Policies and Procedures
How long to Retain Documents/Records at Playcentre
Any documents/records not listed below, that may have been previously, are now kept at Regional Offices or National
Service Centre. Check with your Centre Advisor in the first instance with any queries.
Licensed Centres |
Playgroups | Required by criteria or legislation |
Recommended by Ministry |
Recommended by Playcentre |
Rationale | |
Emergency Drill Practices |
HS8 |
HS4 | 2 years | Past year plus current year is long enough to inform annual review of practices | ||
Sleep times and checks | HS9 | 2 years | Past year plus current year is long enough to inform annual review of practices and is useful record of sleep patterns | |||
Excursions Form and Excursions Risk Assessment & Management Form |
HS17 | 2 years | Past year plus current year is long enough to inform annual review of practices Permission for Regular Excursions is kept on enrolment form which must be kept for 7 yrs |
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Record of Food served | HS19 | 3 months | Provides useful information in the event of any allergic reactions that may develop in children |
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Injuries/Illness – Minor Injury, Illness or Incident Notice | HS27 | 2 years | Past year plus current year is long enough to inform review of practices and highlight ongoing issues |
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Injury/Illness- Serious Injury, Illness or Incident Form or any notifiable events |
Hs27 | 5 years | Health and Safety at Work Act requires this. Again enables record of ongoing issues or concerns |
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Medicine Administration Agreement – Cat I |
HS28/29 | 7 years | Forms part of enrolment information that must be kept for 7 years | |||
Medicine Administration Agreement Cat ii |
HS28/29 | As long as the child is receiving the medicine |
For 3 months following the administration of the medicine |
Recommend keep for 3 months in case any concerns arise, the documentation can be checked. |
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Medicine Administration Agreement – Cat iii |
HS28/29 | 7 years | Forms part of enrolment information that must be kept for 7 years. | |||
Medicine Administration Register | HS28 | 2 years | To inform review of practices and in case of any issues arising | |||
Daily Health and Safety Checklist | 2 years – are needed for IQP Reports |
Allows time to notice trends. Any issues that arise are summarised in reports for centre meetings and included in the minutes | ||||
Hazard and Risk Register | 1 year | Updated Termly – keep one year’s worth to review for issues or concerns over time. Helps record reviews and action towards addressing potential harm. | ||||
Information & guidance from other agencies and services – related to additional learning needs of tamariki |
C13 |
7 years if child specific 2 years if general advice |
If the information and guidance related to a particular child, it should be kept with their enrolment record If it is for general information the Playcentre can decide. |
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Outcomes of Self Review | GMA6 | 7 years | Until Nect ERO review has occurred | Depends on review topic |
Timeframe reflects need for information to be available for ERO review and to capture improvements made. Consider review relevance for future families. Major review topics (eg property upgrades) may be useful to keep indefinitely; other topics removed when they lose relevance to current practice. |
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Enrolments | GMA10 | MA5 | 7 years | Required by Public Finance Act 1989 | ||
Attendance | GMA11 | MA5 | 7 years | Required by Public Finance Act 1989 | ||
Financial Records | IRD requires records to be kept for 7 years from balance date. Includes all invoices, bills, bank records, and end of year accounts. Can be kept on Xero. |
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Minutes | Forever | Provides the history of the centre and useful when celebrating anniversaries etc. |
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Building – Compliance Schedule | Building Act 2004 |
Forever | ||||
Building Warrant of Fitness/Form 12a | Building Act 2004 |
1 year (until next one is issued) |
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IQP Reports/Manual Records | Building Act 2004 |
2 years | Must be kept with Compliance Schedule. Includes documentation like Daily H&S Checks if required as part of Inspections |
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Fire Evacuation Scheme Letter of Approval or other FENZ Approval Document |
HS4 | Until new revised Scheme receives approval |
Fire Evacuation Scheme may need to be updated regularly if changes are made to Fire Exit Doors, Assembly Point and other fire related items |
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Code of Compliance | PF3 | Forever | ||||
RECORDS KEPT AT REGIONAL OFFICE | ||||||
Formal Complaints |
2 years or for employee – until employee ends their employment |
Allows for information be available in case of future action needed. |
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Child Protection Concerns | 7 years after child leaves Playcentre |
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RECORDS HELD BY NATIONAL PROPERTY TEAM |
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Property Lease or ownership documents |
Forever | |||||
RECORDS BY PLAYCENTRE EDUCATION | ||||||
Student and teaching staff records | NZQA and TEC requirements |
Refer to Playcentre Education QMS | ||||
RECORDS BY HR | ||||||
Safety Checking | GMA7a | Students = 3 years, or until 12 months after last activity in programme. Employees = 3 years or until they leave the service. |
Until the next Safety Check is conducted. Needs to be available to MoE Staff |
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Police Vets | 3 years or until they leave the service |
New police vet would be done in 3 years. We can keep copies of the completed police vets as we are required to show these to ERO or MoE as part of compliance checks. |
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Unsuccessful job applicants |
Police vet forms
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Police vetting forms should not be kept for Other documents maintained in case of any |
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Appraisal documents & record of PLD undertaken by employee |
Up to 5 years or until the employee leaves the service |
Provides record of the processes being carried out. Available for review and feedback |