For owners and managers · Aotearoa New Zealand
Two changes landed in 2026. In April the licensing criteria were renumbered, reworded, merged and in places removed, with what the Ministry calls a greater shift toward practice. On 1 September responsibility for regulating early childhood education moved from the Ministry of Education to a Director of Regulation within ERO.
Start with what actually happened: one action, quote, attempt, change, or question. A polished observation is never required.
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Reviewed 23 September 2026 · Written by Leo, who builds StoryLoop, in Ōtautahi Christchurch
What StoryLoop does with a note
A real note an educator typed, and the start of the draft StoryLoop wrote from it, unedited, with the Te Whāriki links, learning and next steps to follow.
Aroha tried to put her shoes on before going outside. Velcro kept folding over. Asked 'help me' then pushed my hand away and did the second one herself. Stood up and stomped both feet.
Putting on her own shoes
Before going outside, Aroha tried to put her shoes on by herself. The Velcro kept folding over, making the job trickier. Aroha asked, "help me", letting us know clearly that she needed support.
When help was offered, Aroha pushed the adult hand away and did the second shoe herself. Once both shoes were on, she stood up and stomped both feet. This looked like Aroha checking that her shoes were on and feeling the result with her whole body.
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Your draft appears here, with Te Whāriki links that only claim what your note shows, usually in under a minute.
Tip: what the child did, one thing they said, and what happened next. Three lines is plenty.
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Licensing criteria were renumbered for clarity, reworded, and some were removed or merged. Some criteria that applied to every service are now more targeted. The Ministry publishes comparison tables for centre-based, home-based and hospital-based services.
ERO now has responsibility for regulating early childhood education, including kōhanga reo, licensed early learning services and certified playgroups. Licensing information and application forms have moved to ERO, and the criteria were updated to reflect the transfer.
The same organisation now licenses and reviews you. Learning and assessment practice was already central to ERO reviews, so documentation that shows what children are learning and how teaching responds is worth more than documentation that only shows volume.
The functions that decide whether a service is licensed, and what happens when it breaches the criteria, moved from the Ministry of Education to a Director of Regulation within ERO. The criteria documents were updated to reflect that. ERO already reviewed early childhood services; it now also regulates them.
The Ministry's own summary is short: renumbered for clarity, updated wording, some criteria removed or merged, a greater shift toward practice, and some universal criteria now more targeted. The comparison tables are the only reliable way to see what changed for your service type, so read the one for your licence, line by line, with your leadership team.
Documentation that is useful to a reviewer is the same documentation that is useful to your team: it shows what a child was learning, how teaching responded, and that someone came back to it. A folder of observations nobody revisited shows effort, not practice.
The simplest preparation is continuous rather than seasonal: notice every child regularly, write next steps you actually return to, and record family voice where you have it. StoryLoop's evidence pack counts those things from stories your team already wrote and names the gaps first, so they can be fixed while they are still small.
Official references
These sources inform this guide. StoryLoop is independent and does not claim endorsement.
FAQ
From 1 September 2026, ERO. Regulatory functions moved from the Secretary for Education at the Ministry of Education to the Director of Regulation within the Education Review Office.
The criteria were renumbered and reworded, some were removed or merged, and some that applied to every service became more targeted, with a greater shift toward practice. Check the Ministry's comparison table for your service type to see each change.
Not because of the transfer itself. Te Whāriki is unchanged. What is worth reviewing is whether your documentation shows children's learning and how teaching responds to it, rather than a volume of observations nobody returns to.
On the ERO website. The Ministry of Education's 2026 changes page links to ERO's licensing information and application forms.