Education in schools

Welcome to the Whānau Āwhina Plunket Online Babysitting Course

Description

This course is designed to give high school students the knowledge and skills to babysit children of all ages. It's written for first time babysitters; you don’t need to have previous experience to enroll. It’s ideal for students aged 14 and above.

Time commitment

This course will take approximately two (2) to three (3) hours to complete spread across three weeks.

Working your way through the course

The nine modules are designed for you to work through in sequence. At the end of each module, it will tell you that you are ready to start the next module. To do this, you will exit out of the module you have completed and then open the next module in order.

Topics

You will learn about:

• the role of the babysitter, including the expectations of the families you are working for
• ages and stages of children from birth to school age, their basic needs and their care
• professional behaviour, including your presentation
• how to engage with children of different ages, including activities for each age group and behavioural information
• safety, including emergency situations, keeping yourself and the children safe, and basic first aid
• how to get a babysitting job.

This course is presented using videos, quizzes and activities which are fun as well as informative.

Course Completion

Upon completion of the course and the final quiz, you will be emailed a certificate certified by Whānau Āwhina Plunket to show employers that you have completed this course and are ready to babysit. As well as the certificate, we will email you a Babysitter’s Manual that supports all the information you have learned in the online course.

Getting started

Please complete the payment and information sections below to get started.

Once payment is received your login details will be sent to the email address you provided.

For any queries please contact EIS.Admin@plunket.org.nz

View our privacy policy here.

Around 5000 students use our courses/unit standards annually, and we work in around 60 schools across Aotearoa.  

Plunket offers a range of level 2 early childhood learning and care, and level 3 early childhood education and care unit standards. 

Please note: Plunket does not offer the complete certificate at either level 2 or 3. 

Plunket’s early childhood education unit standards offer competitive and affordable learning experiences.

Our resources are designed especially for secondary school audiences to be easy-to-use and relevant to a wide range of student needs.

We also provide authentic first-hand learning opportunities for students through practical activities and experiences.

We love what we do – and apparently it shows.

“I have valued my interactions with the staff at the Plunket head office in Wellington. When I started teaching ECE they were always at the end of a phone or quick to respond to an email if I encountered any problems with the content or had assessment queries … they are reliable, professional ECE providers.” – Class Teacher, Bay of Plenty

Our programmes aim to provide opportunities and pathways for students to gain skills in early childhood learning and the care of infants, toddlers and young children. 

These skills may be utilised as support for careers as kaiako, kaiāwhina and carers in the early childhood area, leading to improved outcomes for communities, whānau and parenting. 

We offer three types of provision for our material:

1. Plunket led – our educators come and take the classes at your school
2. Teacher led – the school purchases our resources, and you teach them yourselves
3. Single student option – the school purchases the material for students to work through independently.

For teacher led and single student options schools, the school will be required to become sub-contractors to Education in Schools and complete a sub-contractor agreement form. Please contact EIS.admin@Plunket.org.nz for more information.

Plunket led classes

We have educators available in Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington and Christchurch to come to your school to teach the Level 2 and 3 unit standards and non-assessed units (Caring for Kids and Babysitting). 

We can organise educators in some other areas to take the non-assessed classes, please get in touch if you would like to know if we can come to your area or school.

As part of our non-assessed classes and for some of our unit standards, we can bring in our parent volunteers and their young children for practical sessions – where appropriate.

We find this really enhances the student’s learning and gives real context to their learning.

Next steps

If you would like to go with this option, please either: email, give us a call or download and fill out the forms below and send to: EIS.Admin@plunket.org.nz 

Please contact EIS.admin@plunket.org.nz for more information on:

• Agreement form
• MOU

Teacher led classes

For this option schools purchase the unit standard materials from us and teach their own classes. This means that teachers/kaiako can teach to their own timetable and it gives flexibility to extend and enrich the learning of their students.

The teacher led option is great for those schools outside areas where we have educators as well as schools who have their own ECE teachers to teach the material.

Next steps

If you’d like to go with this option, please either: email, give us a call or download and fill out the forms below and send to: EIS.Admin@plunket.org.nz 

Before filling in the forms please check with your school if you have consent to assess for the unit standards you would like to use:

• If you do have consent to assess for the unit standards you would like to deliver then please complete this Agreement Form and MOU.
• If you do not have consent to assess the unit standards you would like to deliver, then you will need to become a sub-contractor to Plunket to use their consent to assess. All of the necessary regulations you will need to follow are covered in our subcontracting agreement which we will ask you to fill and sign. You will also need to complete our MOU.

