Child protection policy
Regulation 46(1)(a) of the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 requires services to take all reasonable steps to promote the good health and safety of children enrolled in the service.
The Children's Act 2014 and licensing criterion HS125 also require all centre-based services to have a child protection policy.
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 – New Zealand Legislation
Children's Act 2014 – New Zealand Legislation
Your child protection policy and procedure must outline how your service will:
identify and report child abuse and neglect
keep children safe from abuse and neglect
respond to concerns about child abuse and neglect.
Read more about what is required in the child protection licensing criterion.
Employment and human resource management
You must have human resource management processes that include:
staff induction
ongoing professional development
a definition of serious misconduct, and
discipline and dismissal procedures.
See the human resource management licensing criterion.
GMA105 Human resource management
Employment New Zealand has information to support human resource management. This includes:
templates for letters to appoint staff
factsheets
employment agreement guides
help to calculate parental leave for your employed staff.
You can also ask questions on the website.
Human rights
Te Kāhui Tika Tangata | Human Rights Commission provides information about equal opportunities, including a discrimination and complaints guide.
Te Kāhui Tika Tangata | Human Rights Commission
Collective agreements
The New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) negotiates collective employment agreements on behalf of many early childhood teachers. As a condition of receiving government funding, you must pay teachers at a rate that is at least as high as the lowest step on NZEI's ‘consenting parties' collective agreement’.
New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa
Safety checking procedure
You must have a documented procedure for safety checking all children’s workers before they start working at your early childhood service. The procedures must meet the requirements in the Children’s Act 2014.
If you engage a children’s worker who has lived overseas, it is recommended that there is a process to obtain a copy of a police certificate from the person’s country of citizenship and from any country they have lived in for a year or more within the last 10 years. This is in addition to the New Zealand Police vet part of the safety check.
See relevant legislation and licensing criteria.
Children’s Act 2014, Part 3 Children’s worker safety checking – New Zealand Legislation
Police vet and risk assessment procedure
You must have a procedure to obtain a Police vet and conduct a risk assessment of information returned in the vet for:
non-teaching and unregistered employees before they begin work at the service
contractors and their employees before they have, or are likely to have, unsupervised access to children.
Education and Training Act 2020, Schedule 4 – New Zealand Legislation
Health and safety policies and procedures
All early childhood education service providers must comply with the health and safety requirements in Regulation 46 of the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations.
You need to:
promote the good health and safety of the children enrolled in the service
prevent accidents and the spread of infection
keep the premises, facilities and equipment in good repair, maintained regularly, and safe and free from hazards
have procedures to deal with fire, earthquakes and other emergencies.
See the relevant regulations and criteria.
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, Regulation 46 – New Zealand Legislation
You must have a procedure to wash children when they become dirty, soiled or wet. It might be necessary to wash a child:
at nappy change time – sometimes wipes are not enough
if they have vomited over themselves or another person
if they have had a toileting accident
if they become wet or dirty during play.
The procedure should focus on the privacy and personal dignity of the child, and protecting their health and safety, and that of other children and staff.
The wash down procedure should cover:
instructions to use the wash down facilities
how to effectively clean up the wash down area
instructions on cleaning and storing soiled clothing
the staff’s use of protective clothing.
The procedure must be on display in a visible place by the wash down area.
You must have a clear procedure for changing nappies and for disposing of them when needed.
It needs to make sure that:
there are safe and hygienic practices
children are treated with dignity and respect.
The procedure should be displayed near the nappy changing area and followed by everyone.
See the nappy changing procedure licensing criterion.
You must take steps to minimise the children’s contact with anyone who has an infectious disease.
Have a process that will keep children who become unwell at a safe distance from other children, and follows the infectious illness guidance in Schedule 1 of the licensing criteria.
Schedule 1: Infectious diseases
See the other relevant licensing criteria.
Part of the requirements of a health assessment
The wash down procedure, nappy changing procedure and infectious disease exclusion process will be reviewed in the health assessment you need to get before you open your early childhood service.
See more about the health assessment report.
Required assessments, approvals and registrations
The National Public Health Service has useful information in early childhood service guidelines for:
health assessments
cleaning and sanitising
wash down
illness.
