. Early Childhood Education Funding - ELI
Transcription
. Early Childhood Education Funding - ELI
. Date April 2015 Circular 2015/05 Category Funding Early Childhood Education Funding This circular is about the July 2015 Early Childhood Education Funding Payment. This circular replaces 2015/02 The action needed is read this circular in conjunction with the Early Childhood Education (ECE) Funding Handbook. File this circular for future reference. (if you are not submitting your funding claim electronically) complete the attached yellow Early Childhood Funding Return (RS7), make a copy for your records, and send to the address below. All forms and electronic submissions must be received by the Ministry by Monday, 8 June 2015. Key dates The key dates for the July 2015 payment are as follows: Action Date Paper RS7 Returns sent to services (if required) Wednesday, 29 April 2015 Final date for paper and electronic RS7 Returns to be received by the Ministry of Education for funding to be paid on the first working day of July 2015 Monday, 8 June 2015 ECE funding payment occurs Wednesday, 1 July 2015 (overnight) Correctly completed RS7 Returns received after Monday, 8 June 2015 but before Monday, 6 July 2015 will receive funding overnight on Monday, 20 July 2015. Contact details If you need to discuss any ECE funding issues, please contact the Resourcing Division Contact Centre: Phone: 0800 ECE ECE (0800 323 323) Email: [email protected] Postal Address: ECE Operational Funding, PO Box 1666, Wellington 6140 Physical Address: ECE Operational Funding, 45-47 Pipitea Street, Thorndon, Wellington 6011 To discuss your service’s early childhood education regulatory requirements, contact your local Ministry of Education office. Contact details for local offices are available at: www.education.govt.nz/contact-us. Circular number 2015/05 Page 1 of 10 Contents The table below outlines the contents of this circular: Subject Page number Early childhood education (ECE) bulk funding 2 ECE Updates – ELI Principles of Use 3 ECE Updates – Electronic RS7 return 4 ECE Updates – Funding Handbook Update, April 2015 4 ECE Updates – He Pānui Kōhungahunga – The Early Learning Bulletin 5 Other funding information 5-7 Equity funding 7-8 Early childhood education funding rates 9 Early childhood education (ECE) bulk funding Bulk funding cycle The July 2015 payment includes: wash-up February to May 2015; and advance July to October 2015. The wash-up payment for June 2015 will be made in November 2015. Funding payments are based on the information provided via the RS7 Return. General payment notes RS7 formats: Services connected to the Early Learning Information System (ELI) are expected to submit their RS7 Returns electronically. If you have changed your Student Management System or undergone a change of ownership during the funding period, please contact 0800 ECE ECE or [email protected] to determine how to submit your complete data to the Ministry. Computer-generated printouts of your RS7 Return in the correct format can be sent for processing. Please ensure you have still signed the declaration section of any paper form. Faxed and emailed RS7 Returns will not be accepted for processing. Postage and delivery dates: Please ensure you place sufficient postage on your envelope and note delivery targets from your area so you allow sufficient time for the mail to get to us. You can choose to courier forms to our physical address. Staff Hour Count (SHC): For services required to return SHC, any situations (other than an Emergency Closure approved by the Ministry of Education) where you are claiming Funded Child Hours (FCH) and have no SHC data require an explanatory letter to be attached to your RS7. Without this, any day with a SHC of zero will not be funded. If you are submitting your RS7 Return electronically, please email your explanatory letter to [email protected]. Fractions: Use whole figures only. Do not use fractions in any column. Funding forms containing fractions will no longer be processed; instead they will be returned to services for correction. This may delay your funding payment. Advance days: Ensure you have included these in your Return, otherwise your payment will contain wash-up funding only. Services cannot claim public holidays in advance, irrespective of whether they will be operating on that day. Email addresses: If we have your email address we will send you a courtesy message when your RS7 Return is received. However, because electronic RS7 returns are received overnight by the Ministry, this process is not immediate. Circular number 2015/05 Page 2 of 10 Advice notes: Funding advice notices are sent to services on the payment date. The Ministry does not provide confirmation of payment amounts prior to this date. Resubmissions: Resubmissions are available to correct genuine errors or oversights that come to light at a later date. They should not be considered a normal part of the process. ECE services are expected to do all they can to ensure the accuracy of all data submitted. Resubmissions may be audited by the Ministry of Education’s Monitoring Team to verify their accuracy. Forms which relate to prior periods that are more than 12 months old will not be processed. ECE Updates This section provides updates on new developments in the ECE sector that you should be aware of. ELI Principles of Use ELI requirements The Ministry of Education will begin reporting on information from the Early Learning