Newsletter - Weekly Early Childhood Update Being Informed - August 2010
Being Informed - August 2010
To print a copy of this newsletter click here for a PDF
In this Newsletter:
- Why is there a need for ChildForum? (And some statistics you might find interesting!)
- The Free Kindergarten of Old is (Almost) Dead and Buried
- Who are the Big Providers of Early Childcare and Education?
- HOT OFF THE PRESS – Great new articles and information
- Prize Draw Winners
- Feature Reviews of Early Childhood Services
- Information Alerts (Sick leave / GST/ Raising academic standards for entry into teaching / Media influence on education policy / Why parents don't use a formal early childhood service).
A brand new ChildForum is starting. It’s a forum for early childcare and education information and support.
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Don’t miss out on getting access to what others are discussing and talking about. To join click here and continue through the joining process until you click CONFIRM ORDER
1. Why Is There a Need for ChildForum?
ChildForum provides a single place for all adults working with children and all types of early childhood services and management groups to source and share information.
Parents, grandparents and others caring for young children as well as those working in the formal early childhood education sector, teacher educators, advisers, and researchers, can go online at www.childforum.com pick up useful information and articles, learn about other views and practices, and dialogue with each other on matters important to them by adding comments.
There are an estimated 308,000 children under 6 years of age in NZ. Of these 45% are cared for informally by grandparents, family friends, or people known to the family while 54% are cared for by a formal early childhood service (according to the 2009 Childcare Survey by NZ Statistics). There are more than 4,000 different formal early childhood services with 18,000 educators/carers working in them (according to the Ministry of Education).
Childforum can help people who want the best for young children by making accessible what they need to know about best practices, research evidence, policy changes, and legal requirements in easy-to-understand language.
2. The Free Kindergarten of Old is (Almost) Dead and Buried
Over recent years there have been some quite significant changes in the structure of the early childhood sector in
From one group of services initially being focussed on supporting mothers in their parenting role (kindergartens and playcentres) and the other focused on providing parents with relief from childcare responsibilities (daycare, crèche, family daycare etc) the sector has become more and more a part of the formalised education system. In the process the sector appears to have moved away from ensuring the services that get provided best meet the needs of the customers – in this case the parents wanting a mixture of a child-minding service, social interaction group for their youngsters, and education at an early age as preparation for what is to come.
The most recent example of this can be found in one of the very early bastions of preschool education, Free Kindergartens.
Courtesy of a policy change in 2007 to increase the number of hours children spend weekly in teacher-led early childhood services the 20 hour ECE government funding rate is higher for early childhood services that are licensed full-day. The higher funding rate reflects the higher wage cost for all-day services that must meet a legal minimum of 1 teacher to 10 children as opposed to 1 teacher to 15 children in sessional (part-day) services. Many kindergarten associations and Free Kindergartens have discovered that if they change to an all-day license instead of running two sessions of around 3 hours a day, they effectively make as much if not more money whilst having fewer children on the daily roll for teachers to cope with and they can employ more teachers.
However, over the medium term Kindergarten Associations are likely to find that financial sustainability will become more difficult to maintain as they compete alongside commercially savvy childcare services that provide better than the minimum teacher to child ratio of 1:10, do not close for school holidays, and are open longer than 6 hours a day to cater for parents in employment.
The risk is that Associations who tell their kindergarten communities that changing to a full-day license is non-negotiable, will find that parents and the generations of parents to come will not see the kindergarten as being about supporting parenting but rather as a place where parents and children are secondary to business objectives. After all, ask yourself why would parents be enthusiastic about donating time to help or resources for their local kindergarten if it’s just another fully costed drop-off childcare service?
A second risk that Associations face, and this could greatly impact on individual kindergartens and teachers, is that Government may decide at some point in the future to recognise only those Free Kindergartens that comply with the official definition of being sessional. We have already seen a step in this direction, with the Government Budget announcement that it will continue to fund sessional kindergartens at the level of 100% qualified teachers because this is legally required, but not full-day licensed kindergartens because these services fall outside the legal requirement for employing 100% qualified teachers. Also, teachers must be getting worried that the government might look for cost savings by removing kindergarten teachers from the State Sector Act for salaries and conditions of work.
Kindergarten teachers who are unhappy about their kindergarten changing to an all-day license need to look at their employment contract and check what their rights are and what powers their employers have to change their duties and conditions of work. At one kindergarten for example, where parents and teachers were unhappy with the options for changed hours put forward by Association managers a parent later wrote that:
- The last week of term we heard that our head teacher has been seconded into another role. I am assuming that they rushed this through so that a new teacher could start after the change rather than facilitate it.