You must have a sleep monitoring procedure. It must be on display and include steps that make sure children:
do not have access to food or liquids while in bed
are checked for warmth, breathing, and general wellbeing at least every 5 to 10 minutes, or more frequently according to individual needs.
Document how you will record the time each child sleeps and the checks made by adults during that time.
See the sleep monitoring licensing criterion.
Equipment, premises and facilities must be checked for hazards every day.
The WorkSafe website has a range of health and safety resources. This includes tools like self-assessment sheets for health and safety matters and forms you can use, and information about managing hazards for small businesses. Look under 'The Toolshed', then ’Tools’.
Look up specific legislation on the New Zealand Legislation website.
See the hazard and risk management licensing criterion.
It can be useful to have a documented procedure for the hygienic laundering of linen used by children or adults.
Linen includes:
bedding
kitchen laundry (dish cloths, tea towels, hand towels, oven mitts, and so on)
bibs
dress-up clothes
fabric play items
towels
furniture coverings
art and messy play cloths
cloth nappies (if used).
See the laundering licensing criterion.
Make sure everything is cleaned regularly using the right products.
It is useful to detail how to clean and sanitise different items and areas at your service, including:
nappy changing areas
food preparation areas
sinks, toilets and other hard bathroom surfaces
floors
cots and stretchers
carpets and soft furnishings
toys, dress-up clothes and comforters
sand and sandpits.
Health New Zealand encourages all centres to have a documented cleaning schedule.
See the safe and hygienic licensing criterion.
Follow safe and hygienic practices with any animals at your service.
It can be useful to develop a policy or procedure for having animals in your service. Your policy could include:
hygiene practices like hand washing after handing animals
animal restraint and safety procedures.
See the animals licensing criterion.
When providing food for children, you must make sure it is safe and offers sufficient variety, quantity, and quality to meet each child’s nutritional and developmental needs.
It can be useful to develop a policy to describe how you will make sure:
food is safe to eat
the food you serve offers sufficient variety, quantity and quality
you record the type of food provided
records are kept for 3 months.
See the food, drink and nutrition licensing criterion.
Under the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990:
smoking and vaping are not allowed anywhere on the premises of early childhood centres (this includes inside and outside)
you must have no smoking or vaping signage immediately inside every entrance to the premises.
It can be useful to develop a policy that includes where people can’t smoke or vape, for example:
buildings
grounds
vehicles
in uniform
in sight of children coming and going from your service.
Include what signs you have and where they are displayed.
See the relevant legislation.
Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990 – New Zealand Legislation
It can be useful to develop a sun protection policy and practices to keep children safe and comfortable when they are outside.
Your sun protection policy could include the use of:
shade
clothing
sun hats
sunscreen.
Planning and preparing for an emergency
Your building must have:
an approved evacuation scheme
an emergency management plan.
Evacuation scheme
Find out about fire evacuation schemes in the required assessments, approvals and registrations section.
Required assessments, approvals and registrations
Emergency management plan
An emergency management plan is a requirement under the:
Health and Safety at Work (General Risk and Workplace Management) Regulations 2016
licensing criterion HS105 Emergency plan and supplies.
The emergency management plan must have:
an evacuation procedure specific to the premises and relevant to its location, which apply in different emergency situations and are consistent with the building’s fire evacuation scheme
designated assembly areas outside the building that keep children safe from further risk
a list of safety and emergency supplies and resources sufficient for the age and number of children and adults at the service and details of how these will be maintained and accessed in an emergency
details of the roles and responsibilities that will apply during an emergency
a communication plan for families and support services
evidence of reviewing the plan annually and implementation of improved practices as required.
The plan needs to be maintained and kept up to date. It needs to be shared with parents, whānau | families and caregivers.
Evacuation procedure
In addition to having an approved fire evacuation scheme, you must have a documented evacuation procedure specifically for your premises that covers emergency situations like a fire, earthquake, tsunami, flood and so on.
This procedure has a broader scope than just fire evacuation and must be consistent with the overarching Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) approved fire evacuation scheme. The evacuation procedure is the responsibility of the service provider.
Supplies
Have an emergency supply of water and food. Make sure there is enough water and food for the size of your service.
