Licensing criteria for home-based ECE services

Section 10 of the Education and Training Act 2020(external link) defines home-based ECE services as the provision of education or care, for gain or reward, to children who are under the age of 5 years, or who are aged 5 years but not enrolled at school, in:

  • the children’s own home; or
  • the home of the person providing the education or care; or
  • any other home nominated by a parent of the children.

These services are licensed in accordance with the Education and Training Act 2020 under the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008(external link), which prescribe minimum standards that each licensed service must meet. Licensing criteria are used to assess how the services meet the minimum standards required by the regulations.

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

The publication of the criteria on its own can be downloaded as a PDF [PDF, 1.3 MB] and printed.

The licensing criteria were last updated in September 2022.

GMA3 Parent involvement

  • Criteria

    • Criteria

      Governance Management and Administration criterion 3

      Parents of children attending the service and adults providing education and care are provided with opportunities to contribute to the development and review of the service's operational documents (such as philosophy, policies, and procedures and any other documents that set out how day to day operations will be conducted).

      Documentation required:

      Evidence of opportunities provided for parents and adults providing education and care to contribute to the development and review of the service's operational documents.

      Rationale/Intent:

      The criterion is underpinned by the belief that parent and whānau involvement can positively contribute to the service’s operation and quality of education and care provided to their 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.

      Home-based services are required to show evidence they have provided opportunities for parents, co-ordinators and educators to contribute to the development and review of the service’s operational documents.

      Documentation Guidance:

      Evidence of parents having opportunities to contribute to the development and review of the service's operational documents could include:

      • For meetings attendance records and minutes of the meeting could be considered as evidence
      • Educators could provide documents for parents to read
      • Copies could be kept on each child’s file
      • If parents’ views are sought, then the feedback or outcomes gathered.

  • Things to consider

    • Things to consider

      If a child attending a service is from a family with separated parents the Education and Training Act 2020 sets out the right of entry to early childhood education (ECE) services for parents and guardians.

      Unless a court order rules otherwise, all parents and guardians are entitled to:

      • Reports about their child’s participation in ECE and learning experiences
      • Participate in the opportunities provided by the ECE service to engage with parents
      • Have access to any official records held at the service related to their child’s participation in that service.

      Services will need to develop a process which supports staff to ascertain how a relationship between separated parents and the service may be established so that communication channels can be opened. This could include ensuring educators have a copy of the enrolment form so they are clear what any court orders are.

      Related downloads:

      Professional Practice regarding Separated Parents/Guardians [PDF, 181 KB]