- There was only 1 meeting and it was very clear that the association was going to implement what they wanted either way. In fact a parent in the meeting asked if they would go with the majorities vote and they said no not necessarily. At the end of the day the kindergarten is theirs and they were only paying lip service to consultation.
ChildForum understands that the NZEI as the union that represents early childhood teachers may require Associations to redo consultations on proposed changes if this affects their members and if there is evidence (provided by kindergarten communities and/or teachers) that the consultations have not been adequate.
If you are a parent at a kindergarten that is changing its hours you might want to attend any meetings organised or ask if you can give your view in another way. It is a problem that parents can be made to feel that their opinion as part of the kindergarten community does not matter. For example, a parent at a kindergarten whose Association is currently in the process of informing a number of its kindergarten communities of its decisions on all-day models has said:
- One of the upsetting things is how terrified some of the parents are about upsetting the association and the teachers as they are worried it will impact on how we (and our children) are treated or the kindy funded - how scary is that?”
Ultimately it is up to the Ministry of Education, charged with implementing current government goals for early childhood education as to whether or not to approve applications for changes in licenses. National’s 2008 pre-election policy was pretty clear when it came to emphasising that they stood for parental choice and for parents not being forced to enrol their child in early childhood education for more hours than were desirable: “Most children will benefit from some form of early childhood education, but also parental engagement, parental choice, parents having the skills and abilities and the time to engage and interact with their under fives is important for children.”
What this means for Kindergarten Associations is that they need to be working hard to make sure their consultation processes are thorough, and putting decisions to parental vote and commissioning independent surveys or running focus groups would be something to consider to achieve this. Making available financial accounts for individual kindergartens would show parents, kindergarten communities, and the Ministry of Education that a decision to change the Free Kindergarten model of old is necessary if the kindergarten is to be able to continue to run.
To read more on the history and current challenges of the Free Kindergarten, and to add your comments and read what others say click here.
3. Who are the Big Providers of Early Childcare and Education?
The corporatisation of childcare is a concern in
An argument emerged that it would be better for children if services were all community or State owned. But early childcare and education is already big business in
The biggest providers of early childcare and education are not of any single ownership type. From information provided by Ministry of Education statistics, they represent an eclectic collection of community-charitable organisations (Barnardos), community-public organisations (3 Free Kindergarten associations), private individuals (Kidicorp and Kindercare), overseas owners (ABC), and franchises (PORSE and Lollipops).
| Organisation | Children on roll at 1 July 2009 |
Licensed Services (as listed in Education Ministry directory as at 1/6/2010) |
Type of Ownership |
Other Directly Related Interests |
| Auckland Kindergarten Assn | 8,471 | 110 licenses for Free Kindergartens and 3 Daycare | Charitable Trust Sole Shareholder in KiNZ a childcare company |
|
| ABC NZ Ltd | 7,386 | 171 licenses for Daycare | NZ registered company with Australian owners/shareholders | In recent years acquired the NZ College of ECE providing early childhood teacher edn. |
| Kidicorp | 6,440 | 152 licenses for Daycare | NZ registered company. Owner/major shareholder Wayne Wright | |
| PORSE | 5,658 | 69 licenses for Home-based | Franchise business. NZ registered company Jenny Yule major shareholder with David Yule. | Owners of PORSE ECE Training Ltd |
| Canterbury-Westland Free Kgtn Assn (KidsFirst) | 4,128 | 63 licenses for Free Kindergartens and 1 Daycare | Incorporated Society | |
| Wellington Region Free Kgtn Assn | 3,931 | 62 licenses for Free Kindergartens | Incorporated Society | |
| Barnardos | 3,797 | 56 licenses for homebased and 28 Daycare) | Charitable Trust | Provides a number of different child/ family related social services. |
| 2,975 | 58 licenses including Free kindergartens and 8 Daycare centres | Incorporated Society | ||
| Kindercare | 2,908 | 59 licenses for Daycare. | Private Business. NZ Registered company Glenda & Allan Wendelborn major shareholders. Kindercare also has a charitable trust which had 30 children on its Daycare roll (1 July 2009). |
Owners of NZ Tertiary College providing teacher edn. Long-standing Early Childhood Council involvement |
| Lollipops | 1,815 | 43 licenses | Franchise Business. NZ Registered company. Number of shareholders. |
There are two other big providers. The NZ Playcentre Federation Inc through their Associations provides parent support and early childhood education for 15,120 children – many more than any one of the big operators listed above. The playcentre management/ownership model reduces risk in that while Playcentre Associations must belong to the Federation in order to operate, associations own their centres as an Incorporated Societies. So if one association folded it would impact on the children and families in that association only.
