Crèche:
is defined as any building or premises maintained or used for the custody and care during the whole or part of the day on all or only some days of the week, for more than six children of pre-school going age and which has been registered as a place of care under the Children’s Act, 1960.
Crèche-cum-nursery school:
means any building or premises maintained or used for the custody, care and tuition during the whole or part of the day on all or only some days of the week and where a nursery school programme applies, of more than six children of pre-primary going age and which has been registered as a place of care under the Children’s Act, 1960. Day mother: is defined as any person who, with or without, a profit motive, cares for a maximum of six children away from their parents and needs to register only at the Council under the Welfare Act.
kindergarten
noun
(in Britain and Australia) an establishment where children below the age of compulsory education play and learn; a nursery school.
(in North America) a class or school that prepares children, usually five- or six-year-old, for the first year of formal education.
Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school.
Full day care centre:
functions all day usually from 07:00 to 17:00 and some exceptions where parents working night shift can leave the child / children in the school’s care overnight. A full day care centre may admit infants, pre-school children and school children, depending on the registration certificate.
Half-day care centre:
is a care centre where children are only cared for in the morning or afternoons and may admit infants, pre-school children and school children, depending on the registration certificate. The children are cared for, for periods of more than four hours at a time necessitating the provision of snacks and resting facilities.
Play group:
is a place where the maximum of nineteen children between the ages of three years and pre-school age are cared for not more than four hours a day and no resting or meals are provided.
Pre-primary school:
functions during normal school hours only and exclusively for children aged three years and older. The registration of a pre-primary school is vested exclusively in the respective educational departments.
DEVELOPMENT PLANNING
After-school centre/after-care centre: functions in the afternoons during school terms and is intended to care for school children. An after school / after care centre may however also offer full day care of schoolchildren during school holidays if the registration certificate permits this. An after school / after care centre is not operated exclusively at a school building but in a suitable place.
There can be a combination of the care facilities as well, but the underlying principle is that the facility is a care facility for children.
More on acronyms and definitions:
AIDS: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.
ART: Anti-Retroviral Treatment is a combination of medicines given to someone who is sick with AIDS.
ART helps strengthen the immune system. It is not a cure for AIDS. Baby/infant: A child from 0 to 18 months old.
CBO: Community-based organisations concerned with helping the community local to the organisation. CBOs are not for profit organisations. Also see NGO.
Child: A person under the age of 18 years.
Child minder/day mother: A person who, whether for gain or free of charge, takes care of a maximum of six children away from their homes. Registration and assessment will be addressed in the new comprehensive Child Care Act. Presently some municipalities require child minders to register with them. Since a child minder is responsible for the care and development of children in her care, she must be familiar with basic safety measures and good child-care practices.
Children with disabilities: Children who have an impairment, i.e. physical e.g. loss of a limb; sensory e.g. loss of hearing and sight; intellectual e.g. learning difficulty.
Communicable disease: A disease that can be passed on to others e.g. scabies, chickenpox, measles.
ECD: Early Childhood Development is the process of emotional, mental, spiritual, moral, physical and social development of children from birth to nine years.
ECD Centre: Any building or premises maintained or used, whether or not for gain, for the admission, protection and temporary or partial care of more than six children away from their parents. Depending on registration, an ECD centre can admit babies, toddlers and/or pre-school aged children. The term ECD centre can refer to crèche, day care centre for young children, a playgroup, a pre-school, after school care etc. ECD centres are sometimes referred to as ECD sites.
ECD Services: A range of services provided to facilitate the emotional, intellectual, mental, spiritual, moral, physical and social development and growth of children from birth to nine years.
ECD Programmes: These are planned activities designed to promote the emotional, mental, spiritual, moral, physical and social development of children from birth to nine years.
Family: Individuals, who either by contract or agreement, choose to live together and provide care, nurturing and socialisation for one another.
Grade R: The national Department of Education has identified three models of provision of Reception Year/ Grade R: those within the public primary school system, those within community-based sites and the independent provision of reception year programmes. Grade R refers to the year before Grade 1.
Head of Department: In these Guidelines, this refers to the Head of Provincial Department of Social Development.
HIV: Human Immunodeficiency Virus that attacks the immune system of the body. Local authority: The local municipality within the boundaries of which the ECD service is provided.
Medical health officer (MHO): A health officer in the service of a provincial or local authority. Also referred to as the Communicable Disease Control Officer.
NQF: The National Qualifications Framework is a framework on which agreed standards and qualifications are registered for the main purpose of bringing together separate education and training systems into a single, national system.
NGO: All non-governmental, non-profit organisations that are concerned with the betterment of society or the individual. NGOs are private, self governing, voluntary organisations operating not for commercial purposes but in the public interest, for the promotion of social welfare and development, religious, charity, education and research. Notifiable disease: Diseases that must be reported to the Department of Health, local or provincial, e.g. measles, hepatitis.
Orphan: A child who has lost one or both parents.
Place of care: Any building or premises which are maintained or used, whether or not for gain, for the admission, protection and temporary or partial care of more than six children away from their parents. This does not include a boarding school, hostel or institution that is maintained or used mainly for the teaching or training of children as is controlled or registered or approved by the State, including a provincial administration. Depending on its registration, a place of care can admit babies, toddlers, pre-school aged children and school-going children on a full-day or other basis. In cases where parents work night shift, children could be cared for at night. Caution should be exercised that parents do not utilise the place of care as a boarding facility.
Practitioner: The term refers to all ECD education and training development practitioners, i.e. educators, trainers, facilitators, lecturers, caregivers and development officers, including those qualified by their experience, and who are involved in providing services in homes, centres and schools. In respect of educators and trainers, the term includes both formally and non-formally trained individuals providing an educational service in ECD. This would include persons currently covered by the Educators Employment Act (Act no. 138 of 1994).
Pre-school child: A child under six years of age not yet attending formal school.
Qualification: Formal recognition of the achievement of the required number and type of credits and such other requirements at specific levels of the NQF as may be determined by the relevant bodies registered for such purpose by the South African Qualifications Authority.
SAQA: The purpose of the South African Qualifications Authority is to ensure the development and implementation of a National Qualifications Framework (NQF) that contributes to the full development of each learner and to the social and economic development of the nation at large.
Subsidy: Financial support to ECD services by the government, including a place of care grant as referred to in Regulations of the Child Care Act, 1983.
The Act: For the purposes of these Guidelines it means the Child Care Act, 1983 (Act 74 of 1983).
Toddler: A child between 18 and 36 months old.
Vulnerability: Heightened or increased exposure to risk as a result of one’s circumstances.