In New Zealand, many early childhood services[1] offer programmes that are aligned to particular educational philosophies, cultural identities or religions. When parents are choosing an early childhood service for their child, they may want to know about services with a special character.[2]
The Education Review Office (ERO) reviews all licensed early childhood services and reports publicly on the quality of education and care that each service provides. ERO has used the findings from these reports[3] to write the early childhood monograph series. The purpose of the series is to provide evaluative information about groups of services that have a special character. Parents can use this information along with the ERO report titled Early Childhood Education: A Guide for Parents, June 2006,[4] and ERO reports on individual services to help make decisions about which early childhood service best fits their needs and aspirations for their child.
For the purpose of this report, ‘special character’ refers to services that are based on a particular culture, educational philosophy or religion.
Reports can be read on the ERO website www.ero.govt.nz and every licensed service holds a copy of its current ERO report.