General

PF1 Design and layout of premises

Criteria

The design and layout of the premises:

• support the provision of different types of indoor and outdoor experiences and
• include quiet spaces, areas for physically active play, and space for a range of individual and group learning experiences appropriate to the number, ages, and abilities of children attending.

Rationale/intent

To ensure children have access to an environment that can support a range of activities for children of all ages and strikes a balance between physically active play and quiet spaces.

Guidance

All homes will be designed differently but most will have lounge or living space that can be used for a variety of activities, including where children are able to find a place for quiet activities as necessary. An area without carpet can be used for more messy activities, such as painting or clay modelling, or a coversheet can be laid down to protect flooring as necessary so that children have the ability to experience different creative activities.

Homes must have sufficient indoor space for group learning and homes also need to have some outdoor space to allow for physical activity. For the indoor and outdoor space requirements, see the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008.

If providing out-of-school care, the educator should ensure they can see and hear the children at all times. Small spaces should be kept clear of clutter and larger spaces are set up so children have clear play spaces that educators can observe.

For the indoor and outdoor space requirements, see the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008.

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, Schedule 4 – New Zealand Legislation

PF2 Premises support effective supervision

Criteria

The design and layout of the premises support effective adult supervision so that children's access to indoor and outdoor spaces is not unnecessarily limited.

Rationale/intent

To ensure the children's use of the environment is not unduly restricted by design limitations that make adequate supervision difficult.

Guidance

Homes are not always designed with small groups of children in mind, and educators need to manage any difficulties presented by the configuration of the premises.

Supervision is paramount in ensuring children are safe while attending the service.

As much as possible, the design and layout of homes should not make it too difficult for the educator (as the only adult present) to actively supervise all children attending.

Any issues with the layout of the premises that limit supervision should be included on the hazard register.

PF3 Building Act compliance

Criteria

The premises conform to any relevant bylaws of the local authority. Any premises undergoing alterations conform to the Building Act 2004.

Documentation required

• Code Compliance Certificate issued under Section 95 of the Building Act 2004 for any building work undertaken, or alternatively any other documentation that shows evidence of compliance.
• Current Annual Building Warrant of Fitness (if the premises require a compliance schedule under Section 100 of the Building Act 2004).

Rationale/intent

To ensure the premises are compliant with the Building Act 2004 and maintained in good condition.

Guidance

The provisions of the Building Act 2004 do not apply to homes built prior to 1992 that have not since been renovated. The Ministry of Education will not require code of compliance certificates for every home. If recent building work has been undertaken, then the service provider should ask for a copy of the code of compliance certificate.

Building warrants of fitness and compliance schedules are not commonly needed in residential homes. These documents are required under the Building Act only when buildings contain an escalator, lift, cable car, automatic doors, or particular kind of fire alarm – they provide evidence that these mechanical systems are maintained in good working order.

If the home is located in an apartment block, the building will require a code of compliance certificate and building warrant of fitness. Again, the service provider should ask for copies.

PF4 Variety of equipment

Criteria

A variety of equipment and materials is provided that is appropriate for the learning and abilities of the children attending.

Rationale/intent

The criterion aims to uphold a minimum level of quality education by ensuring that children have access to a range of suitable and safe equipment and materials.

Guidance

Children learn by interacting with people and with their environment. The furniture, equipment, and resources provided for children will have an impact upon their learning.

Home settings provide children with opportunities to engage in experiences that are relevant to their own lives. Children should be able to access equipment and materials that support their interests, skills and abilities.

All equipment and resources available to children must be safe and able to be kept hygienic. See HS1 Premises and contents are safe and hygienic for how to keep equipment hygienic.

HS1 Premises and contents are safe and hygienic

Think about the size, sturdiness and durability of items available to children, especially infants and toddlers.

Some home-based service providers have a range of equipment and resources available for educators to loan and educators may belong to toy libraries.

Things to consider

Consider making use of existing resources and equipment within the home to enhance children’s learning opportunities. In addition to a range of things like books, blocks, art equipment, etc, consider using existing materials and activities that take place in the home environment as learning experiences for children. For example, baking, cooking, gardening and washing dishes are activities that are easy to provide in the home setting.

Consider how the furniture, equipment, and resources you provide in the home will:

• promote and protect written and spoken language of children attending
• be non-sexist and inclusive
• support parents' aspirations for their children’s learning
• reflect different attitudes and feelings
• provide for group and individual play
• provide for children’s current and emerging interests
• provide opportunities for choice, planning, and problem solving
• be relevant and challenging for the range of ages and abilities of children attending.

Consider a balance between natural products and man-made equipment and materials. Plastic products are usually cheaper and easy to clean, but they do not usually last as long or have the same aesthetic appeal as products made from natural materials.

