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Ministry of Education New Zealand

GMA5 Philosophy statement

A philosophy statement guides the service's operation.

Documentation required

A written statement expressing the service's beliefs, values and attitudes about the provision of early childhood education and care.

Rationale/intent

The criterion aims to ensure that the service has information available for parents and staff about the philosophy that underpins their provision of early childhood education and care. This information supports the collaboration between parents and the service to achieve positive outcomes for children.

Amended 21 July 2011.

GMA6 Self-review and internal evaluation

An ongoing process of self-review and internal evaluation helps the service maintain and improve the quality of its education and care.

Documentation required

  1. A process for reviewing and evaluating the service's operation (for example, learning and teaching practices, philosophy, policies and procedures) by the people involved in the service. The process is consistent with criterion GMA4/GMA3 and includes a schedule showing timelines for planned review of different areas of operation.

    GMA4 Parent involvement

    GMA3 Information provided to parents

  2. Recorded outcomes from the review and evaluation process. Outcomes show how the service has regard for the Statement of National Education and Learning Priorities (NELP) in its operation.

GMA7 Human resource management

Suitable human resource management practices are implemented.

Documentation required

Processes for human resource management, including:

  • selection and appointment procedures
  • job/role descriptions
  • induction procedures into the services
  • a system of regular appraisal
  • provision for professional development
  • a definition of serious misconduct; and
  • discipline/dismissal procedures.

Rationale/intent

The criterion informs the Ministry of Education about the management’s commitment and capability to implement human resource management practices that will recruit, manage and develop competent staff, as the ongoing quality of the staff engaging with and educating children is important in a quality service.

GMA7A Safety checks

Before a person is employed or engaged as a children's worker, as defined in the Children's Act 2014, a safety check as required by that Act must be completed.

A detailed record of each component of the safety check must be kept, and the date on which each step was taken must be recorded, including the date of the risk assessment required to be completed after all relevant information is obtained.

These records must be kept by, or available to, the service provider as long as the person is employed or engaged.

Every children’s worker must be safety checked every 3 years. Safety checks may be carried out by the employer or another person or organisation acting on their behalf.

Documentation required

  1. A written procedure for safety checking all children’s workers before employment or engagement of the worker commences that meets the safety checking requirements of the Children's Act 2014.
  2. A record of all safety checks and the results.