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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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Teacher Member Posts
Becoming a Home-based Educator
The Joys, the Disappointments, and Why One Home-based Educator Knows She Has Made the Right Job Choice.
After nine years working in early childhood centres Kimberley had left her job to raise her own child but when a good friend needed someone to look after their baby, she decided home-based care could be a great way to continue her ECE career.
Boys Educational Underachievement
This article looks at arguments around boys and educational underachievement and proposes that early childhood teachers should take education to where the boys are at. UK education expert Tim Kahn, gives an example of how an early childhood teacher put aside her initial feeling to forbid boys from following their play interest and en
The Books Children Like Best
The Type of Books Young Children Like Best.
Books are an integral part of a child’s education but getting them to sit down and look at books can be difficult when there are so many other things competing for a child’s attention.
Often books are chosen by adults, particularly for younger children and babies, but even young children
Money – Teaching Children in ECE About Money
Teaching Children About Money
By Lucy Wood
Money. They say “it doesn’t grow on trees”, but also that “it makes the world go round”. They say “it doesn’t buy you happiness” although admittedly it’s very rare to see someone looking sad while on holiday in Paris! It’s a big topic and it affects life, and lifestyle, in lots of different ways.
In researching this article, I came upon a lot of advice saying that teaching our tamariki about money is important, and that we can’t start early enough. Even infants can begin to learn about the concept of delayed gratification, an important skill for managing finances later in life.
How can we as ECE kaiako help tamariki to develop positive attitudes about money, and to see themselves as capable and competent when it comes to things like saving? While conversations about money are something which likely will also be happening at home, in ECE spaces we can support this learning, in ways that are age appropriate, positive and empowering for our tamariki.
Service Provider Member Posts
Annual Holiday Leave Use
Unused holiday leave. We have a teacher who chose to take carry over her leave from last year to this year. Does she need to use up all of this leave before the end of the year or can she roll it over to next year? We would prefer she take the time this year before Christmas.Service provider.
All employees: part time, full time, fixed
Establishing Good Internal Financial Control and Preventing Fraud
ECE Internal Financial Control Systems.
Why internal control?
Internal control systems are normal in business and society and will be expected of you by your staff, fellow owners, parents, board members, bankers and financiers.
They help establish a climate of good control which produces reliable financial records, good management
Sick Leave: ECE Employer Guide to Legal Duties, Proof, and Best Practices
ECE employers – managing sick leave is becoming increasingly complex, and getting it wrong can put pressure on ratios, disrupt staffing, and create legal and health‑and‑safety risks.
This guidance covers exactly what you must provide, how to support staff appropriately, and how to protect your service when absences occur.
Running an early childhood service means constantly balancing legal obligations, maintaining safe staffing levels, and finding cover at short notice.
Log in with your member details to read the full guidance. 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.
Sick leave is one of the hardest parts of that balancing act – especially when absences create strain or when you’re unsure how to respond in a way that is both fair and compliant.
How to write a policy
How to write a policy on anything or topic for your early childhood service.
What needs to be included in a written policy.
Answers to your questions such as how often you need to review policy.
Research Library – Today’s Featured Articles
Removing Socio-Economic Barriers to Participation in Early Childhood Education
This paper reviews policy approaches to increase the participation of children from low socio-economic families in quality early childhood education. Problems are identified with current policy approaches and an equitable way forward is proposed. Read the full paper below. Or to order a pdf copy of the article go to the main NZIRECE Journal page.
Satisfaction with Autism NZ’s early support programme, EarlySteps
Reporting on a practitioner-led evaluation of an autism specific NZ early support (formerly known as ‘early intervention) programme, the findings, and recommendations. Login to view the full article. Or you can order a pdf copy of the article, go to the main NZIRECE Journal page.
Where are the Men in Jamaica’s Early Childhood Classrooms? The Experiences of those who Choose to Teach Young Children
Research on factors that male teachers believe deter other men from joining them in the early childhood profession. Read the full paper below. Or to order a pdf copy of the article go to the main NZIRECE Journal page.
Index for the NZ Research in ECE Journal, 2008, Vol 11
The titles, authors and abstracts for papers published in the NZ Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, Volume 11, 2008 are shown below.
To view any paper, scroll to the end of this page for copies.
Making Choices: Contradictions and Commonalities in the Valuing of Caring and Working by Government Policy and First Time M
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