Single student option

Some schools may only have a few students wanting to choose to study ECE so an option for those schools would be for students to work through the unit standards independently with support from the school.

We can offer marking for this option. Please ask for costings for marking.

Next steps

If you’d like to go with this option, please either: email, give us a call or download and fill out the forms below and send to: EIS.Admin@plunket.org.nz 

Before filling in the forms please check with your school if you have consent to assess for the unit standards you would like to use:

• If you do have consent to assess for the unit standards you would like to use for the single student option then please complete this single student agreement form and MOU.
• If you do not have consent to assess the unit standards you would like to use for the single student Option, then you will need to become a sub-contractor to Plunket to use their consent to assess.
  
  All of the necessary regulations you will need to follow are covered in our subcontracting agreement which we will ask you to fill and sign. You will also need to complete our MOU. Please contact EIS.admin@plunket.org.nz for more information. 

Click below on our Level 2 and Level 3 outlines to find out more about what we can offer:

• Level 2 course outline
• Level 3 unit standards

Further details for both of these are below - along with information on our two non-assessed life skill courses, Babysitting and Caring for Kids.

Plunket is pleased to offer the following Level 2 early childhood learning and care unit standards on an individual basis.

These are available on a Plunket led, teacher led or single student basis and can establish students on their path way to completing the New Zealand Certificate in Early Childhood Learning and Care, Level 3.

Please note: Plunket do not offer the complete certificate. 

More information on each level 2 unit standard:

Basic needs & nutrition (29852)

7 modules, 4 credits

Considers the basic needs of infants, toddlers and young children [nurturing, clothing, nutrition, sleep, shelter, bathing, cleanliness] in a home setting, how these impact on the health and holistic wellbeing of children and their learning and development. An emphasis on age-related food requirements relevant to healthy eating for children is included.

No practical component required, however the unit complements 29856 well where care practices for infants and toddlers are to be demonstrated.

Useful life skills and for those interested in a career in ECE.

Attachment relationships (29855)

5 modules, 3 credits

Considers secure and insecure patterns of attachment and how caregivers can support transitions for children and their parents.

No practical component required.

Useful life skills and for those interested in a career in ECE.

Caring for Infants and Toddlers (29856)

4 modules, 2 credits

Provides guidelines for hands-on care practices [nurturing, feeding, clothing, toileting, nappy changing, bathing and supporting cleanliness, settling to sleep, communicating] that support the health, wellbeing and development of infants and toddlers.

Practical component: the candidate is to demonstrate 3 care practices with a parent/guardian present.

Suitable to take place in a home; could be in a community playgroup setting or classroom.

Practices are selected with safety in mind [no nappy changing or bathing].

Useful life skills and for those interested in a career in ECE.

Child health & wellbeing (29853)

5 modules, 3 credits

Considers environmental factors that impact of health, community health issues, communicable conditions and diseases, immunisation and disease prevention, child health services, and caring for an unwell child.

No practical component required.

Useful life knowledge, and for those interested in pursuing a career in health or teaching.

Hygiene & safety (29854)

4 modules, 2 credits

Considers personal hygiene practices for adults and children, environmental hygiene, ensuring home safety, and safety outdoors.

Practical activity [children not required] in a home, community playgroup, Sunday school room, classroom or similar. The task involves identifying and remediating hazards.

Learning & development (29857)

6 modules, 5 credits

Provides an introduction to child development, development progressions and milestones [physical, social, emotional, cognitive], reasons for individual differences, speech and language development and ways to support these.

No practical component required.

Play experiences (29858)

7 modules, 5 credits

Considers what play is, the values of play, and creating suitable play environments. Play experiences for infants, toddlers and young children are considered. Candidates create simple resources to support play.

Practical component: candidates plan and implement 2 play experiences for an infant, toddler or young child with consideration to health, safety, play value in terms of supporting learning and development. This can be completed in a home, community playgroup or the classroom. Attestation must be provided by a parent, caregiver or teacher/educator

Support services (29861)

5 modules, 3 credits

Considers government and non-government agencies and services that provide support for families; financial literacy in terms of how things work in NZ [tax, credit cards, debt, Kiwisaver, saving]; budgeting, the cost of living and raising a child, personal needs, goal setting and helpful services.

No practical requirement.

Excellent life skills unit.

