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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
Hearing Loss or Ringing or Buzzing in Your Ears?
Losing my Hearing - Signs of Hearing Loss for Early Childhood Teachers and What You Can Do. Children are by nature noisy, and working in…
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…
Immigrant Children and Families
Immigrant Children in ECE. By Angel Chan. As New Zealand has opened its doors more to immigrants from all over the world, early childhood services…
Lunch, Rest, and Breastfeeding Breaks – What You Must Receive and What to Do When You Don’t
Early childhood employees have legal rights to rest, meal, and breastfeeding breaks. Working with young children is rewarding -but it’s also busy, demanding, and nonstop.…
Service Provider Member Posts
Social Media Policy: Essential and Effective Guidelines and Template for Early Childhood Services
We provide a policy template as well as highlighting the main issues for your team to discuss and ensure your policy is practical, protective and…
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…
Toddler Left in Car Seat Died
Unexplained absence. A 16-month-old was found dead after his mum went to work, accidentally leaving him sleeping in his car seat in her car parked…
Union Rights and ECE Service Provider Duties
Union rights. Whether your early childhood service is party to a collective agreement or not – you need to know the ins and outs of…
Research Library – Today’s Featured Articles
Supporting Participation of Indigenous Families in Early Childhood Education
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…
Raising Healthy Kids: A Scoping Review for Feeding Practices in NZ Early Childhood Education Centres
FULL REFERENCE: Orr, G. (2021). Raising healthy kids: A scoping review for feeding practices in NZ early childhood education centres. NZ International Research in Early…
Decolonising early childhood education: An Indigenous Fijian perspective
FULL REFERENCE: Nabou, S., Matapo, J., & Utumapu-McBride, T. (2024). Decolonising early childhood education: An indigenous Fijian perspective. NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education…
The NZ Early Childhood Literacy Handbook by Judy Hamer & Paul Adams
Hamer and Adams have skilfully weaved the latest research and theory with the current political and social context to present proposals for best literacy practices…
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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