Circular 2007/19

Date: 26 October 2007
Circular Number: 2007/19
Category: Funding

Early Childhood Education Funding - Support Grant for Provisionally Registered Teachers

This circular is about: Claiming the Support Grant for Provisionally Registered Teachers (the Support Grant).

The action required is: Read this circular in conjunction with the Early Childhood Education Funding Handbook (2005); and file this circular for future reference.

It is intended for: All managers, management committee members, owners and provisionally registered teachers in teacher-led services.

For further information: Contact the Resourcing Division, Ministry of Education, PO Box 1666, Wellington. Phone: 04 463 8383, Fax: 04 463 8374. Email: resourcing@minedu.govt.nz

Introduction

This circular outlines the funding rules for the Support Grant for Provisionally Registered Teachers (the Support Grant).

The Support Grant is a funding initiative aimed to assist eligible early childhood education services to encourage and support their permanently employed provisionally registered teachers in achieving full registration.

What is the Support Grant?

Introduction

The Support Grant provides additional funding to services to help them support and encourage their provisionally registered teachers in achieving full registration

Amount

The monthly amount is currently $327.83 per teacher (including GST).

Duration

The Support Grant is available for up to two years at each service the provisionally registered teacher is employed at, or until the provisionally registered teacher achieves full registration (whichever is sooner).

Eligibility

Which services can claim the support grant?

All chartered teacher-led early childhood education services employing provisionally registered teachers for a period of at least ten consecutive weeks are eligible to claim the Support Grant.

The Support Grant is not available for parent-led services as these services are not currently subject to the teacher registration targets outlined in the Strategic Plan.

What does “provisionally registered” mean? 

For the purposes of the Support Grant, ‘provisionally registered teachers’ are all teachers who:

• hold the Diploma of Teaching (ECE) or another New Zealand Teachers Council approved ECE qualification (See Section 3-B-2 of the EC Funding Handbook for a list of other qualifications); AND
• hold a New Zealand Teachers Council practising certificate that indicates the teacher holds provisional registration status.

Note: The Support Grant cannot be claimed for teachers whose full registration is currently 'subject to confirmation'.

Claiming the Support Grant

Claiming the grant 

Services claim the Support Grant by filling in the Support Grant section of the RS7 form. The Support Grant is paid in arrears three times per year, at the same time as regular ECE funding payments.

When to start claiming 

If a provisionally registered teacher begins at your service, or a newly qualified teacher becomes provisionally registered, you can start claiming the Support Grant at the beginning of the following month.

For example, if a provisionally registered teacher started at your service in March, you may begin claiming the Support Grant in April.

Note: In an audit, grants claimed for the month in which the teacher started or became provisionally registered will be recovered by the Ministry.

When to stop claiming 

If a teacher leaves your service, becomes fully registered, or has used their two year entitlement to the Support Grant, you may claim for the whole month in which they finished or their eligibility ceased, but not the following months.

For example, if a provisionally registered teacher left your service part-way through May, you may claim the Support Grant for May but not for June or following months.

Note: In an audit, Support Grants claimed for months after the final month in which the teacher was employed or eligible to receive the grant will be recovered by the Ministry.
 

Record keeping and reporting requirements

Record keeping requirements 

Services that claim the Support Grant must keep a register that clearly identifies:

• the name of each provisionally registered teacher the Support Grant is claimed for; and
• the start/end dates for each provisionally registered teacher the Support Grant is claimed for.

Reporting Requirements 

At a minimum all services must record in their annual financial statements:

• the number of grants received in the financial year; and
• how (in general terms) the service has allocated that funding.

For example:

Provisionally Registered Teacher Support Grant

Grants were received for two Provisionally Registered Teachers and were spent in the following way:

Paid teacher release time $1095
Supervisor costs $  209
Subscriptions to academic journals $  196
Professional development courses  $  638

Total $2138 

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the grant paid to? 

The Support Grant is paid directly to the service that employs the provisionally registered teacher.

Although specific expenditure is at the discretion of the service, the ministry expects that the type of support offered will be negotiated by the management of each service and the individual teachers, with the aim if reaching agreement.

Can I claim for a primary -qualified and provisionally registered teacher? 

