Early Learning Bulletin

Need-to-know | Me mātua mōhio#

Financial reporting due 30 June#

Licensed early learning services that have operated for a full financial year and received income of over $92,000 (including GST) from us during the financial year ending 2025 need to submit audited financial statements, an independent auditor’s report and a completed declaration form by 30 June.

Email: [email protected]

Declaration form for the financial year ending 2025 [PDF, 1.2 MB]

A reminder of the financial reporting requirements is outlined here:

Financial reporting requirements for year ending 2025 [PDF, 148KB]

If you are a new service/owner that has not completed a full financial year of operation or you have received income of less than $92,000 (including GST) from us during the financial year ending 2025, you are required to complete a declaration form to confirm your exemption to the financial reporting requirements.

Further information on updated licensing criteria effective 20 April#

The amended licensing criteria come into effect on 20 April. While these updates represent a period of significant change for the sector, Associate Education Minister Hon David Seymour has introduced them with the intention of simplifying requirements and reducing compliance burdens for teachers and services. From 20 April, our assessment approach will reflect this intent.

Our focus is on providing clarity and support, while ensuring services can move confidently towards meeting the new criteria.

We will also be working closely with our licensing staff to make sure the approach is applied fairly and consistently across the country. If your service has previously been compliant with the licensing criteria, it is likely you will continue to be compliant.

Several criteria have been removed or merged, but many underlying requirements remain unchanged. However, there are criteria that require some additional actions.

Key changes

This is not an exhaustive list, so you will need to undertake your own checks.

PF123/PF214 – First aid

You have always been required to have a first-aid kit and keep it stocked according to our prescribed list. From 20 April, instead of following that prescribed list, you must make sure your first-aid supplies are:

appropriate to the number of children attending, and
supported by a clear system ensuring items remain well stocked, and used or expired items are promptly replaced.

You may continue using our previous template supplies list. Alternatively, you can develop your own based on the needs of your service.

HS108/HS207/HS309 – Hazard and risk management

You have always been required to secure heavy furniture, fixtures, and equipment that could cause serious injury or damage if they fell. From 20 April, this requirement must now be included in your daily checks.

Continue your daily hazard checks, and
Include checking that heavy furniture, fixtures, and equipment that could fall or topple and cause serious injury or damage are secured.

A template is available for your immediate use:

Example Centre-based daily hazard check [DOCX, 60 KB]

HS125/HS222 /HS312 – Child protection

This requirement is aligned with your existing review cycle. From 20 April, we will check that your next scheduled review incorporates the updated expectations.

HS128/HS227 – Notifications to us

The requirement to notify us at the same time as you notify any other specified agency is unchanged, although there are additional situations where you are required to notify us. Continue following your existing reporting processes.

Our approach during the transition

If we identify an issue that presents a significant concern for children's wellbeing or safety, or something unrelated to the transition, we will continue to apply our established processes.

For matters specifically linked to the transition to the new criteria – and where there is no immediate concern – our approach will focus on:

understanding the steps services are already taking
recognising progress made to date, and
discussing what still needs to happen to meet the updated requirements.

We will work with you to identify reasonable timeframes for completing any remaining work.

Curriculum implementation#

Curriculum criteria have been re-numbered, but the curriculum requirements themselves have not changed. Early learning services must still meet Regulation 43 – Curriculum Standard: general, and all Curriculum criteria.

We’ve heard from some of you that the upcoming changes to GMA104/GMA203/GMA304 – Operational Review, that come into effect on 20 April that remove the requirement for self-review and internal evaluation, have created uncertainty about what this means for curriculum expectations.

To clarify, even though GMA104/GMA203/GMA304 no longer requires self-review or internal evaluation, you must still evaluate your curriculum to remain compliant with curriculum requirements.

Your processes need to show that:

your curriculum is consistent with the curriculum framework, (Te Ara Whānui or Te Ara Māori)
you can demonstrate that Regulation 43 and all curriculum licensing criteria, including Criterion C102/C202/C302, are being met.

How you undertake curriculum evaluation is up to you and approaches may differ from place to place.

Changes to sample enrolment agreement form in ECE Funding Handbook#

Following recently announced changes to licensing criteria, the sample enrolment agreement form in the ECE Funding Handbook has been revised.

ECE funding handbook updates

In accordance with criteria GMA109 (CB) and GMA208 (HB), the revised form includes all necessary funding requirements. These sections are marked with a ‘♦’ symbol. Wording in these sections cannot be changed.

The updated version of this form has been added to the ECE Funding Handbook Updates webpage, so you can preview the form before 20 April. The updated form will be added to the handbook on 20 April.

Note that the medicines section has been amended in this sample, as services often capture this information using separate forms.