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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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Membership Services and Support for:
Teacher Member Posts
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…
Sick Leave: Key Rights and Rules for Teachers and Staff
Learn your paid sick leave rights - and what every person who works in early childhood settings needs to know to protect themselves, their income,…
Teacher Education Staff Uncertain About Accepting Male Students
Accepting Males into Teaching Course. Why should we continue to accept men into our teacher education programme when they have difficulty fitting in and so…
Pet Lamb – What You Need to Know
TITLE: Pet Lamb - fostering agreements, day-to-care care, benefits for children's play and learning, and regulatory requirements Some lambs are sadly orphaned at birth or…
Service Provider Member Posts
Business Structures and Board Legal Requirements
ECE Business Structures. Early childhood education and care services differ in organisational type. Here is an outline of different business types, the defining features, and broad…
RS7 Return – Can You Afford to Opt-in to the Pay Parity Funding?
Opting-In to Pay Parity Funding. Some service may opt-out and then lose their teachers to other services that have opted in. Others opting-in to pay…
ECE Policies: What’s Required, What’s Optional, and What’s Just Paperwork
Learn the difference between the documentation ECE services are required to have and the policies they often write unnecessarily. Service leaders will benefit from understanding…
Sandpit – Safety, Hygiene and Health
Sandpit safety and hygiene. There are many potential safety problems and hazards in regard to sandpits. Sandpit Safety. Ensure that active supervision of children in…
Research Library – Today’s Featured Articles
Mathematical Skills Instruction in 5-year-old Children
FULL REFERENCE: Méndez-Jurado, A. and Pearson, R. (2026). Mathematical skills instruction in 5-year-old children. NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 28(1), 69-86. ABSTRACT:…
Making Inclusion Happen in Early Childhood Settings
Research on family and whānau and teacher perspectives and practices of inclusion in early childhood education settings in Aotearoa NZ. FULL REFERENCE: Moffat, T.K. (2017). …
Children’s Participation in Disaster Risk Reduction as Curriculum
FULL REFERENCE: Fikriani, D. & Bone, J. (2014). Children's participation in disaster risk reduction as curriculum. NZ Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, Special Issue:…
Index for the NZ Research in ECE Journal, 2009, Vol 12
The titles, authors and abstracts for papers published in the NZ Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, Volume 12, 2009 are shown below. To view…
What We Do
The Office of ECE drives high-quality care, learning and teaching for all infants and young children and high-quality working environments for teachers and service providers.
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