PF5 Infant toddler safe space

Criteria

If infants, toddlers or children not walking attend, there are safe and comfortable (indoor and outdoor) spaces for them to lie, roll, creep, crawl, pull themselves up, learn to walk, and to be protected from more mobile children.

Rationale/intent

To ensure that the safety of infants and toddlers is upheld as well as ensuring a minimum level of quality education by ensuring that mixed-age environments are designed to consider their unique needs.

Guidance

In the home setting where it is likely that children of varying levels of ability and mobility will be together in the same activity space, it is important that infants and toddlers can safely play and explore, both indoors and outdoors.

If providing out-of-school care, the educator needs to be aware of the space that older school children will be using, as well as any spaces that may be shared with ECE children.

In thinking about how to use the home’s existing design and space, consider how the following features can be incorporated:

• Allowing young children the freedom to explore and play.
• Providing older children with the opportunity to concentrate and work on a project for a sustained period of time without fear of it being demolished by a young ‘helper’.
• Lessening the likelihood of a prone or crawling infant, or a toddler just beginning to find their feet, being accidentally injured by an older child who is fully engaged in their own play and is not aware of their presence.

PF6 Flooring

Criteria

Floor surfaces are durable, safe and suitable for the range of activities to be carried out (including wet and messy play) and can easily be kept clean.

Rationale/intent

To ensure safe, hygienic and appropriate flooring.

Guidance

Floor surfaces should be easy to clean and suitable for the activities being undertaken.

Homes will have different floor types. If easy to clean floors are not available, consider laying down a coversheet over existing flooring to enable children to engage in creative or messy activities.

PF7 Storage

Criteria

There are spaces for the safe storage of children's play equipment, personal belongings, cleaning materials, and confidential administrative records.

Rationale/intent

To ensure that equipment is safely stored, and that confidentiality can be assured in a home setting.

Guidance

Homes are not always designed with large storage areas. Consider how to best use existing storage areas, that is, cabinets or cupboards, to provide the storage needed.

When children are attending an educator’s home, it is important for them to have independent access to their belongings, so they have the ability to take some responsibility for their things, including choosing what to wear throughout the day.

Storage space both indoors and outside will be needed for resources, such as paper, paint, spare puzzles, books, so that these are easily accessible to support children’s learning. Consider how existing storage space might be adapted, such as the lower shelves of existing linen and spare cupboards, to accommodate resources. If additional storage space is needed, there is a range of inexpensive options, such as baskets or stackable boxes, available.

If high shelving is being used, it will be necessary to ensure that any stored equipment can’t fall in an earthquake.

Any confidential administrative records kept in the home setting must be stored using a lockable cupboard, file box, file cabinet, drawer or room to ensure visitors to the home cannot access these.

Cleaning materials need to be safely stored out of children’s reach. A lockable cupboard (for example, with security latches) or high shelving in the kitchen or laundry area may be most suitable for this purpose.

PF8 Art sink

Criteria

There are hygienic facilities (other than those required by PF18) or alternative arrangements available for the preparation and cleaning up of paint and other art materials.

Rationale/intent

To ensure that facilities for preparing and cleaning art materials uphold hygienic practices.

Guidance

There needs to be adequate space and facilities to prepare and clean up paint and other art materials. A laundry tub would be appropriate for art preparation and clean up. Bathroom facilities are not appropriate.

Alternative systems may include:

• Using one or more buckets to wash materials and disposing of the wastewater in the laundry sink or down an outside gully trap.
• Placing an insert into a sink facility used for another purpose to prevent art materials from coming into contact with any cleaning waste or chemical residues, and/or to prevent paint or wastewater from coming into contact with the sink.

Robust cleaning procedures are needed to ensure all facilities are thoroughly cleaned before and after being used for art preparation and clean up.

PF9 Telephone

Criteria

A telephone is available for calls to and from the premises.

Rationale/intent

To ensure that services have the means to contact parents as necessary, and vice versa, as well as easily deal with any emergency situations that may arise.

Guidance

A phone at the home allows:

• quick contact with emergency services when necessary
• 2-way contact with parents or caregivers (that is, you can call them, and they can call you).

A mobile phone is sufficient to meet the criterion so long as parents are happy to call a mobile number and, if pre-paid, it is kept charged with credit so the educator can make calls.

If the home only has a cordless phone, be aware the educator will be unable to use it when the power goes off for any reason.

PF10 Heating, lighting and ventilation

Criteria

Parts of the home used by children have:

• lighting (natural or artificial) that is appropriate to the activities offered or purpose of each room
• ventilation (natural or mechanical) that allows fresh air to circulate (particularly in sanitary and sleep areas) and
• a safe and effective means of maintaining a room temperature of no lower than 18°C.

Rationale/intent

To ensure the safety and wellbeing of children.

Guidance

Heating

Efficient heating will ensure rooms can be kept at a comfortable temperature while children are attending. See HS21 Room temperature.

