Starting a service
Like any other small business you need to have a good understanding of your market, the quality standards for your service and any regulations that you need to comply with. You will need to also understand good business practices and what is required when you receive government funding.
The quality of a service is central to its contribution to positive outcomes for children. We know that to gain positive outcomes a service should focus on:
- quality of staff-child interaction
- learning resources
- programmes that engage children, and
- a supportive environment for children to work together.
A lot of planning and effort is required for effective communication with families, whānau and communities and listening and responding is central to achieving this. Engaging parents and whānau in the ongoing assessment of children’s learning and sharing educational aims with parents helps improve the home learning environment and reinforces learning between a child’s home and the service. This is a potentially powerful role for early learning services.
Learn how to establish a service
- Starting an early learning service - where to begin
- Starting a centre-based service
- Starting a home-based service
- Establishing a playgroup
- Establishing a puna kōhungahunga
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