We have had the following information confirmed by Ministry of Education regarding First Aid courses

  • First Aid – Centre members can not be on site (at their centre) during licensed hours without a first aider present. If you do NOT have a first aider you CAN NOT be on site during licensed hours. Regardless of if you meet quals levels. You need to close the session, notify your Regional Office and vacate the premises.
    As of 8th April 2021 if there are more than 25 children on site 2 first aiders must be present.

  • First Aid Providers The provider will need to be currently accredited if a person/playcentre is looking to gain a qualification from them. If a person has already gained a qualification from a provider that is no longer accredited, as long as the provider was accredited at the time of gaining the certificate, the person’s qualification is still valid.

    Licensing criterion HS25 highlights refresher courses must be completed every 2 years for a first aid qualification to be considered current.

Full certificate should state the:

  • name of the learner
  • name of the training organisation
  • unit standard/s achieved or course name such a First Aid level 2
  • date of issue
  • signature of CEO for Training Provider delivering the training

Training providers must report unit standards to NZQA to be recorded on the learner’s record of learning.

  • Refresher certificate should state the:
    • name of the leaner
    • name of the training organisation
  • date of issue

Reference to the unit standards isn’t required for a refresher. Instead it should say that the learner has completed refresher training.  There is no requirement to report unit standards when learners complete a refresher course.  

 

If certificates don’t have the information we need to assess whether they meet our requirements, we can ask to see a copy of the learner’s record of learning or contact NZQA if we have concerns.
To be counted as first aid qualified in a centre-based service, a person would need the full first aid qualification from a provider that covers unit standard 6401 and 6402. We also encourage first aiders to have 6400 which covers first aid in emergency situations.  

To maintain their certificate as current (and be counted as a first aider), they would need to attend a refresher course with an accredited training provider every 2 years.

 

You can read more on our website: First aid qualifications for early learning services and kōhanga reo 

Scroll down to the heading ‘Training providers’. You will then see a link ‘First Aid page of the NZQA website’ to view training providers with consent to assess unit standards. (Which would mean they are accredited).