Glossary

A

Assessment

The process of noticing children’s learning, recognising its significance, and responding in ways that foster further learning. It includes documenting some, but not necessarily all, of what and how children are learning in order to inform teaching, and make learning visible.

C

Coordinator

The person who has primary responsibility for overseeing the education and care, comfort, and health and safety of the children, and providing professional leadership and support to educators within the service.

Culture

The understandings, patterns of behaviour, practices, and values shared by a group of people.

E

Educator

The person with the designated role of providing education and care directly to children in his or her care, and attends to the health and safety of those children.

Excursion

Being outside the licensed premises whilst receiving education and care from the services but does not include an excursion for the purposes of:

• emergency evacuations

• drills or

• the receipt of urgent medical attention. 

Regular excursion

Excursions that parents have agreed to at the time of their child’s enrolment, or subsequent to it, that are part of an ongoing planned and consistent routine of education and care.

Special excursion

Excursions that parents have agreed to prior to the excursion taking place, that are not a regular excursion.

M

Medicine

Any substance used for a therapeutic purpose and includes prescription and non-prescription preparations having the meaning assigned to these under Schedule.

Schedule: Categories of medicine and written authority required from parents for criterion HS219

N 

Non-porous material

A material which does not allow water to pass through it.

O

Out-of-school care

The presence of any child during licensed hours who is aged 13 years or younger, who is enrolled at school, and who is counted towards the total number of children that can be present in the home, in line with the requirements set out in section 19 of the Education and Training Act 2020.

Education and Training Act 2020, Section 19 – New Zealand Legislation

P

Parent

• The person (or people) responsible for having the role of providing day-to-day care for the child and

• may include a biological or adoptive parent, stepparent, partner of a parent of a child, legal guardian or member of the child’s family, whānau or other culturally recognised family group.

Policy

Policy means a statement intended to influence and determine decisions, actions, and other matters. Policies are required to be implemented.

Premises

A home in which education and care is to be provided, and its associated outdoor space.

Procedure

Procedure means a particular and established way of doing something. Procedures are required to be implemented.

Process

A goal-directed, interrelated series of actions, events, procedures, or steps.

R

Records

Information or data on a particular subject collected and preserved.

Regulation

A regulation under the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008.

S

Service

A home-based education and care service.

Service curriculum

All of the experiences, interactions, activities and events – both direct and indirect, planned, and spontaneous – that happen at the service. Teaching practices including planning, assessment, and evaluation form part of the service curriculum.

Service provider

The body, agency, or person who or that operates the home-based education and care service.

Specified agency

Any government agency or statutory body that an early childhood education and care service is required under legislation to notify if there is a serious (or as defined) injury, illness, incident involving a child. This may include but is not limited to:

• the New Zealand Police

• the Ministry of Health

• Oranga Tamariki

• WorkSafe New Zealand.