Plunket is pleased to offer the following Level 3 early childhood education and care unit standards on an individual basis.

These are available on a Plunket led, teacher led or single student basis.

Please note Plunket do not offer the complete certificate.

More information on each level 3 unit standard:

Te Whāriki (10013)

4 modules, 2 credits

Considers the history and purposes of the ECE curriculum, its bi-cultural foundation, and the principles and strands kaiako draw upon when building a responsive curriculum.

No required practicum

Useful baseline unit for those interested in a career in ECE.

Learning & development (10026)

7 modules, 5 credits

Considers dimensions of child development including physical, cognitive, social, emotional, spiritual, cultural and linguistic; developmental achievements, the influence of environmental factors, and supporting oral and visual literacies.

No practicum required.

Some similar content to level 2 however the dimensions are addressed in greater depth and situated in an ECE environment.

Play in ECE services (26707)

7 modules, 4 credits

Considers the value of play, suitable environments and resources for play; how play experiences contribute to the learning and development of infants, toddlers and young children, the importance of interactions, and safety precautions. Candidates create 3 resources for play.

A practical requirement involves the candidate using one of the play resources they have created with a child in an ECE service and evaluating it in terms of supporting learning and development, cultural suitability and health and safety. Attestation of the resources use must be provided.

Some similarities to level 2 but in greater depth and situated in an ECE setting.

Attachment & transitions (29864)

5 modules, 3 credits

Considers theoretical perspectives related to attachment, patterns of secure and insecure attachment, the importance of building key relationships in the ECE service and supporting children through transitions in the ECE service in collaboration with families.

No practicum required.

A significantly more complex unit than at level 2. Useful for those considering career paths in teaching, social work or psychology.

Safety (10019)

6 modules, 3 credits

Considers regulatory requirements pertaining to safety, minimising hazards, emergency procedures, environmental hygiene, and the adult’s role in supporting children to use safe practices.

Practicum required: the candidate needs to demonstrate the use of strategies that assist a child to use safe practices.

Attestation must be provided.

Situated in ECE service so a differing emphasis to level 2.

Health & wellbeing (29865)

6 modules, 4 credits

Considers social, economic and cultural factors that influence child health, community health services, health issues, communicable conditions and diseases, immunisation issues and programmes, children’s essential needs and the role of both families and the ECE service.

No practical requirement.

Similar to level 2 but more detail regarding environmental factors, wellbeing, and the role of families and ECE services in protecting children’s health and wellbeing.

Excellent for those considering a career in nursing, social work or ECE.

Nutrition (29866)

5 modules, 2 credits

Considers the nutritional needs of infants, toddlers and young children, special dietary requirements, and menu planning in ECE services.

Practical component required. The candidate is to prepare and serve a meal suitable for a toddler or young child.

Builds on the level 2 nutrition component in basic needs but related to ECE services.

Relationships (26708)

6 modules, 4 credits

Addresses strategies that help adults build relationships with children and guide their behaviour.

Practicum required. The candidate must use strategies repeatedly over a period of at least 4 weeks and evaluate their use of these.

Attestation is required.

A supportive practicum placement is necessary.

Diversity & communication (29867)

5 modules, 5 credits

Considers a range of family types, and cultural diversity in Aotearoa New Zealand. Strategies and resources that help kaiako support the cultural identity of children attending an ECE service are examined. Effective communication strategies to use with diverse families are introduced.

Practical component: the candidate must use 3 different communication strategies. These are to be demonstrated in a simulated situation to respond to given scenarios. Attestation is required.

Professional behaviour & wellbeing (29868)

5 modules, 4 credits

Considers professional behaviours [useful for any work environment], Our Code, Our Standards, self-care skills and personal goal setting to enhance areas of own health and wellbeing in an ECE service.

Practicum required: the candidate must demonstrate 5 professional behaviours repeatedly over a period of at least 3 weeks and demonstrate strategies to support 3 personal goals repeatedly. Demonstration must be attested.

An excellent life skills unit. A supportive practicum placement is necessary.

Ethics in an ECE service (29869)

4 modules, 3 credits

Considers personal and professional values and how the code of professional responsibility guides the decision making and behaviour of kaiako. Ethical and unethical behaviour is reflected upon and a framework for responding to ethical dilemmas suggested.

No practical requirement.

Philosophies & services (29871)

5 modules, 3 credits

Considers the diverse ECE service types in NZ and the differing needs they meet. The history of services and their philosophies is also addressed.