No. Only ECE qualified teachers are eligible for the Support Grant.  The Support Grant may be claimed by eligible services for each teacher who holds:

• a current Practising Certificate that is categorised as provisionally registered (as issued by the New Zealand Teachers Council); and 
• a relevant ECE Teaching Qualification.

What can I spend the grant on?

The Support Grant must be used to support provisionally registered teachers in achieving full registration status. 

Specific expenditure of the Support Grant is at the discretion of the service.

There is a wide variety of uses for the grant, and possible uses include:

• release time for the provisionally registered teacher to undertake professional development, for example to attend professional development opportunities and meet with their supervising/tutor teacher;
• payment of costs associated with the services of a registered supervisor, attending professional development seminars, conferences and workshops as part of a registration advice and guidance programme;
• resources or technology, for example, subscriptions to academic journals, the purchase of relevant research reports and conference papers;
• release time to allow the supervising/tutor teacher to observe and meet with the provisionally registered teacher and to plan for the advice and guidance programme; 
• professional development to assist the supervising/tutor teacher in their role, for example, in developing mentoring skills.

Can we buy a computer with the support grant? 

Services may use the Support Grant for a computer or other technology-based resource as long as it supports the provisionally registered teacher in achieving full registration.
As the Support Grant is paid to the service, the service must decide on the ownership of any resources purchased.

Can a teacher use the support grant to upgrade their qualification?

No. The Support Grant is paid to services so they can encourage and support provisionally registered teachers in achieving full registration. 
A provisionally registered teacher who already has a professional qualification adequate for full registration does not need to upgrade the qualification in order to achieve full registration. Therefore, the cost of upgrading the qualification is not a legitimate use of the Support Grant.

What happens when a teacher moves services? 

The original service may claim the Support Grant for the final month that the teacher was employed. For example, if the teacher left the service during May, that service could claim for May, but not for June.

The new service may begin claiming at the beginning of the following month. For example, if the teacher began employment at the new service in June, the service can claim for July.

How do I claim the grant for my part time teachers?

If a provisionally registered teacher is employed on a part-time basis, the service should claim the full Support Grant per month, as if they were a full time teacher.

If a provisionally registered teacher is employed at more than one service, the teacher must elect which service can claim the Support Grant on their behalf.

The service should record that:

• the teacher is employed on a part-time basis; and
• the grant is claimed for the individual teacher.

The provisionally registered teacher must sign this information.

What if my provisionally registered teacher is on paid parental leave?

 The Support Grant may be claimed by eligible services when they are providing additional support for provisionally registered teachers working toward full registration.
If a teacher is on paid parental leave, it is unlikely that they are working toward full registration. Services are, therefore, unable to continue to claim the Support Grant when a teacher is on paid parental leave.

What if I cannot spend all the grant money? 

The Support Grant can be spent on a large variety of resources and services that will assist provisionally registered teachers in achieving full registration. Services should be able to find a way to spend the total amount of the grant supporting their provisionally registered teachers. Services may pool remaining money to spend on other provisionally registered teachers.

Remember, the Support Grant is paid in arrears and is intended as a reimbursement for costs already incurred in supporting provisionally registered teachers to full registration.

If a service is unable to spend the full amount of the Support Grant on encouraging and supporting the provisionally registered teacher in achieving full registrations, unused money should be returned to the ministry.
To return any unspent grant money to the ministry, services can contact the Resourcing Division and request that the unused money be deducted from their next funding payment.

Further Information

ECE funding questions, including the support grant 

If you require further information on early childhood education funding, contact the Ministry of Education’s Resourcing Contact Centre:

Phone: (04) 463 8383
Fax: (04) 463 8374
Email: resourcing@minedu.govt.nz
Postal Address: PO box 1666, Wellington

Teacher registration questions 

If you require further information or guidance about teacher registration, contact the New Zealand Teachers Council:

Phone: (04) 471 0852
Fax: (04) 471 08770
Email: inquiries@teacherscouncil.govt.nz
Physical Address: 93 The Terrace, Wellington
Postal Address: PO Box 5326, Wellington

This circular is issued by 

Paul Burke
Resourcing Division
Te Wahanga Whakarato Rawa

National office
45-47 Pipitea Street, Thorndon
PO Box 1666, Wellington
Phone: 04 463 8383
Fax: 04 463 8374
www.minedu.govt.nz