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Welcome to the Office of Early Childhood Education
National and public adviser on ECE, the OECE is a sector body representing teachers and all types of licensed services driving safer, higher‑quality education for every child
View our positions
- 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
View the Code of Conduct for ECE Services
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National and local stories, expert analysis, commentary, and more.
Education Bulletin and Sector Notices
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Membership Services and Support for:
Teacher Member Posts
Giving Children Choices – Strategies for the Best Outcomes
Giving young children choices and empowering them to make their own decisions will help prepare them for life.
The early years are the best time for children to begin to learn about making choices and consequences.
The ability to choose is the essence of being human.
Consider how many choices you make each year, month, week, da
Asking for More Pay – Negotiating and Pay Reviews
Asking for More Pay.
In this article we discuss:
Getting over your fear to ask for a pay rise. What your employer’s obligations are. Preparing to negotiate and what you can expect.
Getting over fear to ask for a pay rise
If you do not ask you may not get. If you believe you are due a pay rise there is no harm in asking. 
Boys Liking Feminine Things
Gender expectations on boys.
Young boys can love pretty and feminine things. They like to dress up in pretty clothes and be princesses, fairies, and play female roles.
But parents may worry that it could be an early sign of femininity and see that teachers who allow boys to dress-up in girls’ clothes are setting them up for ridicule.
Learning from Disabled Children – How Early Childhood Professionals Can Help
Learning from Disabled Children. By Tim Kahn
This article on Learning from Disabled Children is written from a UK perspective. Some terminology may not be commonplace in New Zealand but should still be apparent from the context.
Disabled, but not really so different
When our daughter, Sarah, was very young, we used to visit our friend Mi
Service Provider Member Posts
Staff Meetings – Agenda and How to Conduct a Meeting
Staff meetings can work really well with the right Agenda and planning. Here’s how to achieve and cover what is important and make sure no meeting is a waste of valuable time.
Scroll to near the end of this page for a sample Agenda and sample planning docs.
There is no specific regulatory requirement to hold staff meetings. But services fi
Building Members Enthusiasm and Commitment
Committee Member Commitment.
For their investment of time what do your board or committee members get back?
It’s rare that someone will keep contributing if he/she is not benefiting from participating.
And those with the most to offer are often those with the least amount of time available and the greatest number of other c
Safety Checking of Staff and Others under the Children’s Act
Safety checking is required of every person who has or may have access to children as part of their work, such as cleaners and cooks at early childhood services, must be safety checked in accordance with the Children’s Act 2014 before being allowed to start work. The fine to the early childhood service of failing to do this is up to $10,000 upon c
CCTV and Security Camera Policy
The Office of ECE provides this CCTV policy template and guidance to help services using indoor or outdoor security cameras meet their legal obligations under the Privacy Act, the Children’s Act, and other key legislation.
With camera use under increasing scrutiny, every service that operates CCTV in areas where children or staff may be present needs clear, transparent procedures to ensure lawful, ethical, and defensible practice. Gaps in your policy can put your service and the trust of families, at risk.
Log in with your member details to access the full guidance and template. If your service’s membership has lapsed or you’d like to join, get in touch and we’ll help you get set up quickly.
Home‑based providers may also use this template to develop a policy for educators who have security cameras operating in their family homes.
Research Library – Today’s Featured Articles
Is There an Optimum Age for Starting School in New Zealand?
Research that uncovers what the best age for children to start school is at the national level. Considers cognitive development, age and school readiness. Read the full paper below. Or to order a pdf copy of the article go to the main NZIRECE Journal page.
Nuances and Perceptions of Home-based Early Childhood Education
FULL REFERENCE: Davitt, G., Chellapan, L., & Keighron, C. (2025). Nuances and perceptions of home-based early childhood education in Aotearoa New Zealand. NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 27, pp. 56-68.
ABSTRACT: Home-based early childhood education (HBECE) describes a type of early childhood education and care (ECE) that encompasses several widely recognised philosophies and pedagogical practices. Among psychologists, counsellors, therapists, and education professionals, there has been an increasing interest in researching HBECE. The aim of this research was to gain a broader view of the specific context, nuances, and perceptions of HBECE in Aotearoa New Zealand. Four focus group online interviews, with eighteen participants in total were held. The participants were service providers, visiting teachers, educators, and parents. From the interviews we identified benefits, challenges, and the overall perception of HBECE. Benefits focused on the family type environment, relationships, continuity of care, and small group size. Participants spoke of licensing and funding changes, namely: regulatory compliance, funding, and documentation. They perceived HBECE to be undervalued within the wider ECE sector and the community at large.
