Certification criteria for playgroups

Section 10 of the Education and Training Act 2020(external link) defines a playgroup as a group that meets on a regular basis to facilitate children's play and in respect of which—

  1. no child attends for more than 4 hours on any day; and
  2. more than half the children attending on any occasion have a parent or caregiver present in the same play area at the same time; and
  3. the total number of children attending on any occasion is not greater than 4 times the number of parents and caregivers present in the same play area at the same time.

Playgroups include Puna Kōhungahunga, cultural playgroups and community language playgroups.

Playgroups are certificated in accordance with the Education and Training Act 2020 under the Education (Playgroups) Regulations 2008(external link), which prescribe minimum standards that each certificated playgroup must meet. Certification criteria are used to assess how playgroups meet the minimum standards required by the regulations.

For each criterion there is guidance to help playgroups meet the required standards.

The publication of the criteria on its own can be downloaded as a PDF [PDF, 1.1 MB] and printed.

The certification criteria were last updated in September 2022.

Health and safety practices

21 Health and safety practices standard

The health and safety practices standard requires the service provider for every certificated playgroup to take reasonable steps to—

(a) maintain good health and safety practices at the playgroup; and
(b) ensure all practicable steps are taken to eliminate, isolate, or minimise hazards to children attending the playgroup; and
(c) ensure that appropriate procedures are in place to deal with fires, earthquakes, and other emergencies.

Relevant health and safety forms and checklists for playgroups are available to download from this page.

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