There is a cost to 20 Hours ECE, so branding it as ‘FREE’ to parents is not only misleading, but also unfair to providers and educators who are struggling to understand how they can close the gap between what is funded and the cost of delivery.
Tiny Nation advocates for increased service funding, to allow for higher-quality outcomes for children and better working conditions for teachers. We want to see the wider early learning sector funded in a way that will enable services to meet an increase in family demand and support the best possible learning outcomes for our tamariki.
Growing concern around increasingly difficult working conditions for early childhood teachers has become a big reason for qualified teachers making the move from teaching in centre-based services to setting up their own home-based services.
As we kick into gear in 2021, we find ourselves once again facing the unknowns of this tricky COVID-19 virus, starting last week off with a move up in alert levels and a change to the return to normality that we’ve all become rather used to!
Tiny Nation Founding Director, Erin Maloney, speaks to Hawkes Bay Today about the food and nutrition advice given to ECE services nationwide. Erin says “Educators will be taking a common-sense approach” and working from an education and support point of view in partnership with families, empowering right decisions not policing.
As the festive season approaches, it’s natural to start to reflect on the year that’s been, and it’s been a BIG year of firsts for the team at Tiny Nation!
While it has been a rollercoaster of ups and downs, 2020 has reinforced for us at Tiny Nation just what we’re all about and WHY we started. We’re about creating ‘pockets’ (or bubbles!) of quality care and education in safe, natural and familiar home environments.
As the days lengthen and the weather allows for more outdoor play and adventure, we are loving seeing our tiny learners grow more in confidence as they explore the world around them.
Okay, so Matariki (the Māori New Year) was a few weeks back and we’re a bit late off the mark with this one. However, one thing that Matariki brings is a sense of reflection and it can take some time to think about everything that a special event like Matariki signifies. The idea of a …
It’s been a busy last few weeks as we’ve settled into Term 3 and our community programme has fully ramped up again to allow us to connect with our educators, families and tamariki regularly.