Glossary

A

Adults providing education and care

Hospital play specialists kaiako, teachers, supervisors, parent helpers, kaiāwhina, fa’iaoga, or other adults who have a designated role of providing education and care to children at a service and are included in required adult:child ratios.

Assessment

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.

C

Culture

The understandings, patterns of behaviour, practices, and values shared by a group of people.

E

ECE

Early childhood education.

Excursion

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.

P

Parent

• 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, stepparent, partner of a parent of a child, legal guardian or member of the child’s family, whānau or other culturally recognised family group.

Philosophy

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
  • whānau | families, 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

A statement intended to influence and determine decisions, actions and other matters.

Premises

The parts of the hospital where children participating in the service receive early childhood education and care.

Procedure

A particular and established way of doing something.

Process

A goal-directed, interrelated series of actions, events, procedures or steps.

R

Records

Information or data on a particular subject collected and preserved.

Regulation

A regulation under the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008.

Required adult:child ratio

The adult:child ratio with which the service provider is required to comply under regulation 44(1)(b) or any direction by the Secretary under regulation 54(2).

S

Service

A hospital-based education and care service.

Service curriculum

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

The body, agency, or person who or that operates the hospital-based education and care service.