HS21 Room temperature

There is a range of options, but safety of children is paramount. See HS11 Hazard management.

HS11 Hazard management

Noise

The materials and decoration used in your service will help to reduce noise levels for everyone’s benefit.

As a general rule, 2 things help to reduce noise:

1. Soft furnishings. The softer furnishings you have, the more sound is absorbed. Some practical options are:
   • curtains
   • rugs and carpet
   • big cushions
   • couches/lounge chairs.
2. Complex shapes. Complex shapes break up and scatter sound waves, reducing noise reverberation in the room. Practical examples are:
   • acoustic ceiling tiles
   • fabric draped from the ceiling
   • decorations on walls, especially thick wall hangings and 3-dimensional decorations rather than flat pictures
   • carpet attached to the underside of tables.

Double glazing can be very effective in reducing outside noise, if this is a significant problem. However, it can be expensive to retrofit into existing windows, and alternative ventilation may be needed in place of opening windows.

Ventilation

There must be adequate ventilation in every room in the home that is used by children. Good ventilation is particularly important for rooms children sleep in, where nappies are changed, and bathrooms.

Good ventilation will:

• supply fresh air for breathing
• clear away pollutants and odours to improve air quality
• help remove excessive moisture in the air
• improve thermal comfort in warm weather by increasing air movement and removing heat.

PF11 Outdoor activity space

Criteria

There is an outdoor activity space that is:

• easily accessible and available to children
• enclosed by structures and/or fences and gates that are maintained so that children cannot leave without an adult's help; and
• safe, well-drained, and suitably surfaced for a variety of activities.

Rationale/intent

The criterion aims to:

• uphold a minimum level of quality education by ensuring that children have easy access to the outdoor environment
• uphold children's safety by ensuring that the outdoor environment is securely fenced so that 'escape' is less likely, and
• uphold children's safety and a minimum level of quality education by ensuring the area is well drained and has suitable surfacing.

The criterion is underpinned by the belief that the opportunity for outdoor play is an important feature of the education and care of young children in New Zealand.

Guidance

It is important all mobile children are able to get outside without being dependent on adults.

Outdoor space should:

• enable children to experience natural settings (for example, wind, sky, sun, rain)
• enable children to undertake activities that would generally not be allowed inside a home (for example, running, kicking a ball)
• include items typical and distinctive to outdoor settings (such as dirt, grass, sandpits, paddling pools and outdoor play equipment).

The suitability of the outdoor space to provide the outcomes for children will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the practicalities and risks of each case under the provisions of Regulation 54(3) of the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008.

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, Regulation 54 – New Zealand Legislation

Children cannot be in a position to leave the licensed premises without the knowledge of the educator.

Fences

It is important that children playing outside are safe and not able to leave the home setting unassisted or unnoticed by an adult. The most practical way of keeping children safe is to have unclimbable fences or barriers enclosing the play space. It is recognised that fences in home-based settings will vary in design and height. The materials fences or barriers are constructed with, height and space design, and size should also be considered.

Beware of plantings (trees) and placement of moveable equipment that negate the height of the fence.

Fences under 1 metre that are made of climbable materials can be made unclimbable with the addition of shade cloth or use of additional barrier or fencing type materials, such as brushwood fencing or chicken wire.

Very low fences may need to be replaced to ensure children cannot leave unnoticed.

Temporary fencing forms may be appropriate if erection is stable and secure so that a child is unable to climb over or through the barrier or push the barrier over.

If there are significant hazards such as roads, rivers, or animals in close proximity to the home, consideration needs to be given to how the risk can be mitigated or managed by the educator. More guidance for rural properties is given in 'Things to consider'.

Gates

Gates need to have a working locking mechanism so children cannot open them unassisted.

Surfacing

Having a variety of surfaces (such as grass, decking, concrete, paving and so on) to play on supports children’s exploration and helps them to make links with the wider world. Regardless of the types of surfaces at the home, each must be safe, well drained and fit for purpose. Any surface that allows water to pool is a potential safety hazard that will need to be managed.

Grass is an ideal surface for most outdoor activities. It can also be used as a safety surface for equipment under one metre in height. It has the advantage of staying cool in hot weather and is suitable for both walking and crawling children.

Areas of decking, concrete or paving are also suitable for outdoor activity, provided they do not pose any other hazards. Both types generally drain well and have the advantage of needing little maintenance. However, they are hard and abrasive and cannot be used as a safety surface.

Things to consider

Rural properties

A very large outside area may make supervision more difficult and the fencing of an enclosed smaller area adjacent to the home may be a sensible option.

Wire stranded farm fencing restricts movements of animals but not children, and additional covering will be required particularly when water troughs, roads, animals or farm machinery are nearby.

Electric fencing is unsuitable as a barrier.