If your service includes children under 2 years old, your emergency supplies must have enough items for their age and number. This includes infant formula, clean bottles, and nappies.
Make sure you have access to required medication, for example, inhalers and EpiPens.
Planning and preparing for emergencies guidance
For practical guidance and information, see our guide and template on the page below.
Prepare for an emergency or traumatic incident in early learning
Your emergency management plan needs to be submitted with your probationary licence application.
See the relevant regulations and licensing criterion.
Curriculum
Your service must comply with the curriculum standard: general.
It requires you to:
plan, implement and evaluate a curriculum that provides learning experiences consistent with Te Whāriki Early Childhood Curriculum
collaborate with parents, family and whānau about the learning and development of their children
get information and guidance from agencies with the appropriate expertise to support:
the learning and development of children
working effectively with parents and whānau | families.
You must meet curriculum criteria documentation requirements.
Te Whāriki Early Childhood Curriculum – Tāhūrangi
See the relevant regulation and licensing criteria.
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, Regulation 43 – New Zealand Legislation
Curriculum criteria C101 to C113
Curriculum criteria documentation required
Positive guidance
As part of the curriculum, you must support the learning and development of children attending your service in a positive learning environment. Your service must support the development of social competence and understanding appropriate behaviour.
The He Māpuna te Tamaiti publication may be useful.
He Māpuna te Tamaiti – Tāhūrangi Te Whāriki Online
See the relevant regulations and licensing criterion.
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, Regulation 43 – New Zealand Legislation
C110 Developing social competence
Settling and transition
Transitions to, within and from a service can be stressful times for children and their families. To make these transitions positive and successful experiences, it is recommended that you have procedures that are based on knowledge of children, and current educational theory and practice.
Tāhūrangi has resources and further reading that may help with the development of policy and practice.
Te Whāriki Early Childhood Curriculum – Tāhūrangi
Strand 1: Mana atua | Wellbeing – Tāhūrangi
Strand 2: Mana Whenua | Belonging – Tāhūrangi
Kei Tua o te Pae: Assessment for Learning early childhood exemplars – Tāhūrangi
Communication
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, Regulation 47, and the Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Services, GMA101, GMA102 and GMA103, set out the minimum standard of communication with parents and how they can access information about your service and their child.
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, regulation 47 – New Zealand Legislation
Complaints procedure
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, regulation 47, and the licensing criterion GMA102, require services to inform parents of the procedure to follow if they wish to complain about non-compliance with the regulations or criteria.
We have guidance and a template to help you develop a complaints procedure on our GMA102 licensing criterion webpage under 'Tools to help you comply'.
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, regulation 47 – New Zealand Legislation
GMA102 Information provided to parents
Find information about the complaints process for parents and whānau below.
Finances
It is good financial practice to have a policy to outline how you will manage the finances of your service. Include things like:
how your service is funded
how you will manage funding and reporting obligations
how financial decisions will be made
how income and expenditure will be managed
how you will meet your tax obligations.
Inland Revenue is a good starting point for finding out about tax obligations and entitlements. You can also download tax forms that staff will need to complete.
Business.govt.nz has a free national business information and referral service for small and medium businesses.
CommunityNet Aotearoa helps organisations get started and develop good practice in the voluntary sector environment.
Families can get help with their childcare costs with Working for Families, through Work and Income and Inland Revenue.
Working for Families – Work and Income
Working for Families – Inland Revenue
Fees and funding
The 20 Hours ECE funding from the government affects the way a service receives funding for 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds and the fees that can be charged for some children.
20 hours funding for early childhood education
You cannot charge an extra fee for an enrolled child who is receiving 20 Hours ECE. Fees can be charged for additional hours of enrolment outside of 20 Hours ECE.
Usual enrolment fees or waiting list fees can be charged for children who will be using 20 Hours ECE at your ECE service. These fees must apply to all children, not just those receiving 20 Hours ECE. You must also make sure these fees do not prevent children from accessing 20 Hours ECE.
Parents can be asked to pay optional charges for hours claimed as 20 Hours ECE. Donations may also be requested.
Administration software
There are different kinds of early childhood administration software available to assist with the management of fees, subsidies and so on. These can be bought from private companies.