Increasing ECE Centre Size

What is happening to the ECE centre size regulation?

Under current regulations, ECE services can have a maximum of 50 children on one ECE licence. This has meant that services that cater for the needs of over 50 children have had to hold multiple licences.

Currently around 460 ECE services cater for over 50 children and to do so they have had to obtain multiple licences.

Changes to centre size regulations will raise the maximum centre size that ECE services or hospital-based education and care services can be licensed for - from 50 to 150 licensed child places - while still maintaining existing quality provision. 

Why has there been a change to increase centre size?

The Government is committed to making it easier for ECE services to comply with government regulations and to reduce unnecessary compliance costs on services. 

Increasing centre size to allow for a maximum of 150 child places will remove unnecessary compliance burdens on the sector, while ensuring quality, health and safety standards for children are retained.

When will the centre size changes come into effect?

1 July 2011.

Will the change affect the health, safety or quality of ECE in these services?

No. The current regulated standards for licensing (through the 2008 Regulations) will be retained.  Services have to ensure that they have environments appropriate to the number of children for which they seek a licence.  Services will only be able to apply to increase their current licence to more than 50 children in attendance at one time if they:

• have the appropriate space and facilities;
• meet all the health, safety, and quality requirements;
• meet all staffing requirements; 
• are located on one single site.

What will be the new maximum child places for services and the different age groups they cater for?

The Application Process

Am I eligible to apply for an increase in licensed child places?

If your centre-based or hospital-based service is currently licensed on the 2008 regulatory framework you can apply for an increase in licensed child places up to the new maximum numbers.  If your service is currently licensed on the 1998 regulatory framework, you must transition onto the 2008 Regulations to be eligible to apply. You can apply for an increase in licensed child places at the same time.

This change does not affect home-based networks.

What do I need to consider when deciding whether to change my licence?

Things to consider before applying to make this change include:

• Does my service have the appropriate activity space and facilities?
• Does my service meet all the health and safety requirements?
• Can I retain the quality of service that I provide?
• What do our parents, whānau and community think about this change?
• What are the funding implications? How will my funding band be affected?
• What are the staffing implications? Will my supervision plan be affected?
• Will my service be considered to be located on one single site?
• Will children be able to access all facilities that they need to?
• What are the licensing and compliance implications?
• Will this change negatively affect the learning environment.

My service has one licence, can I apply to increase my licensed child places?

Yes, you can apply to increase your licence up to 150 licensed child places.

Can I merge my multi-licence service onto one licence? Do I have to merge my licences together

If you hold two or more licences on one site, you can apply to merge the licences into one licence with up to 150 licensed child places. You will need to decide which licence(s) will be retained to cover the whole site and which will be closed.

Services cannot not merge licences if they are on separate sites.

Applying to merge your licences is entirely voluntary.

When and how can I apply to change my licence?

You can apply from 1 July 2011. Applications for this change will be available from your local Ministry of Education office from 1 July.

When can I expect a decision on my application?

You will receive a response within six weeks of the Ministry receiving a fully completed application.

The time it takes to assess an application will depend on the information you have provided, whether additional information is required and the time to organise a site visit.

What if I don’t want to make a change?

Amending your licence is entirely voluntary.

Do I need to apply to change my funding?

Your funding will be processed as per normal. If you have merged two or more licences together, you will now complete only one funding form.

If you notice that your advance funding is lower than you expected, due to the timing of your licence changes, please email the Business to Business team (early.childhood@minedu.govt.nz [no spam]) to obtain an EC20 form which will correct your advance funding.

If you have any other questions regarding how to process your RS7 forms please email early.childhood@minedu.govt.nz [no spam]

Regulatory Changes and Requirements

What does approval from the Secretary for Education mean?

To be licensed for more than 50 children, and/or more than 25 children under two, the Ministry of Education must be satisfied that the service:

• has the appropriate space and facilities;
• meets all the health, safety, and quality requirements;
• meets all staffing requirements;
• is located on one single site.

The Ministry must also be satisfied that the service provides the education and care that reflects the range of children attending. Where necessary the Ministry may limit the number and ages of children within a defined activity area. 

Will regulated adult:child ratios stay as they are?

Yes the adult child ratios will remain. The regulated ratios are available on the NZ Legislation website.

What are the premises and site requirements for one licence?

The 2008 Regulations have been amended to clarify the requirements regarding the premises and site requirements for one licence.

To be eligible for a single licence, the premises must be on a single site. This means that any buildings and land intended for use as one centre-based or one hospital-based service must be:

• immediately adjacent and connected to each other; AND
• able to be accessed safely by children.

The requirement to be immediately adjacent and connected does not require buildings to be connected by a structure. It does require that the access between buildings is safe for staff and children.

Where children are required to move between buildings to access regulated activity space or basic facilities such as toilets/dining areas, sleep rooms, they must be able to move in comfort and safety in all weather conditions.

What are the person responsible changes?

The person responsible requirement requires one person responsible for every 50 children or part thereof.

This will ensure that at all times, those children, and the adults providing education and care who supervise them, are supervised by a person responsible.
The requirement that 50% of required staff (including person responsible) must hold a recognised ECE qualification has been retained.

Will there be any changes to the health and safety requirements?

There are no changes to the health and safety requirements for services. Services will have to meet all health and safety requirements and maintain a learning environment appropriate to the number of children for which they seek a licence – including requirements around noise, space and facilities. 

Where can I find more information about the changes to the 2008 Regulations?

The legislation and amended 2008 Regulations can be found at www.legislation.govt.nz

Information regarding the criteria requirements for centre-based, kōhanga and hospital-based services can be found on the ECE Lead website. This website also provides guidance on how services might meet requirements - with examples, lists of issues to consider, templates and photos.
The criteria requirements:

• centre-based services
• kōhanga reo
• hospital-based services

Are there any changes to the space requirements for children?

No. Centre-based services will continue to be required to have a minimum of 2.5m2 per child of indoor activity space and 5m2 per child of outdoor space.

Hospital-based services will continue to provide at least one space of at least 20m2 of usable space that is readily accessible by the children participating in the service that is large enough for 40% of the maximum number of children stated on the service's licence and that gives each child at least 2.5m² of space.

How should I manage the enrolment agreements during this change?

No new enrolment agreements are required unless there is also a change to the enrolment conditions of individual children (e.g. hours, or days enrolled for) or for the service as a whole (e.g. conditions of enrolment).

It is expected that services will hold documentation to help auditors to understand this change to enrolments and licences. This documentation can include the licence, showing the date of change to the services, and a notification to parents (e.g. letter, bulletin board notice) to clearly document where the enrolments were transferred from one licence to another.

If a child holds more than one enrolment agreement across the licences (e.g. morning and afternoon), the enrolment forms can be joined together (e.g. staples, in a file, etc) provided that there is no change to the enrolment conditions.

Group Size

What is group size?

Group size is different to centre size. Group size refers to the number of children in a group, for which there might be a defined activity area such as a room or a well defined space within a room.  Group size can also be determined by the way children and adults are organised.

More information on group size can be found on the on the group size information page.

Why is group size important?

When children are grouped appropriately, teachers are able to provide stimulating, responsive, warm, and supportive interactions. This leads to better quality outcomes for children.

Will the changes affect group size?

For many ECE services, increasing maximum licensed centre size will be an administrative change only.

Individual ECE services will continue to determine how best to operate, including how group size is organised within that service.