Ta’i Tamaiti is fortunate in that we are owned and governed by the Cook Islands Development Agency New Zealand. This is important because parents and children who enroll to Ta’i Tamaiti are able to access the services CIDANZ provides to Cook Islands people and communities across Aotearoa.
Forms and information we need from you is:
Depending on your enrolment requirements, optional forms that you can complete:
We will walk you through the process of applying for MOE’s 20hrs fee’s-free subsidy and if needed, the Work and Income Childcare Subsidy. If you require more assistance, we can connect you to CIDANZ’s wellbeing service.
Childcare Subsidy is a payment that helps families with the cost of pre-school childcare.
If you qualify for the subsidy if:
You qualify for also based on you living and intended to stay in New Zealand, and your household income.
Your child must also be:
Visit Work and Income Childcare Subsidy for more information.
20 hours fee’s-free is a higher funding subsidy provided by the Ministry of Education New Zealand (MOE).
It means that if your child is 3, 4 or 5 year old and goes to an early learning service that offers 20 hours subsidy, the cost can be fully subsidised for up to 6 hours a day and up to 20 hours a week.
You can choose to use as many or as few hours of 20 Hours ECE as you want, up to 6 hours a day and 20 hours a week.
If your child is 3, 4 or 5, you can apply for the 20hr subsidy when you enroll your child at Ta’i Tamaiti or you can do it just before your child turns 3 if they are already enrolled.
Fill in the enrolment agreement we provide to you as part of our enrollment process. The agreement must include an ‘attestation’, where you write and sign for the days and hours you are claiming the 20hrs for. The 20hrs cannot be claimed until you have completed the attestation.
You can choose which hours you want to claim for 20hrs – it can be for any hours that your child is enrolled.
As children must attend school from the age of 6, the last day that 20hrs can be claimed is the day before your child’s sixth birthday.
The subsidy is paid directly to Ta’i Tamaiti. You don’t have to apply separately to the Ministry of Education.
In the enrollment process, we walk both you and your child through a transition day. This is a trial run where both parent and child get to experience a few days attending Ta’i Tamaiti, meet the teachers and your child’s potential classmates.
We understand that trusting your child to an early learning school can be scary and cause a few anxieties, through transition day we hope to alleviate those fears, and allow you to see if Ta’i Tamaiti is the right fit for you, your child, and your family.
During transition day or visits to Ta’i Tamaiti, we ask that parents do not take photos of other children. We want to respect the privacy of parents and children, especially those who have specifically asked that photos of their child not be shared across websites, social media, and other online platforms.
Items to bring with your child daily are their lunchbox and food, water bottle, formula or expressed breast milk for bottle-fed babies, spare change of clothes, and a hat during summer.
The school provides water that is freely available throughout the day.
Announcements are sent out through Parents Notices webpage that is password protected, and email. Ask a teacher for the password.
Notices are also printed and given to parents as hard copies.
While we work towards improving our communications, we are still trying to understand what works best for parents and welcome your feedback.
