Early Learning quality update

Education Act Update: Summary of submissions and further feedback sought

Over 1,800 submissions were received on updating the Education Act 1989. Many of these came from parents and educators. Over 120 meetings were held on the update over the 6-week period that the discussion ran.

A summary report and a full report on the responses received on the Education Act Update discussion document can be found on Updating the Education Act 1989.

The Minister asked for further feedback on possible changes to the planning and reporting framework and on boards’ roles and responsibilities at the Ministerial Cross-Sector Forum on Raising Achievement on 11 March 2016. You can read material on the proposals at Update of the Act – boards' roles and responsibilities and at Update of the Act – planning and reporting framework.You can also give us feedback on these possible changes through upcoming regional cross-sector forums and by emailing: education.update@education.govt.nz. You need to send any feedback to us by Friday 8 April at 5pm.

The Minister will seek Cabinet approval on the changes she wishes to proceed with. An amendment Bill will be drafted and introduced later this year. There will be an opportunity to comment on the contents of the Bill through a select committee process.

Safety checking trainees on practicum

All those who work with children need to be safety checked to the standard set out in the Vulnerable Children Act 2014 (VCA), which includes trainees on practicum.

While it is the responsibility of each early learning service to ensure the safety check has been completed, some components of the check may be done by a person or organisation acting on behalf of the service.

Most tertiary education providers already undertake similar checks for students as part of their screening and enrolment process.

If you are hosting a trainee on placement, and you wish to rely on a tertiary education provider to carry out the safety check for that trainee on your behalf, we recommend you obtain a letter from the tertiary education provider confirming this.

The letter should confirm that you have agreed to the tertiary education provider acting on your behalf, and that the trainee has given consent for information to be shared. The letter should also contain details about which components of the safety check have been completed and that they have been done to the standard set out in the VCA. These details should be obtained for each named trainee.

If any components of the safety check have not been completed by the tertiary education provider, you are responsible for completing these.

We recommend you complete the identity check and risk assessment yourself, even if these have already been completed by the tertiary education provider.

Safety checking in Children’s Teams

Based on feedback, the Children’s Team safety checking processes and documentation have been simplified and are now available to be used.

The Children’s Team Safety Checking Employer Endorsement form has been updatedand is available on the Children’s Action Plan website. The changes will streamline the process by:

Requiring only one declaration form – the Employer Endorsement form
The Children’s Team Director being required only to confirm the identity of the applicant
Being clearer about how to escalate issues.

Please ensure you use the updated form when completing new Children’s Team safety checks.

To avoid any confusion, you may want to destroy any older versions. As we recognise that the changes will take a while to be embedded into our practices, the Children’s Team Director will be accepting the old forms and actioning ones that have already been completed on the above basis. View the Children’s team safety checking flowchart.

Other information on safety checking is available on the Children’s Action plan website.

For any queries please contact: ssci.programme@education.govt.nz.

IT – Apple AC Wall Plug exchange programme reminder

Further to the article published in the February special edition of the Early Learning Bulletin, this is a reminder about the Apple exchange programme for AC wall adapters.

New adapters will be sent directly to users, and the affected adapters returned to Apple via pre-paid courier bag. There is no cost to users for the exchange.

Full details of the programme can be found here: www.apple.com/nz/support/ac-wallplug-adapter/.

It is only the ‘duckhead’ wall plug adapter that is potentially affected – the rest of the components of the AC adapter are not.

There are three options available for the exchange:

Arrange exchange via the web– you will need the serial number of your laptop (10-digit string starting with C0, C1 or CP) and your Apple ID: https://selfsolve.apple.com/012016/#NZL
Contact an authorised Apple service provider near you– service providers can be found using the following website: https://locate.apple.com/nz/en/
Contact Apple Support: https://getsupport.apple.com/ (select ‘Mac’ and then ‘Hardware Issues’).

New ERO report released

ERO’s latest report, Tuia te here tangata: Making meaningful connections, is an effective practice report that highlights what Puna Whakatupu are doing to nurture and support tamariki at the start of their learning journey. Ngā Puna Whakatupu are kaupapa Māori-based early childhood services where whānau learn with and alongside their tamariki.

Click the link above to read the full report available on the ERO website.