KEY WORDS: Group size, continuity of care, home-based ECE, personalised learning, flexible childcare.
Log-in to read the full research paper below. Or order a pdf copy of the article from the main NZIRECE Journal page.
INTRODUCTION
Home-based early childhood education (HBECE) is distinct from centre-based early childhood education (ECE). The term “home-based education and care” was first developed in the 1970s to reflect the provision of education and care experiences for children in a familiar home environment. In Aotearoa NZ, HBECE is provided by an educator in their private home for one to four children. According to the Education Research Office (ERO) (2018), a key factor in the success of HBECE is the personalised service it provides.
A Whole School Approach to Language Development in the Early Years
Research findings on supporting children entering school with speech and language delay. Concerning is that the skills necessary for teachers to have to support children are lacking within initial teacher training, which does not support children who are most vulnerable before and after entry to school.
FULL REFERENCE: Solvason, C., Kohlman H., Snowden, M. & Morris, C. (2016). A whole school approach to language development in the early years: professional development in action. NZ Research in ECE Journal, Special Issue: Equality and Diversity, 19, 32 – 45.
Log-in to read the full research paper below. Or order a pdf copy of the article from the main NZIRECE Journal page.
ABSTRACT: This article presents findings from a staged evaluation of a three year longitudinal research project, now at the end of its second year, undertaken by the University of Worcester in collaboration with North Town Primary School, situated in Southern England. It uses an action research approach to foreground intervention strategies used to support children entering school with speech and language delay. Data collection took an interpretivist approach, acknowledging the diverse range of variables present in a child’s life, and sought to focus upon the lived experience of practitioners supporting children’s language development within the study school. The following paper reflects upon the impact of the project so far. It indicates a shift in culture at the school, with a greater emphasis and value being placed upon tools to support children’s language enrichment, recognizing the impact that these can have on a child’s confidence and independence. Conversely it also identifies some fundamental issues which remain; the most concerning being that the skills needed to support the development of children’s speech and language remain lacking within initial teacher training. It highlights the necessity for professional development within speech, language and communication to be fully acknowledged at policy level if we are to adequately cater for the needs of our children, especially those who are most vulnerable.
KEY WORDS: Communication; collaboration; longitudinal study; action research; early years.
INTRODUCTION
The focus of this paper is an intervention strategy, introduced within entering a primary school in a mixed socio-economic area of Southern England, to support the needs of children entering the school, aged four to five years, with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN). In particular it investigates the role that professional development can play in enabling practitioners to successfully intervene to support children’s needs. Although written as a personal reflection it represents a collaborative enterprise between educational practitioners at the school, their Speech and language therapist (SaLT), and the university and all were involved in the editing process. The inter-professional nature of the project, in conjunction with the support of the parents and children at the school, has been vital to its success.
Nurturing the Learning and Development of Children who are Refugees
FULL REFERENCE: Harris, P. (2019). Nurturing the learning and development of children who are refugees. NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal. Special issue presenting position papers, 22(2), pp. 26 – 34.
Log-in to read the full research paper below. Or order a pdf copy of the article from the main NZIRECE Journal page.
ABSTRACT: This position paper provides a plea for children who are seeking asylum as refugees to be detained in an environment that supports their health, wellbeing, early education and care. Being detained in a refugee facility can lead children to suffer chronic fear, chaos, unstable access to food and water, and the witnessing of atrocities (Silove, Ventevogel, & Rees, 2017). Children who are refugees usually have suffered traumatic events and are entitled to “recovery and reintegration” in a safe environment that nurtures their health and wellbeing, and where freedom and equality prepare them to prosper as an individual within society. Although Australia is a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, children being detained in Australian refugee camps are vulnerable to depression, and this experience may cause them to adjust in developmentally dangerous ways (Minas, et al., 2013).
Key words: Refugees, asylum seekers, trauma, children’s rights, wellbeing, vulnerable children.
INTRODUCTION:
Throughout the world there are people who are forcibly displaced every day owing to war, persecution, conflict and generalised conflict (United Nations High Commission for Refugees [UNHCR], 2017). Many of these are refugees, others are asylum seekers. The Refugee Council of Australia defines a refugee as “people who are forced to leave their homes for many reasons, including conflict and violence. Sometimes ‘refugee’ is used to refer to a person displaced due to a natural disaster environmental change” (2017, para. 2). While asylum seekers are people who have sought protection as a refugee, their claim for refugee status has not yet been assessed (Refugee Council of Australia, 2017). By 2017, 68.5 million people had been forcibly displaced globally, with 16.2 million being displaced in 2017 alone (United Nations High Commission for Refugees [UNHCR], 2019).
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