Glossary

For the purposes of these criteria:

‘Assessment’ means the process of noticing children’s learning, recognising its significance, and responding in ways that foster further learning. It includes documenting some, but not necessarily all, of what and how children are learning in order to inform teaching, and make learning visible.

'Coordinator' means the person who has primary responsibility for overseeing the education and care, comfort, and health and safety of the children, and providing professional leadership and support to educators within the service.

‘Culture’ means the understandings, patterns of behaviour, practices, and values shared by a group of people.

'Educator' means the person with the designated role of providing education and care directly to children in his or her care, and attends to the health and safety of those children.

‘Medicine’ means any substance used for a therapeutic purpose and includes prescription and non prescription preparations having the meaning assigned to these under Appendix 2.

‘Non-porous material’ means a material which does not allow water to pass through it.

‘Outing' or 'Excursion’ means:

• being outside the licensed premises whilst receiving education and care from the service; but
• does not include an outing for the purposes of emergency evacuations, drills or the receipt of urgent medical attention

‘Parent’ means:

• the person (or people) responsible for having the role of providing day to day care for the child; and
• may include a biological or adoptive parent, step parent, partner of a parent of a child, legal guardian or member of the child’s family, whānau or other culturally recognised family group.

‘Philosophy’ means a statement that:

• outlines the fundamental beliefs, values, and ideals that are important to the people involved in the service – management, adults providing education and care, parents, families/whānau, and perhaps the wider community;
• identifies what is special about the service; and
• is intended to be the basis for decisions about the way the service is managed and about its direction in the future.

‘Policy’ means a statement intended to influence and determine decisions, actions, and other matters.

‘Premises’ means home in which education and care is to be provided, and its associated outdoor space.

‘Procedure’ means a particular and established way of doing something.

‘Process’ means a goal-directed, interrelated series of actions, events, procedures, or steps.

'Records’ means information or data on a particular subject collected and preserved.

'Regulation' means a regulation under the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008.

'Service' means a home-based education and care service.

'service curriculum’ means all of the experiences, interactions, activities and events - both direct and indirect, planned, and spontaneous - that happen at the service. Teaching practices including planning, assessment, and evaluation form part of the service curriculum.

'service provider' means the body, agency, or person who or that operates the home-based education and care service.