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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
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
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Teacher Member Posts
Helping Parents Make the Transition to ECE
Parents Leaving their Child For the First Time in Care – An anxious time.
“A heart wrenching moment for all parents is when we leave our child for the first time in the care of someone else who is not well-known to us or at early childhood service or school. A child may become a lot quieter than usual or kick up a fuss. Either way as parents we
Lunch and Rest Breaks – Your Entitlements
Lunch and rest breaks.
Working with children is a very busy and demanding job. Employees in different types of early childhood services are often questioning what their entitlements are when they come to breaks.
There is a huge variation of break times across the sector.
So what are early childhood teachers entitled to when it comes
Gifted in Reading
While most children who are turning five years of age may at most recognise their name and perhaps a few other words, a gifted child at the same age may already be capable of reading books at Year 2 primary school level and above.
Identifying a Child Who is Gifted in Reading
A child who is gifted in reading has most or all of the following characteristics:
Colouring-in Books and Drawing Templates
Colouring-in Books in ECE.
Back in the 80s and 90s the use of colouring-in books was hotly debated amongst early childhood professionals and a consensus developed that drawing templates and colouring-in books were bad for children.
But today, colouring-in books for adults have become fashionable. Such books are promoted as supporting mind
Service Provider Member Posts
Governance Training and Capacity
Governance Training.
Most board members have little, if any, training on how to govern an early childhood service effectively.
They are often volunteers.
They may come onto the board thinking their role is merely to support the supervisor or manager and mostly to fundraise and offer practical ideas for day-to-day operations.&nb
No-Cost Ways to Find Teaching Staff Before Other Employers Do
Finding teaching staff.
Are you having difficulty finding staff who are suitable for your early childhood centre or home-based service?
Do you have no or very little money to spend on advertising?
Here are strategies that are simple, take little time, and are often overlooked – but have proven very effective for getting the
Family Exit Form For Feedback and Ways to Acknowledge a Child’s Time with You
Acknowledging a Child’s Time with You
Have you thought about how you’ll mark a child’s time at your service? Simple, meaningful gestures help children and whānau remember the transition and feel celebrated.
Ideas for the child
Farewell card with photos of highlights from their time at your service.
Book gift in an area of the
Overtime – Paying Staff for Work Outside Normal Hours
Employers’ obligations and rights on paying staff overtime and when they work outside of normal hours. This article covers what constitutes work outside of normal work hours that an employee must be paid for. NZ employment law that cannot be negotiated out of with an employee. Legal requirements for waged and salaried staff. It also tells you
Research Library – Today’s Featured Articles
Early Childhood Practitioners Developing an Academic Voice and Tutors Making Sense of the Research Process
The study shares insights into the way undergraduate students who are early childhood practitioners in their final year of study developed an academic voice beyond the walls of a University. It was designed by two University tutors who followed the progress of a number of student/practitioners who came together with the intention of editing and pub
Inclusion and equity for teachers with disabilities
The positive and negative experiences of early childhood teachers / kaiako with disabilities who are working in NZ. How this impacts on their human rights, sense of wellbeing, and work. Login to read the full research paper below. Or you can order a pdf copy of the article, go to the main NZIRECE Journal page.
Children’s Developing Minds Revealed by Parent-led Research
A new book giving insight into children’s developing minds. What do children make of the stories we offer them? What do they think and feel as they listen to a parent read a picture-book? And what if a story confuses them. Read the full paper below. Or to order a pdf copy of the article go to the main NZIRECE Journal page.
Three-year-old Children’s Visual Art Experiences
Three-year-old Children’s Visual Art Experiences.
Julie Plows. University of Auckland, NZ.
Full reference: Plows, J (2015). Three-year-old children’s visual art experiences. NZ Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 18, 37 – 51.
Original Research
Abstract
This art-based study investigated the verbal and
What We Do
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