Criterion GMA107
An annual plan guides the service's operation.
Note: This criterion only applies in respect of the Director of Regulation’s assessment of probationary applications where the applicant does not hold a current licence and applications to amend a licence where the different legal entity does not hold a current licence.
Documentation required
An annual plan identifying 'who', 'what', and 'when’ in relation to key tasks the service intends to undertake each year.
Guidance
How to show you are complying
You need an annual plan to cover the first year of running your service if either of these applies to you:
You are applying for a probationary licence and do not currently run a fully licensed service elsewhere.
You are a new service provider and have not held a licence before.
The annual plan needs to outline your service’s key tasks for the next 12 months. It should clearly state what each task is, who is responsible and when it is scheduled within the annual cycle.
Your annual plan should guide how you run your service and reflect the everyday and annual tasks that need to be undertaken to keep your service running smoothly.
When developing your annual plan, you should think about what tasks need to happen regularly and who will take care of these if someone’s away, so nothing important gets missed. This includes:
emergency drills
claiming Ministry of Education funding
providing audited accounts to the Ministry of Education
completing staff appraisals
providing staff with adequate professional development opportunities
providing staff, parents and whānau | families with operational review opportunities – GMA104 operational review has more information.
When assessing whether you comply with GMA107
Question we are likely to ask
If your annual plan is unclear, who’s doing what, when tasks are happening, or if something important seems to be missing, has it been considered?
We are likely to look at, measure or count
Look at the key tasks included in your annual plan.
Look at who is responsible for each of the key tasks in your annual plan.
Look at when the key tasks are scheduled to take place.
We are likely to request
Your annual plan before we visit.
The tools below are here to support you, but you do not have to use them. You can use other tools or methods that work better for your service.
When developing the annual plan, you could ask yourself:
What do I need to purchase this year?
Does the service need any major or minor maintenance work?
what professional development do staff need?
Do we need to fundraise?
How will we engage effectively with whānau, community, hapū and iwi?
What opportunities are there for operational review, and to set priorities for the year ahead?
You could break the plan down by month, grouping key tasks under relevant areas to make it easy to follow.
An annual plan can help your service stay organised by setting out key tasks and timelines for the year.
Doing more than the minimum can shape better outcomes for children. Here are some ideas or examples you might like to consider.
It’s a good idea to develop your annual plan at the same time as you plan your annual budget. It may be useful to update the annual plan and budget throughout the year to help you stay on track.
Strategic plans
In addition to the annual plan, you might also choose to create a strategic 5-year plan to guide your long-term operations. This will help you look beyond the current year and set longer term goals for what direction you want your service to take.
Think about how you can reflect the hopes and input of whānau, community, hapū, and iwi. This might mean you involve them in the planning process.