OSCAR/ECE Centres
Details of other OSCAR groups and community creches can be found on the Wellington City Council Community Directory.
Kia ora tatou katoa,
Ngā mihi rawa koutou, i runga te kaupapa o te ra.
I am pleased to be able to tell you about the next phase of the Teacher Registration Targets, outlined in Pathways to the Future - Ngā Huarahi Arataki.
The first target came into effect on 1 January 2005. This meant that home-based care co-ordinators and the person/s responsible in teacher-led, centre based services had to be registered teachers who held a Diploma in Teaching (ECE) or similar qualification.
From 31 December 2007 the second target, known as the 50% Teacher Qualification Requirement, will come into effect. This means teacher-led, centre based ECE services will need 50% of the total “regulated staff” to hold an ECE teaching qualification recognised by the New Zealand Teachers Council for the purposes of registration.
“Regulated staff” means the staff required to meet their regulated adult:child ratios for their licensed maximum number of children. This is outlined in Schedule 3 of the Education (Early Childhood Centres) Regulations 1998 and specified on all licence certificates.
The 50% Teacher Qualification Requirement will become necessary under the licensing requirements for early childhood education services, and will be managed in the same as other licensing requirements.
ECE services can count the following staff under the 50% requirement:
· the “person responsible”, as they are a qualified and registered teacher
· staff with a recognised and registerable ECE qualification. Note that part-time staff may count for no more than two licensed services.
· one staff member who is in their final year of study for an ECE teaching qualification.
Qualified teachers that work in more than two licensed ECE service will be required to nominate which ECE services are able to count their position towards the 50% requirement.
How the ministry is communicating the 50% requirement to ECE services
Our next issue of Update will lead with an article on the 50% requirement. This will outline:
· what is required of ECE services
· a link to the ministry’s website, www.minedu.govt.nz, which will have
o more detailed information
o frequently asked questions
Following this Update article is a reminder about the government initiatives available to support and encourage people to become qualified and registered early childhood education teachers.
Update is due to be mailed out to all licensed ECE services on 7 November 2007. After which time services can contact their local ministry office.
Ministry staff will also be talking about the 50% requirement with members of the Early Childhood Advisory Council on 7 November 2007.
Please find attached the Frequently Asked Questions that will be available on the Ministry’s website on Friday 2 November. There are likely to be additions to this as we respond to questions from the sector.
If you have any questions about this email please do not hesitate to contact Jim Murphy, Operational Policy Manager, National Operations, via email jim.murphy@minedu.govt.nz
I know that it has been a busy year for the sector and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and your services for your efforts. There has been an immense amount of progress towards reaching the sector’s goals in Ngā Huarahi Arataki. This is due to the support and work everyone provides within the early childhood sector.
Kia kaha ra koutou.
Nāku noa, nā
Rawiri Brell
Deputy Secretary - Early Childhood and Regional Education Group
Ministry of Education
Teacher Qualification Requirements Frequently Asked Questions .
Community Language Playgroups are also available in Wellington
What benefits does a child obtain from attending a childcare centre or OSCAR group? Here's a helpful guide. "The Childcare decision is never an easy one. Parents often spend a long time making the decision to put their child into care, and once they've decided they still have to go through the process of deciding on which type of care would be best suited to their needs"..
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Last days of PPK
On the 7 th of September this year Positively Poneke Kids ECE Centre (PPK) closed its doors to parents and children for the last time. Since mid 2006, when the centre was informed by the Wellington City Council that the premises were needed for other purposes, staff and parents have explored every possible option to allow the centre to continue to operate in the inner city. Over the years families have approached Positively Poneke Kids, as their first choice of ECE for their children because it was situated in a sunny, central spot, and it was close to their workplaces so that they were close at hand if needed, especially while their children were very young. PPK has also been held in high regard for its high staff to children ratios, its qualified and experienced teaching team, and its competent parent management committees. Teachers and children have enjoyed the inner city location which has allowed access to Civic Centre arts, music and other cultural events, as well as the Central Library and Capital E.
The centre was originally established in 1992 with assistance from the Wellington City Council to cater primarily for City Council staff, and to begin with it benefited from administrative assistance from the Council. By 1994 however, although many Council staff did make use of the fact that it was close to their workplace, they were no longer given priority on the waiting list and the centre catered for families with parents who worked in a variety of workplaces in the inner city. The centre did however, continue to benefit from a peppercorn rental until its closure this year. WCCCA has worked closely with the centre for many years now. In 2003 WCCCA provided a reliever manager for a year while the Manager was on Parental Leave, and has been providing finance and administration services to the centre since then.
The Council gave the Parent Management Committee notice in mid 2006, saying that the premises were needed for the expansion of the City Art Gallery. The Council gave them until July 2007 to find other premises. After some initial exploration with the WCC, of other solutions for the Art Gallery, the Committee accepted the inevitable and threw themselves into a thorough search for alternative premises. One of the parents’ main criteria for new premises was that they be in the inner city, because this was one of the main attractions of the centre for them. It soon became evident that there were no central or local government owned options. This cut them out of any chance of assistance from the Ministry of Education Discretionary Grants Scheme funds. One of the criteria for access to these funds is that the premises are not commercially owned. They then explored a number of commercial premises options and finally found a site that was not ideal (no drop off parking, no access for children to a ground floor outdoor space, and extremely expensive), but seemed possible. Parents voted to increase fees and use accumulated funds to cover the costs of bringing the premises up to licensing standard and meeting the ongoing rental costs.
Staff and parents then embarked on the process of preparing the new premises for the housing of a licensing standard early childhood service. Original estimates of the cost of bringing the centre up to licensing standards were re-quoted part way through this process and in the end the Committee was forced to face the fact that the cost that was beyond their abilities to meet.
With no solution in sight, on August 25 th the building owners contacted the Committee to say that the offer was being withdrawn as they could not wait any longer to start the building work because it was holding up other tenants in the building. So, with no other options being feasible, the Committee had to agree to close the centre for good. The last day of operation was the 7 th of September, which was marked by a get together of current and past parents and teachers and their friends and on the 12 th of September, an auction was held to sell off the centre’s furniture and equipment.
WCCCA staff have also been closely involved in managing the process of planning the establishment of the centre in the new premises for most of this year. It is with much sadness then, that we see the centre close this month. Two weeks on, we are relieved to hear that alternative places have been found for almost all the children who were enrolled at the centre, and that all staff who wanted a teaching position elsewhere, have found one. Two of the staff are taking some time out after a grueling year before applying for other positions. The PPK community is now spread throughout the city. Recognition should be given to an amazing staff team who were loyal to the centre to the end and did all they could to ensure that the quality of care and education was not diminished throughout this prolonged stressful period. And also, to an extraordinary group of committed parents who pursued every possible alternative to closing.
PPK’s closure leaves the inner city with just one other inner city not-for-profit, all-day, early childhood education facility for the children of working families. There are other employer-provided early childhood centres that do provide some places for children from families out side that workplace. There are also some privately owned centres in the inner city but it is difficult for them to keep costs down while the costs of premises are so high.
WCCCA would like to pay tribute to, and acknowledgement of, the many teachers and other staff, committee and parents who have worked really hard over the years to ensure that the children that attend PPK have received a high standard of early childhood education. Wellington has benefited from PPK in many ways. Its closure is Wellington’s loss.
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Teacher Vacancies in Centres
If you have any vacancies that you would like us to advertise please email bethany.o.wccca@gmail.com or phone 04 389 3383
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