Happy Tots :: Enrol Process & Eligibility

Before enrolment

Am I eligible to enrol?
- Do you have someone help you to look after your child? Yes
- Can this person can legally work in NZ? Yes
- Is this person a family member? Yes - She/He will need to live in a separate place from the child unless she/he looks after another child who is not a family member

No - She/He can live with you or she/he can live in a seperate address from the child

If you are looking for a child care option, we can find you a suitable educator.
All of our educators meet the health and safety guideline and they are police vetted with all adults over 17 live with them in their house.
If you already having someone looks after the child, we will advise you about the requirements to be met in order to enroll in regards to health and safety, police vetting.
We are approved by Work and Income as a licensed provider, so depending your family income, we can provide assist in applying for childcare subsidy through WINZ
If you have someone looking after the child already, She/he will need to at least look after your child at a regular basis for 18 hours per week. We will make an initial visit to the house that the child is looked after and give more information about our programme and have an initial health and safety check.
Once you have made up your mind to start with us, please complete all required forms to enrol your child

Once your child’s enrolment form with your child’s birth certificate and immunisation certificate are back with us, we will confirm enrolment for your child with the educator.

If you have your own educator, we will do police vetting on your educator and advise you when the police vet is back.

After enrolment

Your visiting teacher will contact you to organise some time prior to the start date for settling the child with the educator to ensure that the child feels safe and secure in the absence of their parent/carers. She will also offer some free hours for this settling period.

A detailed Learning Journey is written after each visit, documenting your child’s strengths, interests and abilities. This becomes a valuable keepsake, celebrating their early learning milestones and achievements.

Based on the educator feedback about the child’s learning, the Programme Coordinator will make an Individualised Learning Programme, based on the Te Whãriki, the NZ Early Childhood Curriculum, for your child.

Every Visit the Programme Coordinator will discuss your child’s learning, review the Child’s portfolio. They will also leave resources and toys for the child. In addition to monthly home visits, our Programme Coordinators also organise play groups, outings and other activities to support educational care.

FAQ

How long does the enrolment process take?

In general, the enrolment process with Happy Tots is very straight forward and easy. The most time consuming step is Police Vetting, that really depends on the workload of Police Vetting Department. Normally most of the Police Vetting requests will have results back to us within 4 weeks.

We will run you through steps and documents required for enrolment.

We will be doing an initial visit to meet you in person and provide you more information about the programme as well as our philosiphy, that is important to ensure you are happy about what we do, the curriculum and learning experience we plan, more importantly you are happy about Happy Tots Education Philosiphy.

Further inquiries, please do not hesitate to contact us on 0800 20 8000 or email info@happytots.co.nz

I drop my child off at my mother’s house each day and she takes care of her while I work. Is my mother able to be funded by the Ministry of Education for doing this?

If your mother worked as an educator for a licensed home based service provider such as Happy Tots In home then the service provider would be able to claim funding for your child and your mum will be get paid a subsidy from Happy Tots in Home for her work.

Is this subsidy income tested or do I have to work or study to be eligible?

No, this subsidy is not income tested as it is a rewards for your educator's work. The parents do not have to go to work or study for their educator to qualify for this subsidy.

My mother comes to my house each day and takes care of my child while I work. Is my mother able to be funded by the Ministry of Education for this work?

My mother lives with me and takes care of my child while I work. Is my mother able to be funded by Ministry of Education for this work?

Only a licensed home based service provider can claim funding from the Ministry of Education.Your mother would need to work for a home-based service as an educator and your home must be available for use by children who are not part of your family and at least one child who is not a member of your family needs to attend your home for care and education.If these conditions are met then the home-based service provider will be able to claim funding for each child, including your child.