Certificate in Early Childhood Practice (Level 4)

Qualification code:: OP4310

Level:: 4

Credits:: 40

This qualification is designed for people who are involved in the care and education of children in a variety of early childhood education settings. Specifically designed for distance learners, the new certificate is suitable for people involved in a range of early childhood settings including home-based, education and care centres, play groups, and parents of young children. It has been developed in conjunction with NZ home-based Early Childhood Education Association (NZHECEA) and Barnardos to ensure it meets the needs and requirements of the sector.

Important enrolment information

This qualification is open for admission throughout the year and each course starts on the first Monday of the month you choose for enrolment. When your enrolment is confirmed, you will receive a letter with your course start and end dates. You must complete your study within the given start and end dates.

How to enrol

To apply for admission, select the course(s) you wish to enrol in and complete our online enrolment form.

In addition to completing the enrolment form, you must provide us with the following documents:

A Verification of Police Vetting form (if you are working in a home-based setting or licensed ECE service and have had a clear police check carried out within the last 12 months)
OR an Authorisation to Disclose form (if you have not had a police check carried out within the last 12 months).
AND download a Referee Report and give it to your referee to complete and return.

These documents can be found at the bottom of this page.

Note: Your referee cannot be a member of your family or a friend. If possible should be your most recent employer.

All documents should be sent to:

Enrolment Section
Open Polytechnic
PO Box 30548
Lower Hutt 5040

Barnardos and NZHECEA Educators and Members

If you are a Barnardos educator please give the above documents to your Barnardos Visiting Teacher who will assist you with the enrolment process. All Barnardos enrolments are coordinated through a central Barnardos administrator. Please do not enrol online.

If you are a member of the New Zealand Home-based Education Early Childhood Association (NZHECEA) please specify this in the additional comments section at the bottom of step 7 of the online enrolment process. Ensure you include your membership number and the name of your home based network.

Note: All pricing will be confirmed following the processing of your enrolment application.

Admission requirements

You must be 17 years or older to enrol in this qualification. In addition you must volunteer or work for a minimum of 6 hours a week in one of the following types of early childhood
settings:

Licensed early childhood centre in NZ
Licensed home-based setting affiliated to a home-base service or nanny provider, in NZ
Certificated playgroup in NZ
Setting recognised for funding purposes by the NZ Ministry of Education or NZ Ministry of Health. These will be programmes with a focus on supporting families/whänau and young children
Other settings or services in NZ approved by the Manager, Centre of Education Studies, Open Polytechnic.

In addition you must have a satisfactory report from the New Zealand Police Vetting System or signed verification from a home-based service provider of having a clear police vet within the previous 12 months.

English language

Because we teach in English, if English is not your first language you must supply evidence of one of the following:

A minimum grade of 5.5 in IELTS (academic) with no sub-score less than 5.5; or
A minimum score of 500 (essay 3.5 TWE) in TOEFL (pBT) or 60 (writing 20) in TOEFL (iBT); or
Passes in other recognised English proficiency tests or other evidence acceptable to the Academic Registrar;
Evidence of successful study at another New Zealand tertiary institution; or
At least five years study at a secondary school where English is the language of instruction.

International students

This programme is available to New Zealand citizens and permanent residents only. NZ citizens/permanent residents living overseas may apply with the approval of the Head of School, as arrangements will need to be discussed regarding the practical component of the qualification.

Other requirements

Set texts

You will need set texts for these courses. These are additional cost and not included in your course fees. Texts can be bought online. Go to Vicbooks and click on the Open Polytechnic link.

Qualification structure

This qualification has two courses which must be studied in order.

Fees shown below are quoted in New Zealand dollars for New Zealand students. To see international and full fees please click See International on the cost tab below.

Course code and name	Level	Credits	2013 Cost See international See domestic	Availability Jun 2013 Jul 2013 Aug 2013	Select
Compulsory All Courses are required
4301	Early Childhood Context	4	20	NZ $1,313 NZ $1,313 $437	Enrol by Course starts Course ends 31 May 2013 3 Jun 2013 12 Jan 2014 Enrol by Course starts Course ends 28 Jun 2013 1 Jul 2013 9 Feb 2014 Enrol by Course starts Course ends 26 Jul 2013 5 Aug 2013 16 Mar 2014
4302	Early Childhood Professional Practice	4	20	NZ $1,313 NZ $1,313 $437	Enrol by Course starts Course ends 31 May 2013 3 Jun 2013 12 Jan 2014 Enrol by Course starts Course ends 28 Jun 2013 1 Jul 2013 9 Feb 2014 Enrol by Course starts Course ends 26 Jul 2013 5 Aug 2013 16 Mar 2014

Course code and name

Level

Credits

2013 Cost

See domestic

Availability

Jun
2013 Jul
2013 Aug
2013

Select

Compulsory

All Courses are required

4301

Early Childhood Context

NZ $1,313