No practical requirement.

A useful unit to introduce candidates to ECE services in NZ.

Plunket also provide two non-assessed, life skills courses: babysitting and caring for kids.

These are only offered as Plunket led deliverables and include a fun practical play session with our volunteer parents and their tamariki.

Both have five modules each and can either be run as a one-day course or taught over five sessions.

These are a great choice to run in term four when older students are on study leave, or in some areas we’ve run the babysitting course in the community during the school holidays.

Babysitting

This course is aimed at students in Year 9-10 and gives them a good basic knowledge of what they can expect when they babysit.

Each student who completes this course gets a Plunket Babysitting Certificate.

The modules cover:

• the expectations of the babysitter, the child and the family
• characteristics and values of a babysitter
• managing the basic needs of the children (and ages and stages)
• keeping safe – both the babysitter and the children
• preparing for the job.

Please contact us for more details at EIS.admin@plunket.org.nz. 

Next steps

If you would like to go with this option, please either: email, give us a call or download and fill out the forms below, and send to: EIS.Admin@plunket.org.nz 

• Agreement Form
• MOU

Caring for kids

This course covers how to care for a child from pregnancy through to the early years. It provides important information about child development and why nurturing is so crucial to brain development.

The modules cover:

• baby on board (keeping safe in pregnancy)
• ages and stages
• nurturing (brain developments and behaviours)
• keeping safe
• basic needs.

Please contact us for more details at EIS.admin@plunket.org.nz. 

If you would like to go with this option, please either: email, give us a call or download and fill out the forms below, and send to: EIS.Admin@plunket.org.nz 

• Agreement Form
• MOU

For all Agreement Forms and MOUs please see above.

Course Report Forms

• Unit Standard Course Report Forms
• Non-Assessed Course Report Forms

Evaluation Forms

• Teacher Led Evaluation Form
• Plunket Led Evaluation Form
• Student Evaluation Form

Consent Forms (for parental permissions for practicums and ECE centre placements)

• Level 2 consent form
• Level 3 consent form

Do you have a child/children from 0-5 years of age? Are you interested in sharing your parenting experiences? Do you have a few hours to participate in first hand learning experiences with our students?

Then we’d love to hear from you!

“I really enjoyed being a part of Plunket in Schools. I'd go in with the kids and the students ask questions about what it’s like being a parent. I liked being able to help and impart some of my experience to the younger generations.” – Christy, mum of three

What do the volunteer parents do?

For some Plunket led classes we invite our volunteer parents and their pre-school children to come into the classroom. These sessions are between 30-45 minutes long and held during the school day.

During the session you will be introduced, and the students will have some pre-prepared questions to ask you about you and your children and your experiences of parenting.

For example, sometimes the focus of the session might be about:

• Play and the students will engage with you and your children with some toys and games which they have sometimes made themselves, or
• Nutrition and the students will have made an appropriate meal for young children that they would like to share with your tamariki.

The classes are advertised on our closed Facebook groups and you will choose if you are available to attend a session and what the focus of the session will be.

You’ll also be given directions on how to get to the school office, where to park and you will be met at the office by students and then take to the classroom.

We are always grateful for families being available for these classes as it helps reinforce new learning for the students and gives them practical experiences that puts this learning in context.

We’d love to hear from you

If you’re interested in finding out more, contact our EIS team below to register your interest or to get more information.

You can also check out our Parent Volunteer Guide 2021.

We also always love to hear about how our current volunteer parents are finding their experience with us. Feel free to send us your feedback.

If you have a question for the Education in Schools team, feel free to get in touch.

Sharelle Rowntree
Team Leader - Education in Schools, People & Transformation 
Email: sharelle.rowntree@plunket.org.nz

Email: EIS.Admin@plunket.org.nz

Education in Schools have been taking steps to ensure our pastoral care offerings are aligned to the requirements of the current Code of Practice. We submitted the NZQA attestation on 1 November 2022 stating that we have implemented the requirements of the Code. These requirements included a self-review of our current practices and opportunities, which we conducted with the support of external industry experts. 

The review confirms that we are achieving the intended impact of the required first four outcomes of the combined Code listed below.

