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Keeping records
Records can be kept in a form to suit your service as long as the requirements set out in this Handbook are met.
Paper-based enrolment and staffing schedules must be maintained in pen. If these documents are electronically generated, alterations and verification must be in pen.
Paper-based attendance schedules must be maintained and verified in pen. Electronic attendance schedules must adhere to the Electronic Attendance Records Criteria outlined in chapter 6-3 of the Funding Handbook.
Do not use ‘white out’ on records maintained in pen. If you need to make changes, do so by crossing out the error and making the corrections in pen.
Maintaining records
Records can be stored in a form to suit your service but must be available on request to Ministry of Education staff, reviewers from the Education Review Office (ERO), and other authorised personnel.
Whether records are stored in paper-based or electronic format they must meet the following conditions:
i. Integrity – the record is complete, unaltered, and protected against any unauthorised changes.
ii. Usability – the record can be located, retrieved, preserved, and interpreted.
All records required to support funding claims must be retained for a minimum of 7 years.
Services risk losing funding if their records cannot be audited because they are unclear or ambiguous, or are not available for audit.
Records for all services
All services must keep the records listed in the table on the next page of this chapter.
This information allows the Ministry to ensure that the correct number of funded child hours have been claimed by the service.
See Chapter 6 of this Handbook and the relevant section for your service type (in Chapter 3) for further information on record keeping requirements.
All services
| Requirement | Purpose | Relevant section | Template example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enrolment records | Enrolment agreements are used by the Ministry to verify the days/sessions that each child is enrolled for and expected to attend. | 6-1 | Yes |
| Attendance records | Attendance records are used by the Ministry of Education to verify that the children have attended the service as claimed and to identify when a child is absent, and to verify that the absence rules have been applied correctly. Hospital-based services have slightly different requirements; this is covered in Section 3-B-3. | 6-3 | Yes |
| Enrolment records for children claiming 20 Hours ECE | Services will need to indicate whether a child is receiving 20 Hours ECE, any agreements by parents/caregivers to pay optional charges, and that the attestation section and home-based educator top up payment section (where relevant) of the enrolment form has been completed by the parents/caregivers. | 4-4 | Yes |
| Payment records for 20 Hours ECE | Services must keep records of fees, donations, optional charges and home-based educator top up payments received from parents. | 4-4 | No |
Teacher-led services
Teacher-led services must also keep other records listed in the table below. Home-based services have other additional requirements, depending on whether they are funded at the standard rate or the quality rate.
See Section 3-B for further information on record keeping for teacher-led services.
Additional requirements for education and care services and hospital-based services
| Requirement | Description | Relevant section | Template example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Staffing record | The staffing record is used by the Ministry to verify that the correct number of Certificated Teacher Hours has been claimed. | 3-B-2 | Yes |
| Copies of practising certificates | Copies of practising certificates are used by the Ministry to:
| 3-B-2 | Yes |
| Copies of ECE qualifications | Services will need to provide certified copies of their staff’s qualifications to verify they are New Zealand ECE qualified. | 3-B-2 | No |
| Copies of primary qualifications | Services will need to provide certified copies of their staff’s qualifications to verify they are New Zealand qualified primary teachers. | 3-B-2 | No |
| Copies of overseas qualifications and NZQA assessment of these | Services will need to provide certified copies of their staff’s overseas teaching qualifications and evidence that NZQA has assessed these as equivalent to a New Zealand ECE or Primary teaching qualification. | 3-B-2 | No |
| Copies of Teaching Council endorsements | Services will need to provide copies of the Teaching Council’s endorsement (at ECE or Primary level) for teachers who have achieved certification through the Teaching Council’s discretionary pathway. | 3-B-2 | No |
| Attestation of certificated teachers’ salaries | Services must keep records that verify the pay rate at which each certificated teacher is paid and evidence of how a certificated teacher’s initial and current salary was determined. | No |
Additional requirements for kindergartens
| Requirement | Description | Relevant section | Template example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Staffing records | The staffing record is used by the Ministry to verify that the correct number of Certificated Teacher Hours has been claimed. | 3-B-2 | Yes |
| Copies of practising certificates | Copies of practising certificates are used by the Ministry to:
| 3-B-2 | Yes |
| Copies of ECE qualifications | Services will need to provide certified copies of their staff’s qualifications to verify they are New Zealand ECE qualified. | 3-B-2 | No |
| Copies of primary qualifications | Services will need to provide certified copies of their staff’s qualifications to verify they are New Zealand qualified primary teachers. | 3-B-2 | No |
| Copies of overseas qualifications and NZQA assessment of these | Services will need to provide certified copies of their staff’s overseas teaching qualifications and evidence that NZQA has assessed these as equivalent to a New Zealand ECE or Primary teaching qualification. | 3-B-2 | No |
| Copies of Teaching Council endorsements | Services will need to provide copies of the Teaching Council’s endorsement (at ECE or Primary level), for teachers who have achieved certification through the Teaching Council’s discretionary pathway. | 3-B-2 | No |
Requirements for home-based services
If your home-based ECE service is funded at the standard funding rate, you must:
- have enrolment records for each child and
- keep attendance records to show the hours each child attended and
- have educator timesheets that show the hours worked and
- have certified copies of all educator qualifications and
- have a master staff record that shows the qualifications of educators and their exit and entry of educators from the licence and
- have a monthly record that shows how the service is meeting the percentage qualification requirements each calendar month and
- keep records for Christmas coverage when services have been reconstituted over the holiday period.
See section 3-B-4 for further details on the required records for standard-funded home-based services.
If your home-based ECE service is funded at the quality funding rate, you must:
- have records as required for services funded at standard funding rate
plus
- keep a record of coordinators’:
- names
- qualifications
- hours during which they were on duty or on-call
- breaks when the coordinator was not on duty and
- keep records to show that coverage was maintained at all the required times (eg coverage by a relief coordinator) and
- keep a record of educators in training and their credits earned, as well as those with full qualifications.
- See section 3-B-4 for further details on the required records for quality-funded home-based services.