Information (ELI) system in 2015. To ensure the information used is complete and accurate, licensed early childhood education (ECE) services, unless specifically exempt, need to return the following information through ELI: children’s National Student Numbers (NSNs) up-to-date child enrolment and attendance information the ECE Return the electronic RS7 Return. ECE services need to confirm the completeness and accuracy of their child participation information through ELI at least once a month. The previous month’s information needs to be confirmed by the end of the following month. This is done using the confirmation function within ELI Web or a student management system (SMS). New ECE services should begin sending ELI information to the Ministry within eight weeks of their licence being issued. Connecting to ELI and sending the required information can be done through ELI Web or an SMS. The Ministry may consider withholding funding if a new service does not begin sending ELI information within the eight-week period. Existing ECE services already connected to ELI need to act on requests from the Ministry to make changes to ELI information to ensure its completeness and accuracy, within eight weeks of first contact. The Ministry may consider withholding funding if an existing service does not action requests to make changes to their service’s ELI information within the eight-week period. A new version of the Early Childhood Education Funding Handbook covering these new information requirements was published on 20 April 2015. The ELI Principles of Use take effect from this date. More information will be provided in the next edition of He Pānui Kōhungahunga – The Early Learning Bulletin and on the ELI Homepage http://eli.education.govt.nz. Please email any questions you have regarding ELI Principles of Use to [email protected]. Continued on next page Circular number 2015/05 Page 3 of 10 Electronic RS7 Return RS7 Returns can be submitted electronically The Ministry of Education was very pleased to receive positive feedback from the sector about the electronic RS7 Return process, following the March 2015 funding round. We received over 1,600 electronic submissions. Feedback from the sector indicated some early childhood education (ECE) services that use student management systems (SMS) would like to know sooner whether their RS7 Return has been received by the Ministry. The Ministry sends emails to notify ECE services that their electronic RS7 Return has been received. However, as electronic RS7 Returns are received overnight by the Ministry, this means the notification is not immediate. ECE services can check within their SMS to see if their RS7 Return was submitted successfully. To find out how to do this, please contact your SMS provider. The Ministry expects approximately 3,000 ECE services will submit an electronic RS7 Return for the July 2015 funding round. For more information about the RS7 Return process, visit the RS7 Return questions and answers section of the ELI homepage http://eli.education.govt.nz, or email the Ministry’s Operational Funding team: [email protected]. Funding Handbook Update, April 2015 Updates to the Funding Handbook The Early Childhood Education Funding Handbook has been reviewed and updated. There have been no changes to funding rates in this update. The updated version is available in the Funding section of the ECE Lead website (http://www.lead.ece.govt.nz) and details were also published in He Pānui Kōhungahunga – The Early Learning Bulletin on 20 April 2015. There are four important changes to be aware of: 1. New information about ELI Principles of Use 2. A change to the funding rule regarding the calculation of Discretionary Hours and clarification of the uses of Discretionary Hours 3. A change to the process for Emergency Closures and Substitute Days 4. Explanation of the uses of the EC20 form. The funding-related forms that make up Appendix 2 are now available in the funding section of ECE Lead to download as individual documents. A number of clarifications have been made to make Funding Handbook information clearer and easier to understand. There have also been various changes to layout, grammar and punctuation. These do not impact on the information contained in the Funding Handbook. Along with the changes to the Funding Handbook, three Education Circulars have been withdrawn to reflect the clarifications made: 2008/9 – Attestation of Teachers’ Salaries 2007/11 – Attestation of Teachers’ Salaries 2001/16 – Playcentre Qualifications Circular number 2015/05 Page 4 of 10 He Pānui Kōhungahunga – The Early Learning Bulletin New communication channel This is the final edition of this general ECE Funding Circular. In the future, funding information will be communicated via the Ministry’s new publication He Pānui Kōhungahunga – The Early Learning Bulletin which is distributed monthly via email. If you have any queries regarding He Pānui Kōhungahunga – the Early Learning Bulletin or you would like to receive a copy of this electronic publication please email [email protected]. Other funding information The Funding Handbook, available on http://www.lead.ece.govt.nz contains the information you need to help you complete your funding return (see Chapter 9, in particular). Clarification of some points is provided here. Service providers Many service providers have more than one service. The Ministry links services under the same ownership into one service