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.

GMA4 Philosophy statement

  • Criteria
    • Criteria

      Governance Management and Administration criterion 4

      A philosophy statement guides the service’s operation.

      Documentation required:

      A written statement expressing the service’s beliefs, values, and attitudes about the provision of early childhood education and care.

      Rationale/Intent:

      The criterion aims to ensure that the service has information available for parents and staff about the philosophy that underpins their provision of early childhood education and care. This information supports the collaboration between parents and the service to achieve positive outcomes for children.

      Amended 21 July 2011

       

  • 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 Philosophy Statement expresses the fundamental beliefs, vision, values and ideals a service chooses to operate under. It is a core document providing the basis for decisions on both how the service is managed and how the service operates on a day-to-day basis.

      It needs to be easy to understand by everyone and should be available to parents.

      The Philosophy Statement is a living document that should be reviewed regularly as part of a service’s self-review process.

      Every Philosophy Statement will be different but could include:

      • the learning outcomes expected for children
      • why the service was established
      • what values underpin the service.

      The Philosophy Statement is a living document that should be reviewed regularly as part of a service’s self-review process.

      More information on philosophy statements can be found in the Ministry of Education’s publication Community based early childhood education/Governing and managing.

      The Education Review Office(external link)  produced a report on service philosophy statements that may be of use when developing a philosophy statement.