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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
Would you give marbles to a 1-year-old?
Would you give marbles to a 1-year-old? Is it a breach of regulations or licensing expectations? The answer might surprise you.
You know what a young child is like. They can pick up marbles. They may put a marble/s in their mouth or even their nose. This poses a significant risk to children.
Yet, the action of not putting marbles out of rea
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:
Child Vaccination Requirements
Children’s Immunisation and ECE.
One of the key international measures of a healthy population is a country’s percentage of children fully immunised against diseases.
The higher the immunisation rate, the more successful NZ is seen to be in protecting young children’s health. However, there are things you need to know and issues
The Kind of Teacher You Are
It all Comes Out in the Wash! Teaching Style and Thinking About The Kind of Teacher You Are. By Joy Lubawy.
Have we moved forward with the times in educating young children?
Do you remember when your Mother used to boil the copper and stir the clothes in the boiling water with a wooden stick? Gosh the clothing must have been ha
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
How Necessary is it to have Written Policies and what Shortcuts can be taken?
Early childhood service policies on everything are not always needed and are certainly not required.
Managers and early childhood service staff can easily get caught up in a sea of paper-work, that includes writing and reviewing policies in particular if they do not know the following.
Did you know that every service must have a written chi
Values-based Interviewing as Part of the Staff Safety Check
Values-based Interviewing.
It is usual to conduct a formal interview with potential job applicants and to cover skills, experience and knowledge during the interview. This ‘technical’ interview is important to ensure that the applicant has the skills, competencies and knowledge to meet the job description and person specifications.
F
HIV and AIDS Childcare and Confidentiality Guidelines
HIV / AIDS Children and Adults At Early Childhood Services.
In May 2012 a Northland Childcare Centre was publicly slammed when it decided to send home an HIV-positive child. The centre was criticised by the AIDS Foundation and the story made the national news over several days. The centre claimed its exclusion of the child was temporary only w
Research Library – Today’s Featured Articles
Solo Fathers with Young Children and their Social Needs
Solo fathers are an ‘invisible’ group in society, although Census data suggests they make up almost 5% of families in New Zealand. No research other than a review of Census data in 1999 has been done on this family type in New Zealand, and there is also very little published research overseas, especially where it includes young children. This i
Visible Difference: Photostory as Capacity Building, Research and Evaluation Method
This paper presents research on the use of visual documentation – photo stories – to support reflective teaching practice, disrupt traditional power relations between educators and families, and enable teacher and researcher co-construction of knowledge. 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.
Login to read the full research paper below. Or order a pdf copy of the article from the main NZIRECE Journal page.
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.
Negotiating Policy-Driven and State-Mandated Expectations of Leadership: Discourses Accessed by Early Childhood Educators in Australia
Negotiating Policy-Driven and State-Mandated Expectations of Leadership: Discourses Accessed by Early Childhood Educators in Australia.
Louise Thomas and Joce Nuttall. Australian Catholic University.
Full Reference: Thomas, L., & Nuttall, J. (2014). Negotiating policy-driven and state-mandated expectations of leadership: Disc
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