōhanga reo the information is under Health and Safety Criterion 7 – Emergency Supplies.
The Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management and the Ministry of Education have also produced a template for planning for a variety of emergencies [DOC; 706kb].
Early Childhood Advisory Committee
The Early Childhood Advisory Committee (ECAC) is an important part of the Ministry of Education’s relationship with the early childhood education (ECE) sector.
ECAC is made up of representatives from ECE sector groups, broadly representing licensed ECE services and kōhanga reo.
ECAC meets four times per year with senior Ministry of Education managers to share information, provide feedback on proposals and discuss strategic challenges.
The overall purpose of the group is to foster a partnership between Government and the ECE sector to achieve common goals.
The most recent meeting was held on 4 March. There will be three further meetings this year on 3 June, 2 September and 2 December.
Information from meetings is published on the Ministry of Education website.