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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

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Teacher Member Posts

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Child Thinking
Gifted and Talented Children

The Education of Young Gifted Children and Resource Issues

Gifted Children Identification and Resource Issues. Research Report by Valerie Margrain & Sarah Alexander.

An online survey was conducted on the education of young gifted children. The purpose of the survey was to gather information and sector views to help inform policy and practices for young gifted children and those who work with them.

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child playing with a big toy dinosaur and a smaller dinosaur
Disability, Health & Learning Needs

ADHD: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Children with ADHD in ECE.

ADHD is a biological disorder which is most often seen in school age children but can also be present in toddlers, pre-schoolers and adolescents and adults.

ADHD is usually broken down into three sub-categories: ADHD predominantly inattentive, ADHD predominantly hyperactive and ADHD combined type.

Children with

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learning stories children looking at their photos
Assessment of Learning

Different Ways to Write a Learning Story

Writing a Learning Story.

Learning stories are still the assessment type of choice for most early childhood services and teaching professionals. The way that learning stories are written vary from service to service.

While teachers and home-educators know what they are supposed to do in learning stories, they may be left questioning, what

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children's feet
Job Guidance

When Your Service is Not Meeting Adult-Child Ratio Minimums

Not meeting adult:child ratios.

There are various ways that adult-child ratios can become a problem.

For example, does your manager or boss tell you that it is okay to go under ratio and not replace you when you go on morning-tea breaks and on other occasions provided you are still in the building or on the grounds?   

Ratios

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Service Provider Member Posts

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shade covers veranda deck
Premises, Facilities, Layout, & Outdoor Environment Features

Shade and Outdoor Planning for Sun Protection

Below are tips and recommendations for creating and maintaining effective and acceptable shade in outdoor play areas. This is important in conjunction with other methods for protecting children’s skin and eyes from the harmful effects of the sun over summer.

Attention is drawn here to different problems such as tree branches breaking and falli

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comforting child
Learnings from Serious Incidents

Kindergarten Girl on Slide Nearly Died From Strangulation

Slide safety.

UPDATE: Another case of strangulation showing that lessons have not yet been learnt. A child died in 2016 at Angels Childcare in Auckland due to strangulation on a slide.

An Opinion article on Slide Safety

By Dr Sarah Alexander September 1, 2010.

The mother of a young girl nearly strangled after being caught in a rope

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child swinging high on swing in playground of NZ early childhood centre
Advertising and Marketing / Promotion

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

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Right of entry and visitors to an early childhood centre
Policies and Procedures

Right of Entry Policy

Regulations require that certain groups of people, including parents, union staff, and public officials, have a right of entry to the early childhood service under certain conditions, and set out the responsibilities of the early childhood service.

Below is a Right of Entry Policy and a set of procedures for different situations. Adapt and re-w

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Research Library – Today’s Featured Articles

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early childhood research journal online
2015 NZRECE Journal Articles

“It is a Risk, But it is a Risk Worth Taking”: Early Childhood Teachers’ Reflections on Review of Practice Using an Approach of Practical Philosophy

“It is a risk, but it is a risk worth taking”: Early childhood teachers’ reflections on review of practice using an approach of practical philosophy.

Anne Grey. AUT University, NZ.

Full reference: Grey, A. (2015). “It is a risk, but it is a risk worth taking”: Early childhood teachers’ reflections on review of practice usin

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NZIRECE Journal early childhood education research
2021 NZIRECE Journal No. 2. Special Issue

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.

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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.
Teacher supervising infant and young child playing in playground at ECE centre.

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