The roll sizes of Te Kohanga Reo centres are not listed by the Ministry of Education in its directory of early childhood service. But we do know that the Te Kohanga National Trust Board has a similar number of centre licenses as the Playcentre Associations put together. It may well be that the Te Kohanga National Trust Board provides for more children than the Auckland Kindergarten Association and ABC NZ Ltd.
To read the full article on this topic of "The Big Business of Childcare" click here!
4. Hot off the Press – A Selection of Just Some of the New Articles Now Available
About Changing Nappies: Changing the nappies of other people’s children is something that few people, men or women, usually rush to do. And nappy changing is commonly viewed as a women’s task anyway so we shouldn’t worry if men do it or not. Or should we? Bryan G. Nelson explains how he came to realise that nappy changing was something that men should, and can do – and how it benefits infants and toddlers for men not to be kept away. To read this article, add your comments and read others comments click here.
What Parents Find Helps To Make a Successful Transition to School For their Child: Starting school is a major milestone in any child’s life but it can be stressful, and the success or otherwise of the transition period between childcare or preschool can set the tone for a child’s academic career. However while the focus is often on the children it can also be a stressful time for parents. To read more and share your thoughts and experiences click here.
Practical Advice to Reduce and Control Noise Levels: Here's some practical advice for early childhood service managers and head teachers on changes that might work in reducing/controlling noise levels in your early childhood setting. For a copy of this important information and advice click here.
Whether Mums Should Return to Work and Use Childcare: For many mothers the decision about whether to return to work and put their children into childcare is one of the hardest they have to make. To read and add your comments to this article by Arwen Hann click here.
About Babies: A new study by American researcher Professor Kathy Danko-McGhee from the
About Bullying: Bullying starts from a young age. Its not something that only school age kids do. To read more and contribute to discussion on this click here
Celebrating the Indian Festival of Light: Different cultures have different celebrations that are important to them. In this article Karen Miller, a fourth generation New Zealand Pakeha explains fun and practical ways for early childhood programmes to celebrate Diwali, the Indian Festival of Light. To find out more and share your ideas too click here.
Why Would a Qualified Teacher Want to Do More Study? For early childhood teachers the goal is to gain a diploma or degree in early childhood teaching. Further study beyond the undergraduate qualification is rarely recognised in pay scales and can be considered superfluous to being a teacher, i.e. a waste of time. In this article Melanie Wong provides a personal account of her journey from being an unqualified qualified teacher to becoming “over-qualified”. To read more and contribute to discussion on this topic click here
Teachers Exposed to too High Noise Levels – and Service Legal Responsibilities: Noise is only to be expected in early childhood centres but dealing with loud noise on a day to day basis could be putting the hearing of early childhood teachers at risk. A recent study by two
Working with Immigrant Families: Many immigrant children and parents have learning and parenting styles different from ‘New Zealanders’, posing challenges to early childhood teachers working within the NZ early childhood system. In this article Angel Chan draws on research that has identified some experiences that are common amongst immigrant parents and children. This information can be used by professionals to lift the effectiveness of early education for immigrant children. To read more and contribute to discussion on this click here.
For Parents – The Joy of Having a Gifted Child: A common experience of most teachers and parents is that a young child who is also gifted is really hard work. The personal pleasures and rewards a gifted child brings, however, far makes up for this as Melanie Wong a parent and an early childhood senior lecturer explains. To read and add your comments click here click here
Books Children Prefer: Books are an integral part of a child’s education but getting them to sit down and read can be a difficult task particularly in the modern world where televisions and computers have an increasing influence. Often books are chosen by adults, particularly for younger children and babies, but a new study by American researcher Professor Kathy Danko-McGhee from the
5. Prize Draw Winners
Thank You all for participating in the prize draw at the Rainbow in My Head Day, in
It is with pleasure that ChildForum announces the winners:
- The top prize of a bottle of French Champagne goes to Sonia Belsham (Rainbow Early Learning Centre, Petone)
- The Robert Harris $25.00 voucher was won by Pamera Ngatai (Pahiatua)
- 12 Months Membership of ChildForum worth $75.00 goes to Pauline Murphy (Pitter-Patter Education Centre, Fielding)
- The NZ Research in ECE Journal, Vol. 12 priced at $42.00 goes to Susan Holmes (Barnardos,
6. Feature Reviews on Early Childhood Services
To nominate your early childhood service to be featured online contact us.
