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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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collection of sunhats children use when at preschool
Child Health, Attachment, and Wellbeing

Protecting Children’s Skin and Eyes from the Sun

Practical and best sun protection measures for babies, toddlers and young children in home-based and centres.

Always use sun protection measures during peak UVR times between September and April, especially between 10am and 4pm (or Terms 1 & 4 in early childhood services).

During the winter months and outside of these hours sunhats and ot

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young child signing
Teaching and Putting Theory into Practice

Sign Language and Baby (Child) Signing

Baby Signing.

What is baby (child) signing?History – how it developed and what the researchers discovered. Simple tips for getting started with baby signing.  Examples of some baby signs that you can easily learn and teach to infants in your care.

Also see a related article on what a parent and ECE service says about this: Parents sig

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Teacher with happy children playing outside at early childhood centre on summer day.
Job Guidance

Dress guidelines for people working with children in ECE services (staff of all genders)

Rarely do early childhood teacher education texts contain guidance on appropriate teacher dress and physical appearance. One exception is Maria Montessori who wrote that the teacher of young children: “must be attractive, pleasing in appearance, tidy and clean, calm and dignified.  These are ideals that each can realise in her own way. The

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suitcases travel leaving arriving
Professional Learning, Mentoring & Development

The Place of Travel in Teachers’ Professional Development

Travel in Teachers’ Professional Development. By Kathy Goouch and Hazel Bryan.

There has been increasing interest shown by those concerned with young children’s learning in international policy and practice. By travelling ourselves, we sought to understand the imperative for practitioners to look beyond their own geographical and cultural

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Service Provider Member Posts

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Advertising and Marketing / Promotion

No-Cost Ways to Find Teaching Staff Before Other Employers Do

Finding teaching staff.

Are you having difficulty finding staff who are suitable for your early childhood centre or home-based service?  

Do you have no or very little money to spend on advertising?  

Here are strategies that are simple, take little time, and are often overlooked – but have proven very effective for getting the

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Adults talking about early childhood education and childcare.
Employer Guides and Staff Management

Performance Appraisals for Early Childhood Staff and Managers

The Teaching Council no longer requires teachers to participate in an appraisal process – this requirement was replaced with a Professional Growth Cycle requirement.

However, the Ministry of Education’s licensing criteria that sits alongside the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations requires that services have processes for human resource management; including “a system of regular appraisal” (GMA6 home-based; GMA7 education and care centres; GMA7 playcentres; GMA7 kōhanga reo; GMA7 hospital-based).

The templates and guidance provided here covers performance appraisals for managers who may also be the service owner, and teaching staff (including unqualified and qualified staff).

This article also covers

How to conduct a performance appraisal, the process involved and 6 simple steps to follow

Tips for setting the scene properly and conducting the performance review effectively.

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money coins child
Financial Management and Record Keeping

The ECE Fundraising Guide

Fundraising Guide.

Hi, can you please help me and my kohanga. I don’t know how or where to get funding for an outside playground!!!! This is my first time trying to get a grant…….I’m really on the fundraising committee but I just found out there is no funding committee so I’m giving it a go         

Morning teas, cake raffl

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early childhood research journal online
Employer Guides and Staff Management

Formal Warning Letter and Expressing Concern Letter

Here are templates for a letter ‘of concern’ and a letter giving an early childhood employee a formal first or second warning.

EXAMPLE LETTER OF CONCERN

Private and Confidential

DATE

Dear <Name>

Letter of Concern

This letter is to formally raise our concerns around <insert a general description of the concern, i.e. inapp

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Research Library – Today’s Featured Articles

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NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education journal
2019 NZIRECE Journal No. 2

Screens or No Screens: Understanding Young Children’s Use of Digital Technologies

Maya Robinson-Kennedy.

Full reference: Robinson-Kennedy, M. (2019). Screens or no screens: Understanding young children’s use of digital technologies.  NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal. Special issue presenting early childhood position papers, 22(2), pp. 18 – 25. 

Page 18

Original Posit

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early childhood research journal online
2014 Special Policy Issue

Breach of Trust – Getting it Right for Children in Early Childhood Care and Education in Ireland

Breach of Trust – Getting it Right for Children in Early Childhood Care and Education in Ireland.

Mary Moloney. Mary Immaculate College, Ireland.

Full Reference: Moloney, M. (2014). Breach of trust – Getting it right for children in early childhood care and education in Ireland. NZ Research in Early Childhood Education Journal. Special

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NZIRECE Journal early childhood education research
2002 NZRECE Journal Articles

Index for the NZ Research in ECE Journal, 2002, Vol 5

The titles, authors and abstracts for papers published in the NZ Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, Volume 5, 2002 are shown below.

To view any paper, scroll to the end of this page for copies.

Research as a Journey: The New Researcher as a First-time Traveller

Michael GaffneyChildren’s Issues Centre, DunedinNZ

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early childhood research journal online
2012 NZRECE Journal Articles

Early Childhood Practitioners Developing an Academic Voice and Tutors Making Sense of the Research Process

The study shares insights into the way undergraduate students who are early childhood practitioners in their final year of study developed an academic voice beyond the walls of a University. It was designed by two University tutors who followed the progress of a number of student/practitioners who came together with the intention of editing and pub

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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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