provider. Only one bank account can be nominated for the service provider, which must be used by all services that are linked. Any overpayments made to services are deducted from the total funding paid to the service provider. Sale of an ECE service The Ministry of Education does not get involved in the details of a sale and purchase of an ECE service. Parties and their lawyers should, however, ensure that funding implications are clearly considered within the sale and purchase agreement, including provision for continuity of funding data to enable correct completion of the RS7 Return for each period. The Ministry does not split washup and advance payments – these are paid to the account on record at the time the payment is processed Frequent Absence Rule and Continuous Absence Rule Services can claim funding for frequent absences for a maximum period of three months. At the end of the third month, if a child is still frequently absent, their enrolment agreement must be changed to match the child’s actual hours and days of attendance. Note: Funding for absences in the fourth month must not be claimed and the enrolment agreement must be changed to match the child’s attendance. Where a child is absent for a continuous period, funding can only be claimed for up to three weeks. A service must not claim funding for a child if they have been notified that the child is not returning to the service. Please refer to Chapter 6 of the Funding Handbook for further details and examples relating to the absence rules. Continued on next page Circular number 2015/05 Page 5 of 10 Other funding information continued Recording enrolment, attendance and absence for funding purposes ECE services are reminded to refer to funding information on http://www.lead.ece.govt.nz, for information on claiming funding due to absences. Services are also reminded that for funding to be delivered accurately and fairly, the following three records must be maintained: enrolment records (including accurate entry and exit dates) attendance records absence records. Services must not state that a child: is enrolled when they are not enrolled or attended when they did not attend. In the event of a funding claim audit, funding claimed incorrectly will be recovered by the Ministry. Playcentres on standard funding – licensing response The Ministry will fund up to five sessions at the standard funding rate, per funding period, when the minimum qualifications for group supervision are not being met. A breach of the minimum qualification requirements for group supervision is a breach in the licensing requirements so Playcentres will need to contact their local Ministry office who will then assess the breach. If the Ministry is assured there are no risks associated with the breach they will issue the Playcentre with a standard response letter that allows them to continue to operate and claim funding for the session. Recognising registered primary teachers in teacher-led ECE services New Zealand qualified and registered primary teachers in teacher-led ECE services can be counted as a registered teacher for funding purposes. Funding and teacher registration lapses Teachers with registration lapses can be counted as registered on the Staff Hour Count for three months from the date their application for registration renewal is sent to the New Zealand Teachers Council. This period must not exceed three months. An overseas qualified primary teacher must have a New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) assessment completed on their overseas qualification. If the NZQA assess the overseas qualification as comparable to a NZ primary qualification, and that teacher holds NZ teacher registration, then they can be recognised as a registered teacher for funding purposes. For more information and a list of frequently asked questions, go to: http://www.education.govt.nz/early-childhood/running-anece-service/employing-ece-staff/recognising-primary-teachers/ The centre supervisor or manager must sign and date a copy of the completed application. The service must retain a copy of the completed registration application on file. If registration renewal is not approved within three months, a service cannot count the teacher as registered after the three month period. Teachers should be counted as Other after that time on the Staff Hour Count. Should registration renewal be declined, the Ministry will recover any associated funding. Continued on next page Circular number 2015/05 Page 6 of 10 Other funding information continued Completion of the ECE Return or RS61 in June 2015. ECE services using the Early Learning Information (ELI) system are expected to submit an ECE Return electronically through ELI Web or through their SMS. Funding and the financial reporting requirements for the financial year ended 2013 Services that did not provide a copy of their audited financial statements within the required timeframe will have had their advance funding payment withheld from November 2014. A notification letter was sent to all services that did not return their financial statements on time and those that did not meet Ministry requirements. Services must comply with the financial reporting requirements set by the Ministry. All other services will be expected to complete the paper-based RS61. Note: The 2013 audited financial statements were due on 30 June 2014. The annual financial reporting requirements, including the deadline for submitting