Online you’ll find articles featuring these early childhood services. Click on any of the names below to be taken to the page on the website where they are featured.
Mayfield Kindergarten - Blenheim
Arthur Burns Preschool - Mosgiel
Premier Preschool - Wellington
One Tree Hill Kindergarten - Auckland
Abbotsford Early Childhood Centre – Waipawa
The Funhouse Learning Centre Ltd - Wanganui
Kids Domain Early Learning Centre - Auckland
Premier Preschool - Wellington
7. Information Alerts
The Power of the Media to Influence Education Policy
“Pressure for quick fixes can outweigh research evidence when ministers set schools policy, according to a study of three decades of education initiatives” . To read about this click here. Do you think this is the case here in NZ? Should parent and early childhood lobby groups forget about lobbying Ministers and concentrate on the media? Or do you think knowledge and research should have greater weight than the media and interest groups? Your views please on this – click here to send in your evidence or media comment
More Children are Not Enrolled in a Formal Early Childhood Service than One Might Think
The latest NZ Statistics National Childcare Survey reports that there are an estimated 308,000 children aged 0 – 6 years. Of the 141,500 preschool children not using a formal early childhood service, the main reason given in 71% of cases was that the parent preferred to look after the child themselves or had no need to use care. A further 7% stated they preferred to use family or friends or people known to them. Only 5.6% of children were not attending a licensed centre or home-based service because it was too expensive. A small percentage, 4.3% were not enrolled at a formal service due to lack of spaces, or lack of provisions at times parents needed. Here is where you can find the survey results click here.
GST Increase – Are You Ready?
Early Childhood Service Managers and Owners did you know that current legislation provides that where there is a change in the GST rate Government grants and subsidies are not automatically increased? How far are you going to absorb the cost of the new GST rate that comes into effect on 1 October? Consider that GST is not usually a cost that is borne by businesses as businesses act as agents of the Government to collect the tax and pass it on. WKH provide detailed information and a very handy guide to 15% GST click here to be taken to their website. If you have issues about the GST increase and how it specifically affects early childhood services, parent fees etc, please let us know at ChildForum. To add your comments, questions, and read what others say click here for GST comment.
Sick Leave Change – What You Need to Know
In July 2010 the Government announced a number of changes to employment law including that employers will be able to request medical certificates from employees who take a day off sick. This policy change appears to be creating quite a bit of discussion amongst early childhood teachers, workers, and employers.
Worries are being expressed about whether their employer will tell them to see a doctor who does not know them or what the repercussions might be if they can’t get an appointment on the day they are sick. And what happens if when they get an appointment they are no longer sick? The employer may decide you no longer need to get a medical certificate. What you need to know is that you can see your own doctor. It’s very unlikely that any employer would request a medical certificate for a day off work when you are sick unless you have a repeated pattern of sickness or the employer believes you are faking (e.g. has seen you out shopping when you say you have the tummy bug). Employers must pay for the cost of your doctors’ appointment if they request you get a medical certificate – so this is a financial disincentive to employers to ask you to get a medical certificate unless they believe it necessary.
From the employers perspective – requesting a medical certificate may not help with the issue of a an employee taking a large amount or unnecessary sick leave. Often doctors’ certificates don’t provide details beyond ‘Jane is unfit for work for --- days’. To discuss this further and share your thoughts on this policy change click here for change in sick leave policy.
Proposal for Raised Academic Standards for Entry into Teacher Training
Currently the teaching diploma/degree is an undergraduate qualification. The Education Minister has released a report and is asking for feedback on a number of proposals to improve the teaching workforce. Among the proposal is one that will require people to have completed a degree first and then undergo teacher education at the post-graduate level. Currently the teaching diploma/degree is an undergraduate qualification.
This proposal and others covered in the report are targeted at the teaching profession within compulsory education (primary and secondary). We should however see some significant lobbying by early childhood lobby groups on the recommendations of this report, because (a) The NZ Teachers Council does not distinguish between early childhood, primary, and secondary teachers – all can become registered teachers, (b) primary qualified teachers can be counted in the ratios in early childhood programmes, and (c) The Education Minister says in the Forward to the Education Workforce Advisory Group Discussion Document that “these proposals have implications for the way we develop and manage the teacher workforce and early childhood sector. The closing date for submissions is/was 6 August 2010. If your early childhood service is a member of an early childhood lobby group ask what positions they are taking and for the submission they made on members behalf. Let the Minister of Education know your thoughts about the proposals. For links to the report and feedback form click here.
Positions in Education and Early Childhood Education at the
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