He Pānui Kōhungahunga
Issue 78
He Pānui Kōhungahunga
Ngā mihi o te Rāpare,
A nationwide outbreak of whooping cough (pertussis) in 2017 saw more than 1300 cases. According to the Ministry of Health, whooping cough is a highly infectious disease that is spread through coughing and sneezing. It is a serious condition that leads to prolonged coughing and can be life-threatening.
Tragically two babies have died from whooping cough this year, so please kōrero with families and whānau about the importance of immunising when pregnant and on time when tamariki are 6 weeks, 3 months and 5 months old, with boosters at 4 and 11 years old.
Immunisation is free for all children and young people aged under 18 years, pregnant people for every pregnancy, and all adults at 45 and 65 years of age as immunity reduces.
Ministry of Health – whooping cough
Mauri ora,
Iona
Funding settings for services affected by Auckland floods and Cyclone Gabrielle
Emergency closure funding
Licensed early childhood services who have been affected by the Auckland floods and Cyclone Gabrielle and are still unable to open, are now required to contact their local Te Mahau office to gain approval to claim emergency closure funding.
Absence funding
Early learning services in the Hawke’s Bay/Tairāwhiti region affected by Cyclone Gabrielle may continue to claim absence funding for children not in attendance if the service is open as normal.
Services should mark the child as absent, and funding can be claimed for the booked hours of permanently enrolled children who are marked as absent. Funding may not be claimed for casually enrolled children who do not attend.
EC12 absence exemption: Frequent absence and continuous absence rules
Services in Hawke’s Bay/Tairāwhiti region affected by Cyclone Gabrielle can continue to automatically apply an absence exemption for permanently enrolled children who are no longer eligible for funding due to breaking the frequent absence or continuous absence rules. This can only be applied for children whose attendance is directly impacted by the Cyclone. This exemption can continue to be applied directly in your student management system up until 28 April.
When an absence exemption is applied, the frequent absence and three-week continuous absence rules are suspended. While the absence exemption is in place, funding can be claimed as normal for the booked hours of children with a permanent enrolment. Funding must not be claimed for children who have permanently left your service.
Dual enrolments
For services in the Hawke’s Bay/Tairāwhiti region there may still be situations where a child needs to attend a service other than their enrolled service.
If the services are not operated by the same service provider, then both services can continue to claim funding for that child.
If a child needs to attend a different service operated by the same service provider, both services can continue to claim funding for that child up until 28 April. Enrolment and attendance records should be maintained at both services.
For any children temporarily attending a service, their enrolment agreement should contain a note explaining the temporary enrolment, for example, "[Child's name] is attending this service due to the effects of Cyclone Gabrielle. [Child's name] is also enrolled at [service name(s)] in the cyclone affected region". If the child permanently enrols in the new service, the child’s enrolment should be updated to reflect the change.
Funding should not be claimed if a child has permanently left your service.
Childcare assistance increases from 1 April
From 1 April, income thresholds and hourly rates for childcare subsidy and the out of school care and recreation (OSCAR) subsidy will increase.
The annual general adjustment on 1 April will adjust the thresholds and rates. The income thresholds will further increase following an additional policy change.
The parents of around 10,000 children will newly qualify for childcare assistance (approximately 7,400 additional children for the childcare subsidy and 2,900 children for the OSCAR Subsidy).
The confirmed income thresholds and hourly rates from 1 April, along with more information about these changes, can be found on the Work and Income website:
Childcare assistance available to more people – Work and Income
Families that qualify from 1 April
Families that newly qualify due to the increased income thresholds can now apply for childcare assistance.
People can check if they qualify by reading the information on the Work and Income website, as well as using the ‘Check what you might get’ calculator (this allows you to check for other available payments, too).
Check what you might get – Ministry of Social Development
Childcare subsidy – Work and Income
Out of school care and recreation (OSCAR) subsidy – Work and Income
For support and more information
If you’re a childcare provider and have queries, please give the Work and Income childcare assistance provider team a call on 0800 776 843.
You can also visit the Work and Income website:
Criteria to be excluded from network approval now gazetted
From 1 February, unless excluded, anyone intending to establish a new licensed early childhood service needs network approval by the Minister of Education.
Services that can be excluded from requiring network approval are those that can demonstrate a commitment to using, revitalising and protecting te reo Māori. This provision further supports the priority to grow the supply of early childhood services provided in te reo Māori.
The following services are eligible:
- A kōhanga reo chartered to Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust Board, or
- A standalone early childhood service that proposes to teach in te reo Māori at, or close to, full immersion, or
- An early childhood service that proposes to teach in te reo Māori for the majority of the time and is affiliated to a peak body that has been recognised by the Minister of Education as meeting the criteria set by the Minister, or
- An early childhood service that proposes to teach in te reo Māori for the majority of the time and will be provided by, or associated with, an iwi or Māori organisation that has been recognised by the Minister of Education as meeting the criteria set by the Minister.
The peak bodies and Māori/iwi organisations concerned need to be able to demonstrate that they meet the criteria set by the Minister of Education in the New Zealand Gazette notice, which can be found here:
Education notice 2023 – New Zealand Gazette
Ministers will consider applications from peak bodies and Māori/iwi organisations, and if successful the body will be gazetted in the New Zealand Gazette.
Once a peak body or Māori/iwi organisation is gazetted, any new Māori immersion service that is a member of or affiliated to that body or organisation will not need to seek network approval. But they will need to demonstrate, at time of seeking a licence, that they are excluded from the network approval requirement.
Email us to discuss the process at earlylearning.regulatoryreview@education.govt.nz.
Requesting evidence of COVID-19
Most staff in your centre will not qualify for publicly funded PCR tests, therefore you will need to accept another form of evidence. Information on accepted tests can be found here:
Information for those with COVID-19 – Unite Against COVID-19
You do not need to show a negative test result to return to work after your seven-day isolation period.
