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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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Education Bulletin and Sector Notices
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Teacher Member Posts
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:
Speaking Up in ECE: How to Raise Issues in Your Workplace or Community, Influence Change, and Advocate
If something in your workplace or in the wider ECE sector isn’t sitting right with you, you’re not alone – and you’re not powerless.
We speak up to protect children, strengthen the profession, and create healthier, safer workplaces.
But raising concerns can feel overwhelming, scary, and hard.
Think of one thing you’d really like to change. This article helps you work out the best way to communicate it – whether that’s addressing an issue with your employer, raising a sector‑wide concern, or advocating for children’s rights.
Log in with your member details to read the full guidance. If your membership has lapsed or you’d like to join, get in touch with us or go to the Join page on our website.
You’ll learn about common stumbling blocks, ways to build your confidence, and take the next step without feeling out of your depth.
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 there may be another reason why a farmer may decide the lamb would be better off to be hand-reared (such as in the case of multiple births and the mum having only one teat).
Your service could offer to help to hand-rear the lamb.
A lamb gives children a new responsibility.
A lamb is a new playmate and a friend that will love them unconditionally.
A lamb is gentle. It delights in playing but also at times needs to stop and drink or sit down and rest.
This is a pet that is dependent on care for survival and that will teach children to nurture.
Introducing a pet lamb to your early childhood service is an excellent way to naturally support children to spend more time outdoors running, jumping and skipping and enjoying the spring weather.
Below we cover aspects of
– How to get a lamb
– Agreements with the farmer and with your children for fostering the lamb
– Preparing for the lamb and what you need
Non-Contact Time Needs and Your Entitlement
Early Childhood Teacher Non-Contact Time.
At centres and home-based services, teachers or educators have a wide range of responsibilities in their roles and finding time to do everything can especially be a challenge depending on things like the number of other teachers, how many hours your service operates and the demands/ needs of caring of
Service Provider Member Posts
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 parity funding could risk becoming insolvent. It’s bonus money for services already paying all their certificated teaching staff at least at the first 5 or 6 pay steps.
To explain the math and
Staff Benefits and Wages Guide
The Staff Benefits and Wages Guide for Employers.
We provide data on usual and common benefits provided to staff, such as discounted childcare, and by which services. Data on pay rates at different services, for staff in different positions and regional variations is also shown below. Because data on pay rates can become dated as soon as it
Children Screaming – Risk to Adult and Child Hearing
How a child screaming can hurt adult ears
What did you say? I can’t hear you. I’m cuddling a circular saw!
By James Lochead-Macmillan.
Most research into screaming children focuses on the production of the stress hormone Cortisol.
What is significantly less reported is how dangerous that screaming child is to their car
Charging Parents for Late Pick-ups and Early Drop-offs
Late Fee.
Should you charge a late fee for late collection of children? Or charge the parents of children who arrive early?
Some early childhood services ‘fine’ parents to try to deter them from leaving their child outside of hours that are booked. Other services charge late and early drop-off fees to generate extra reven
Research Library – Today’s Featured Articles
Raising Healthy Kids: A Scoping Review for Feeding Practices in NZ Early Childhood Education Centres
Research on how teachers and staff support the eating behaviours of children and feeding practices applicable to food policy and guidelines. Read the full paper below. Or to order a pdf copy of the article go to the main NZIRECE Journal page.
The Wellbeing of Pacific Children and Families: Foregrounding Culture, Language, and Identity Formation in ECE
Research on health and wellbeing of Pacific children in NZ early childhood education, and factors that impede or enable better health and wellbeing. Read the full paper below. Or to order a pdf copy of the article go to the main NZIRECE Journal page.
Supporting Participation of Indigenous Families in Early Childhood Education
Supporting Participation of Indigenous Families in Early Childhood Education.
Elizabeth Corridore. Australia.
Full Reference: Corridore, E. (2014). Supporting participation of indigenous families in early childhood education. NZ Research in Early Childhood Education Journal. Special Issue: Early Childhood Policy,17, 147-160.
Contents – NZ International Research in ECE Journal, 2018, Vol 21, No. 1
This issue brings together research on children’s physical activity, conflict‑related social development, men’s experiences in early childhood teaching, school‑entry assessment, transitions to school, differing perspectives on quality, and parental and teacher views on school readiness.
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