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Welcome to the Office of Early Childhood Education
The OECE is a national organisation for the ECE sector and public adviser, championing high-quality education and care for every child
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- Provides membership support to ECE services, teachers, researchers, and community partners
- Actively contributes to sector analysis, research, and policy development
- Advances evidence-based best practices that prioritise children’s interests and wellbeing
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Teacher Member Posts
Autism
Children with Autism ASD in Early Childhood Education.
How often have you seen a child acting inappropriately in social situations, appearing to ignore what others say, or over-reacting to loud noises?
Children with such behaviours are often thought to be naughty or treated as a ‘problem’. Some early childhood services have policies tha
Asperger’s Syndrome
Children with Asperger’s in ECE.
Here is an overview of what every parent, educator and child carer needs to know about Asperger’s Syndrome. It answers common questions such as:
What is Asperger’s Syndrome?How do I know if a child has Asperger’s?What are the earliest signs in infancy, toddlerhood and the preschool years? W
Under-5s Rugby
Teaching Rugby to Children in Early Childhood Education. This fosters a sense of belonging, pride, and achievement.
Rugby is part of NZ’s culture and central to our cultural identity. (See another article on following and celebrating the Rugby World Cup with children
It is a great sport to introduce to children from about 2 years of a
Why Would a Qualified Teacher Want to Do Another Course or Higher Degree?
Studying for a higher qualification. By Melanie Wong.
How many times have you thought you really would like to do something more than what you are doing – but people mock your ambition or it just seems too hard to try?
For early childhood teachers the goal is to gain a diploma or degree in early childhood teaching. Further study be
Service Provider Member Posts
Toddler Left in Car Seat Died
Unexplained absence.
A 16-month-old was found dead after his mum went to work, accidentally leaving him sleeping in his car seat in her car parked at work. She had not realised he was still in the car and had forgotten to drop him at the early childhood centre. Tragically the toddler died from heatstroke. There can be other situations t
Establishing Good Internal Financial Control and Preventing Fraud
ECE Internal Financial Control Systems.
Why internal control?
Internal control systems are normal in business and society and will be expected of you by your staff, fellow owners, parents, board members, bankers and financiers.
They help establish a climate of good control which produces reliable financial records, good management
Social Media Policy: Essential and Effective Guidelines and Template for Early Childhood Services
We provide a policy template as well as highlighting the main issues for your team to discuss and ensure your policy is practical, protective and aligned with the realities of social media use in New Zealand early childhood settings.
Make time to think through the key considerations, risks and decisions involved.
At the end of this article, you will find a Social Media Policy template that you can adapt and use to create a policy that suits your service’s needs, values and social media practices.
When used well, social media can strengthen communication, build community and serve as a powerful marketing tool. When used poorly, it can compromise privacy, blur professional boundaries and damage trust.
Social media refers to Internet based tools that allow users to publish information, opinions, images and other content. In New Zealand early childhood settings, the most commonly used platforms include
How To Have Better Committee Meetings
Better Committee Meetings.
“Not another time-waster meeting!” – have you heard a comment like this?
I have observed and participated in some great committee and board meetings at early childhood services and no meeting has to be a time-waster or boring.
It can be done.
You can bring energy, heart, managem
Research Library – Today’s Featured Articles
Beyond Quality in Early Childhood Education & Care Postmodern Perspectives
Beyond Quality extends the values-based approach, and taking a postmodern perspective, argues that researchers cannot continue to claim the “truth” and the right to define early childhood education and care quality for others.
Contents – NZ International Research in ECE Journal, 2022, Vol 24
This special issue examines how parents and families shape early childhood education, from partnership models and parental wellbeing to fathers’ participation and culturally diverse perspectives on engagement.
Index for the NZ Research in ECE Journal, 2001, Vol 4
The titles, authors and abstracts for papers published in the NZ Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, Volume 7, 2004 are shown below.
To view any paper, scroll to the end of this page for copies.
A Right to Respect and Reciprocity: Ethics and Educational Research with Children
Helen HedgesNZRECE Journal, Vol.
Insights from the Playgroup Movement: Equality and Autonomy in a Voluntary Organisation
As the reader turns each page a message unfolds that if we are to make any real progress today for children and the society we live in we really need to be open to learning about and taking lessons from the experiences and values of the past.
What We Do
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