If you’ve decided that you’re going to go back to work and need to start looking into what childcare suits you then we are here to help.

You may have heard of the term ECE. This refers to early childhood education in New Zealand and the different kinds of facilities that are available to children under five years of age.

In New Zealand, approximately 95% of children of children are eligible for some kind of ECE and that is usually for twenty to twenty-two hours each week. The first twenty of these hours are funded for children who are three and four. Every ECE follows a national curriculum to make sure that standards are obtained.

Registration

Although there are many ECE services available in New Zealand, the demand for them is high and it can be hard to get a place in towns and cities that are larger. Therefore, you need to make sure that the childcare centres and preschools that you are interested in have an available place for your child.

Curriculum

The aim of the education system in New Zealand is to develop young children to become actively involved, connected and confident learners. Where ECE is concerned the aim is to lay foundations which promote lifetime success. This is hoped to be achieved in a holistic manner by enabling children to create relationships and connections, whilst also finding new ways of viewing the world.

Choices

Across New Zealand there are over 5,000 preschool and child care facilities. These fall into two categories:

•         Parent Led

–          Playgroups: parents and caregivers run these in the community and they can obtain and support information from the Ministry of Education. Usually, these are located in community centres and run for four hours each day.  

–          Playcentres: these are run by parents and family members. They are suitable for children from birth through to school age. In order to be a playgroup, over half of the children need to have parents who attend with them.

•         Teacher Led

In New Zealand, of the teacher led programmes, the main ones are:

–          Education and Care Services: similar to nursery and day care and suitable for children from birth up to school age. They can be privately owned or run by the community.

–          Kindergarten: run by teachers and are for children aged between 2 and 5. Both full day and half day sessions are available.

–          Home Based Education and Care– from birth to 5, children can be looked after at an educator’s home or at their own home. There can only be up to four children in this kind of setting. An educator will be supported by an ECE coordinator who is qualified.

Which Pre-school to Choose

It is worth taking a look at the guide offered by ERO (Education Review Office). The ERO is a government body who inspect the quality of early childhood centres. They also oversee secondary and primary schools too. In this guide you will find lots of useful information such as what you need to look for in an ECE, how ECE’s are regulated, what kinds of ECE services there are, how you can help your child adjust, which ECE suits your child and important questions to ask when you visit an ECE. Additionally, the ERO also monitor ECE centres regularly and reports related to this are available online for you to view.

What your Child is Learning

In New Zealand there are no formal tests to monitor a child’s progress. Work samples, learning stories and photographs are kept and these are used by other teachers and are the way in which a parent can see how their child is progressing. The majority of ECE centres have access to web cams and digital cameras and children are able to decide what they would like to take a picture of and parents can therefore view what’s happening each day. Examples of children and play and their work is kept in individual file or book for each child. Teachers will regularly write reviews related to what the children have been learning.

Parents can also regularly see and talk to the teachers about how their child is getting on at school. Once you child has completed preschool education, parents receive a documentation related to their child’s learning. This can then be shared with their new teacher.

Involvement from Parents

All parents are encouraged to connect learning at home with learning at school. Interest from parents is encouraged and how involved a parent wants to be is an individual choice. Parents are always welcome to visit the ECE centre to share and discuss with teachers. Equally, parents are encouraged to join in with experiences such as family or cultural experiences.

Costs

From the age of three and until children begin school, the first 20 hours of ECE each week is largely funded by the government. This program is known as ’20 ECE hours’ as is available to all children New Zealand irrespective of visa related situations.

Although the funding provided by the government takes care of fees that are compulsory, there are charges that some centres have. Some of these centres charge per term or per week, others charge for the day or per hour. In instances where children spend longer at a centre than their funded 20 hours or if they are not old enough to qualify, then ECE centres will charge fees. Additionally, there may be other charges such as fees to cover costs related to an outing or a suggested donation for other situations. These charges can vary across New Zealand.

We are sure that you will now feel a lot clearer when deciding what child care best suits you and your child when you go back to work.