Licensing criteria for
centre-based ice services

All centres are licensed in accordance with the Education and Training Act 2020 under the Education (Early Childhood Service) Regulations 2008, which prescribe minimum standards each licensed service must meet. Licensing criteria are used to assess how the centres meet the minimum standards required by the regulations.

The licensing Criteria is made up of the following areas:

  1. Curriculum: Professional practice, Culture and identity, Children as learners, Working with others, Curriculum criteria documentation required.
  2. Premises and facilities: General, Food preparation and eating spaces, Toilet and hand washing facilities, Other sanitary facilities, Sleep.
  3. Health and safety: Hygiene, Emergencies, Sleep, Hazards and outings, Food and drink, Child health and wellbeing, Child protection.
  4. Governance, management and administration: Parent involvement and information, Professional practices, Planning and documentation.

Te Whāriki

Te Whāriki: is Aotearoa New Zealand’s National Early Childhood Curriculum. Te Whāriki holds the vision that all children are “competent and confident learners and communications, healthy in mind, body and spirit, secure in their sense of belonging”.

Te Whāriki provides a framework of principles, strands, goals and learning outcomes that foregrounds the mana of the child and the importance of respectful, reciprocal and responsive relationships.

Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, is underpinned by four principles. These are the foundation of curriculum decision making and a guide for every aspect of pedagogy and practice:

  • Whakamana | Empowerment – Early childhood curriculum empowers the child to learn and grow.
  • Kotahitanga | Holistic development – Early childhood curriculum reflects the holistic way children learn and grow.
  • Whānau Tangatá | Family and community – The wider world of family and community is an integral part of early childhood curriculum.
  • Ngā Honongā | Relationships – Children learn through responsive and reciprocal relationships with people, places and things. 

In early learning services the four principles of Te Whāriki are woven together with the following five strands to support effective local curriculum for tamariki:

  • Mana atua | Wellbeing
  • Mana tangata | Contribution
  • Mana whenua | Belonging
  • Mana reo | Communication
  • Mana aotūroa | Exploratio
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