documentation to the Ministry, were outlined in the Education Circular 2014/37 Financial reporting requirements for early childhood education services (available online at www.education.govt.nz) and chapter 12 of the ECE Funding Handbook on www.lead.ece.govt.nz. Services will be contacted regarding the due dates for the 2014 audited financial statements. Equity Funding General information It is expected that services that receive Equity Funding use this funding to achieve goals such as: increasing the enrolment and participation of children who are Māori, Pasifika or with low socio-economic status; keeping ECE fees low for priority families to support their participation; encouraging and supporting family and whānau to actively engage with the early learning outcomes of their children; promoting acquisition of Te Reo Māori. For background information on Equity Funding (including guidelines for reporting and expenditure) please refer to the ECE Funding Handbook on www.lead.ece.govt.nz. Equity Funding calculations The July 2015 payment will include Equity Funding based on the service’s actual entitlement for February 2015 to May 2015. Continued on next page Circular number 2015/05 Page 7 of 10 Equity Funding continued Annual review of Equity Index (EQI) Licensed services may apply for an EQI review in October 2015. Services that applied for a review last year should have received a letter in February confirming the outcome. Successful applicants received their new Equity Funding in the March 2015 bulk funding payment. Funding was effective from 1 October 2014. New services and the Equity Index (EQI) New services that opened between 1 July 2014 and 31 December 2014 received an email in March 2015 asking them to make sure their ELI data was up-to-date, since the Ministry will now use ELI data to calculate the EQIs. Services not using ELI were asked to complete a manual EQI application. Successful new applicants will receive their new Equity Funding rate in the July 2015 ECE funding payment. Funding will be back-dated to the service’s open date. Services that opened between 1 January 2015 and 30 June 2015 will be emailed in October 2015 to begin the EQI assessment process. Equity rates The current Equity Funding rates per funded child hour are: Equity Component Low SocioEconomic Special Needs Equity Index (EQI) EQI 1 EQI 2 EQI 3 EQI 4 EQI 1 EQI 2 EQI 3 EQI 4 Rate per FCH $0.97 $0.77 $0.42 $0.21 $0.47 $0.30 $0.21 $0.19 The current Equity Funding monthly grants are: Equity Component Language Isolation Index Circular number 2015/05 Attestation Value of Grant per month $410.81 1.65 to 1.83 $99.95 1.84 to 2.53 $150.52 2.54 and greater $290.45 Eligibility Page 8 of 10 Early childhood education funding rates Funding rates The table below shows funding rates for all services from 1 July 2014. From 1 July 2014 Effective Dates Under 2 Over 2 20 Hours ECE Standard $7.28 $3.94 $8.76 Quality $8.31 $4.45 $9.27 80% + Registered ECE Teachers $12.12 $6.70 $11.43 50-79% Registered ECE Teachers $10.97 $5.78 $10.41 25-49% Registered ECE Teachers $8.86 $4.61 $9.15 0-24% Registered ECE Teachers $7.57 $3.83 $8.34 80% + Registered ECE Teachers $12.43 $6.92 $11.72 50-79% Registered ECE Teachers $11.24 $5.96 $10.67 25-49% Registered ECE Teachers $9.03 $4.73 $9.33 0-24% Registered ECE Teachers $7.68 $3.90 $8.48 All funding rates are GST inclusive Teacher-led home-based services All day teacher-led services All day Kindergartens Sessional teacher-led centre-based services excluding Kindergartens 80% + Registered ECE Teachers $10.77 $4.88 $6.29 50-79% Registered ECE Teachers $9.79 $4.37 $5.72 25-49% Registered ECE Teachers $7.98 $3.75 $5.05 0-24% Registered ECE Teachers $6.95 $3.38 $4.67 $13.17 $6.60 $7.91 $7.74 $3.90 $4.96 Sessional Kindergartens 100% Registered ECE Teachers Playcentre Standard Quality $8.84 $4.44 $5.52 Licensed Kōhanga Reo – (except those recognised as teacher-led for funding purposes ) Standard $7.74 $3.90 $7.82 Quality $8.84 $4.44 $8.30 Circular number 2015/05 Page 9 of 10 Further advice For more information On funding matters (either ECE Funding or Equity Funding), please contact the Resourcing Division Contact Centre Ministry of Education PO Box 1666 Wellington 6140 Phone (04) 463 8383 Fax (04) 463 8374 Email [email protected] On licensing or general operational matters contact your local Ministry of Education office. Contact details for local offices are available online at http://www.education.govt.nz/ministry-of-education/contact-us/regional-ministrycontacts/ On ELI visit http://eli.education.govt.nz or email [email protected]. On funding policy updates and changes, visit www.lead.ece.govt.nz. For information on children with special education needs Contact the Special Education Information Line For advice on business matters, tax, and/or recordkeeping Contact Inland Revenue on ISSUED BY Karin Dalgleish Acting Group Manager Early Childhood Education Early Learning, Parents and Whānau Phone 0800 622 222 Email [email protected] The Early Intervention Service within the Ministry’s Special Education Group works with young children with special education needs, their families, and early childhood education services. This service is available to children from birth until they are settled into school. Business and Tax Advice Services 0800 377 774 National Office 45 – 47 Pipitea Street, Thorndon 6011 Phone: (04) 463 8383 Fax: (04) 463 8374 www.education.govt.nz Circular number 2015/05 Page 10 of 10