1. A learner wellbeing and safety system: Providers must take a whole-of-provider approach to maintain a strategic and transparent learner wellbeing and safety system that responds to the diverse needs of their learners.
2. Learner voice: Providers understand and respond to diverse learner voices and wellbeing and safety needs in a way that upholds their mana and autonomy.
3. A safe, inclusive, supportive, and accessible learning environments, online and in person: Providers must foster learning environments that are safe and designed to support positive learning experiences of diverse learner groups.
4. Learners are safe and well: Providers must support learners to manage their physical and mental health through information and advice, and identify and respond to learners who need additional support.

The review has been used as input to our Code of Practice Implementation goals for 2023. Below is a summary of what is well implemented and our implementation goals.

What is in place and well-implemented:

• Plunket has all the necessary policies in place, including student code of conduct. These are reviewed frequently and kept up to date.
• We work proactively with learners and teachers, gathering their views through surveys and frequent communication. Survey results are constantly reviewed and the student voice taken into account.
• The Individual Secondary Schools we work with, have Wellbeing Code of Practices in place
• Our staff go through a thorough onboarding and induction process and are supported to achieve their professional development goals.

Our Code of Practice implementation goals for 2023 include: 

• Review survey questions and procedures to ensure they are up to date.
• Review data collected over the last 3 years as a whole to identify risks to student wellbeing and check sufficient risk reporting and mitigation is in place.
• Run regular professional development days with staff and contractors on Code of Practice and available services for students
• Ensure students are provided with a list of available services and can clearly identify how a support person can be contacted.      

These improvements will be reviewed as part of our 6-monthly operational plan review to establish their effectiveness. 

In line with Whānau Āwhina Plunket’s pro-equity strategy, Education in Schools is working towards our strategic goal: To enhance how our teaching and learning connects with and honours Education in School learners and their diversity, culture and gender.

As an example of this, we have received and welcomed feedback on course design for a new non-assessed programme developed for Teen Parents on how we could better reflect our learners in our learner material, which we promptly implemented. 

This goal fits closely with the steps that Education in Schools has been taking to ensure our practices are aligned to the requirements of the newly implemented Code of Practice for pastoral care. Below is a summary report from our Code of Practice Self-review, as well as summary report of complaints received over the past 12 months.

Code of Practice for pastoral care Self-Review October 2022 - Executive Summary 

In line with regulations, we submitted the NZQA attestation on 1 November 2022 stating that we have implemented the requirements of the Code. These requirements included a self-review of our current practices and opportunities, which we conducted with the support of external industry experts. 

The review confirms that we are achieving the intended impact of the required first four outcomes of the combined Code listed below.

1. A learner wellbeing and safety system: Providers must take a whole-of-provider approach to maintain a strategic and transparent learner wellbeing and safety system that responds to the diverse needs of their learners.
2. Learner voice: Providers understand and respond to diverse learner voices and wellbeing and safety needs in a way that upholds their mana and autonomy.
3. A safe, inclusive, supportive, and accessible learning environments, online and in person: Providers must foster learning environments that are safe and designed to support positive learning experiences of diverse learner groups.
4. Learners are safe and well: Providers must support learners to manage their physical and mental health through information and advice, and identify and respond to learners who need additional support.

The review has been used as input to our Code of Practice Implementation goals for 2023. Below is a summary of what is well implemented and our implementation goals.

What is in place and well-implemented:

• Plunket has all the necessary policies in place, including student code of conduct. These are reviewed frequently and kept up to date.
• We work proactively with learners and teachers, gathering their views through surveys and frequent communication. Survey results are constantly reviewed and the student voice taken into account.
• The Individual Secondary Schools we work with, have Wellbeing Code of Practices in place
• Our staff go through a thorough onboarding and induction process and are supported to achieve their professional development goals.

Our Code of Practice implementation goals for 2023 include: 

• Review survey questions and procedures to ensure they are up to date.
• Review data collected over the last 3 years as a whole to identify risks to student wellbeing and check sufficient risk reporting and mitigation is in place.
• Run regular professional development days with staff and contractors on Code of Practice and available services for students
• Ensure students are provided with a list of available services and can clearly identify how a support person can be contacted.      

These improvements will be reviewed as part of our 6-monthly operational plan review to establish their effectiveness. 

We will also continue to monitor complaints and feedback as per our existing complaints procedure. Complaints and feedback can be submitted through the schools where their teachers or our educators deliver Education in Schools learning, through our educators, or through an email submission to EISadmin@plunket.org.nz.

Over the past 12 months, we have not received complaints relating to learner wellbeing or the learning environment. The only complaints received were related to a technological delay in receiving login details for the online babysitting programme which was promptly attended to.