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Ministry of Education New Zealand

Education and care services

  • run all-day sessions or flexible hour programmes for children from birth to school age
  • some services cater for specific age ranges, for example, children under 2 years old
  • may be privately owned, or owned and operated by a community group
  • some have a particular language and cultural base.

Kindergartens

  • accept children between 2 and 5 years old and can have set morning and afternoon sessions for different age groups
  • some offer all-day or flexible sessions for a wider age range of children
  • non-profit, community-based services managed by a Kindergarten Association.

Home-based education and care services

  • involve an educator providing education and care for groups of up to 4 under school age children at a time in a home setting
  • each educator must belong to a licensed home-based care network and is supported by a coordinator who is a registered ECE teacher.

For definitions of educator and coordinator, see the glossary at the end of this publication.

Glossary