Certification criteria for playgroups

Section 10 of the Education and Training Act 2020(external link) defines a playgroup as a group that meets on a regular basis to facilitate children's play and in respect of which—

  1. no child attends for more than 4 hours on any day; and
  2. more than half the children attending on any occasion have a parent or caregiver present in the same play area at the same time; and
  3. the total number of children attending on any occasion is not greater than 4 times the number of parents and caregivers present in the same play area at the same time.

Playgroups include Puna Kōhungahunga, cultural playgroups and community language playgroups.

Playgroups are certificated in accordance with the Education and Training Act 2020 under the Education (Playgroups) Regulations 2008(external link), which prescribe minimum standards that each certificated playgroup must meet. Certification criteria are used to assess how playgroups meet the minimum standards required by the regulations.

For each criterion there is guidance to help playgroups meet the required standards.

The publication of the criteria on its own can be downloaded as a PDF [PDF, 1.1 MB] and printed.

The certification criteria were last updated in September 2022.

PF6 First aid kit

  • Criteria

    • Criteria

      Premises and facilities criterion 6

      There is a first aid kit containing basic first aid supplies for minor injuries that may occur at the group. The kit is:

      • easily recognisable and readily accessible to adults and
      • inaccessible to children.
      Rationale/Intent

      The intent of this criteria is to make sure there are adequate provisions for the treatment of minor injuries and that the first aid kit is accessible to adults but inaccessible to children.

       

  • Guidance

    • Guidance

      Any examples in the guidance are provided as a starting point to show how services can meet (or exceed) the requirement. Services may choose to use other approaches better suited to their needs as long as they comply with the criteria.

      A first aid kit needs to be readily available to adults at the playgroup, but not children – you will need to consider where to store your kit.

      The size and contents of your kit will depend on how big your group is, where you meet, and how far away you are from professional medical assistance in an emergency. In most cases, a basic pre-prepared kit will be sufficient (you can get them from chemists or supermarkets), or you can have a look at the first aid kit contents required for licensed services.

      It is important to keep the first aid kit well stocked so that it is always ready to use when needed. Check the kit regularly (once a month is a good idea) to make sure used items or items past their expiry date are replaced. Giving someone the job of maintaining the first aid kit is a good way of making sure this task is not forgotten. Or, you could share the responsibility around – draw up a roster with the dates of when the first aid kit checks need to happen, and put different parents and caregivers and caregivers’ names beside them.