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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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Education Bulletin and Sector Notices
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Teacher Member Posts
Making Volcanoes
Making Volcanoes with Children.
Children find volcanoes intriguing.
Here are some key facts and simple information to share with children about volcanoes and geysers, along with a ‘recipe’ for making your very own fun miniature demonstration volcano. Introducing knowledge and understanding of volcanoes is a common part of teaching and
Children Attending Multiple Early Childhood Services
Attending Multiple Early Childhood Services in NZ.
Children can attend more than one ECE service. But this was not always recommended.
When a child attends kindergarten, he should not, except in special circumstances, also attend playcentre. This is an overlapping of services and is contrary to the policy of nursery playcentres generally. It
Child E-Portfolios
E-Portfolios in Early Childhood Education. By Julia Button.
This article describes and discusses the use and place of e-portfolios in early childhood education. Considerations for using e-portfolios and limitations are outlined. A special section looks at the involvement and contribution of families and others to children’s e-portfolio
The Importance of a Play Based Approach
The Play Based Approach – Helping young learners to flourish.
The one thing every parent, caregiver and educator wishes most for a young child is to have a happy and fulfilled childhood.
What is a Play Based Approach?
A play-based approach is a a child-centered approach. When learning and teaching is play-based it is about lea
Service Provider Member Posts
No-Cost Advertising and Service Promotion
Marketing and Promotion.
Competition from other service providers in your area should not result in your service closing its doors. If you provide a quality service, do your home-work and develop a plan to keep children and attract new families.
The standard marketing and advertising advice is:
1. Develop a plan.
2. Consider c
Creating a Team Contract and the Behaviours of a Well-functioning Team
Creating and signing a team contract is a great idea – it fosters teamwork by acting to cement agreed behaviours and establishing a platform for effective professional conversations.
Having effective professional conversations supports continuous improvement of practices by allowing teachers to examine beliefs and assumptions and understand how these impact on children, the service, and each other.
Spending time discussing service philosophy, behaviour and kaupapa are important aspects of teaching. This can be linked to the Te Ao Māori concepts of tapu and noa.
Curriculum Policy
Use and adapt the following curriculum policy to suit your service and meet regulatory requirements.
Your curriculum policy must be consistent with the curriculum framework and be informed by assessment, planning, and evaluation (documented and undocumented) that demonstrates an understanding of children’s learning, their interests, whānau, and life contexts.
As well as providing a curriculum policy template for you, we’ve included the questions the Ministry of Education commonly asks and focuses on when it is checking an ECE service’s curriculum policy and implementation.
RATIONALE:
To ensure the process of planning, evaluating and delivering a localised curriculum is consistent with
Staffing Rosters: Balancing Safety and Compliance at Opening and Closing
Staffing Rosters at opening and closing can make or break the safety and compliance of an early childhood service. Many leaders are unsure what the law actually requires, especially when only a few children remain at the end of the day. This article cuts through the confusion with clear guidance on ratios, supervision, and who can legally be left to open or close the centre and differences between legal and best practice.
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.
Contents – NZ Research in ECE Journal, 2015, Vol 18
This issue explores mentoring and leadership for beginning teachers, school‑based playgroup transitions, young children’s visual art experiences, reflective practice through practical philosophy, comprehensive assessment approaches, and the interplay between social context and neural development.
Being Agreeable? A Critical Examination of Communication Among IP Groups in Early Intervention
In New Zealand each child with an inclusive early intervention programme is supported by a group of adults: the child’s parent(s), teachers, early intervention specialists, and education support worker (teacher-aide). The group’s joint task is to prepare an individual plan (IP) for the child to follow in their regular early childhood education
Screens or No Screens: Understanding Young Children’s Use of Digital Technologies
FULL REFERENCE: Robinson-Kennedy, M. (2019). Screens or no screens: Understanding young children’s use of digital technologies. NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal. Special issue presenting early childhood position papers, 22(2), pp. 18 – 25.
Log-in to read the full research paper below. Or order a pdf copy of the article from the main NZIRECE Journal page.
ABSTRACT: Children are accessing digital-technologies at younger ages and at an increasing rate, especially in the home environment. There is growing evidence that the type of digital-technology, the time spent accessing it, and the resulting displacement of other activities, are both the most significant factors to consider and the most frequently overlooked. As a result, young children’s development and wellbeing may be negatively impacted, and learning opportunities missed. Parents and Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) educators have different approaches to children’s use of technologies. Parents have reported using screen-time to occupy children and/or manage behaviour. There is also a belief that many digital games and programs are educational. ECEC educators have demonstrated a dearth of knowledge and confidence in implementing technology into the curriculum, and therefore often do not use digital-play in their pedagogy. This paper proposes that in order to harness the potential of digital-technology as a tool for inquiry, creativity, imagination, and play, we must look beyond screen-based devices to technologies that promote children as producers, not consumers, of digital content.
Key words: Digital technology, screen-based learning, digital play, ICT.
Introduction
Digital technology usage, by children birth to five years old, is one of the most topical and polarising debates in the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) sector (Early Childhood Australia [ECA], 2018; Stephen & Plowman, 2014). Growing numbers of children under five are now using digital devices at home, however researchers, educators, and parents are not aligned in their beliefs or approaches to technology (Dunn, Gray, Moffett, & Mitchell, 2018; Ihmeideh & Alkhawaldeh, 2017), which may pose a significant problem for its effective implementation into the curriculum (Palaiologou, 2016b; Thorpe, et al., 2015). This is despite information and communication technologies (ICT) being identified as an important Learning Outcome of the Australian Early Years Learning Framework (Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations [DEEWR], 2009).
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