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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
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Teacher Member Posts
Over-Stimulating Environments Unsuitable for Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders
Dear Fellow Teachers,
I’ve recently been approached by the mother of a child with ASD and Sensory Integration Disorder.
He is 3 and a half and finds a standard ECE environment too overwhelming – noise in particular but also visual stimulation and movement affect him adversely.
We had a long discussion about the unspoken belief that all children thrive in a visual stimulating and noisy environment.
The mother has investigated
Sign Language and Baby (Child) Signing
Baby Signing.
What is baby (child) signing?History – how it developed and what the researchers discovered. Simple tips for getting started with baby signing. Examples of some baby signs that you can easily learn and teach to infants in your care.
Also see a related article on what a parent and ECE service says about this: Parents sig
Sun Protection Activities for Teaching and Learning to Be Safe in the Sun
Sun Protection Activities On Being Safe in the Sun (songs, art and craft, science, drama etc).
Lots of easy to implement ideas for teaching and learning about sun protection and being safe in the sun are provided in this article. You’ll need to go to another article on our site if you are seeking info on best practices in ECE for pr
SUDI – Death of an Infant when Sleeping
Sleep in ECE and Reducing the Risk of (SUDI): Learnings and What’s Legally Required versus Best Practice.
For years, the OECE’s chief advisor Dr Sarah Alexander has feared that a child would die from sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI) in an early childhood education (ECE) setting. Now that has happened: An infant died from SUDI while
Service Provider Member Posts
Case Studies of Centres that Successfully Completed Self-Review
Self-Review and The Quality Journey: Is there a Leader at the Helm? By Anne Grey.
This article explores the role of the leader in early childhood centre self-review.
Two case studies of centres that had successfully completed self-review in the previous twelve-month period were undertaken. The leader of each centre was interviewed, the
Illness and Infectious Disease Policy: Covering Children and Adults
Illness and infectious‑disease management is under closer scrutiny than ever, and every ECE service must have a policy that reflects current regulations and best practice. A weak or outdated policy can put children at risk, expose staff to preventable illness, and leave your service vulnerable during a licensing inspection, ERO review, or complaint.
This article shows you how to write a strong, compliant illness and infectious diseases policy for your centre or home‑based service – and provides a practical template you can use to update your current procedures immediately.
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.
Centres and home‑based services play a vital role in safeguarding children’s health. Clear, well‑informed procedures are essential for preventing exposure to infectious illnesses and reducing the risk of outbreaks.
Staff Lateness for Work or Other Problem Behaviour
Here is what you need to know when deciding how to respond to an employee who is late for work.
Late for work – a one off or infrequent occurrence
If you pay the employer by the hour you are under no obligation to pay for time when the employee is not at work.
If an employee is late without a reasonable exp
Getting Relievers and Managing Relief Staff
An early childhood reliever is a much welcome part to any ECE service. Teachers and home-based coordinators will require annual or sick leave, or you may need someone to fill in, while you look for a new staff member. Whatever the reason for your need for using a reliever, there are many questions and concerns that may arise for employers and manag
Research Library – Today’s Featured Articles
Effective Transition to School: Integrating Philosophy, Pedagogy and Curriculum
Research on how primary school classrooms can support children’s transition from early childhood education to the school setting. Read the full paper below. Or to order a pdf copy of the article go to the main NZIRECE Journal page.
It is Difficult to Review the Quality of Education if You Don’t Know What Children are Learning: ERO and Self-Review of Early Childhood Services
A critical look at the New Zealand Education Review Office’s draft guidelines for reviewing early childhood services is provided in this paper. ERO’s guidelines provide a range of “evaluation indicators” to inform centres as to what is considered to be effective practice. The indicators that ERO provides in relation to the assessment of chi
Reviewers
NZIRECE reviewers and editorial teams. We wish to acknowledge the reviewers of articles for each journal editorial and thank them for their expertise and time.
Index for the NZ Research in ECE Journal, 2005, Vol 8
The titles, authors and abstracts for papers published in the NZ Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, Volume 8, 2005 are shown below. To view
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