Tēnā koutou katoa
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
View the Code of Conduct for ECE Services
Get Unrestricted Access to NZ’s Specialist ECE NEWSROOM
National and local stories, expert analysis, commentary, and more.
Education Bulletin and Sector Notices
Free to sign-up and receive
Membership Services and Support for:
Teacher Member Posts

Starting School – What Helps According to Parents
Parents On Children Starting School.
Starting school is a major milestone in any child’s life but it can be stressful, and the success or otherwise of the transition period between childcare or preschool can set the tone for a child’s academic career.
However while the focus is often on getting the child ready to start school, it can al

Museum Visit
Museum visit with children.
You might think museums are stuffy. But, they can be interesting even for younger children particularly if there are hands-on activities.
A trip to the museum can be a great springboard for learning. It can provide inspiration and play ideas for many weeks following.
Here are some suggestions

Tikanga in Practice
As a part of my journey I have focused on supporting my colleagues to learn and begin to understand some of the basic stuff that is important to Te Āo Māori. I understand and accept that if you don’t know, you don’t know, hence we should as teachers find ways to become aware. Along with this unknown factor I have experienced resistance. Resistance to acknowledging what it means to weave the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and therefore promote tikanga within our Centres.
For example, after partaking in these korero sessions and hearing Kaiako show enthusiasm for incorporating Tikanga in Practice, often those changes to practice that have been discussed, debated, worked out, and agreed upon as a collective don’t eventuate into practice.
It often feels like participants come to the workshops as a part of a box ticking exercise – they can put it in the appraisal system, but then don’t follow through with making actual changes to the practices.
For example, observing colleagues continue to sit on tables, place shoes or hair ties and hats on tables or benches where Kai is sometimes placed, using a chair to place food plates on, finding shoes in the hat basket, observing teachers straddle tamariki stretchers, or doing the laundry all in together.
When we have had discussions about how tikanga helps to make meeting regulations so easy, yet the changes are not forthcoming.

Suffer the Little Children by David Smith
“Suffer the Little Children” might seem a depressing title but you will find this first book by Wainuiomata teacher David Smith to be a most absorbing read.
It is part autobiographical and part political/social commentary on the state of early childhood education as it is experienced by children today.
Smith reflects on over 30 years
Service Provider Member Posts

Job Descriptions
Job description templates for various centre and home-based positions and examples.
Creating an effective job description is an important part of the hiring and employment process.
An appealing job description will attract the best candidates for the job you are advertising and will ensure you have a range of different applicants to choose

HIV and AIDS Childcare and Confidentiality Guidelines
HIV / AIDS Children and Adults At Early Childhood Services.
In May 2012 a Northland Childcare Centre was publicly slammed when it decided to send home an HIV-positive child. The centre was criticised by the AIDS Foundation and the story made the national news over several days. The centre claimed its exclusion of the child was temporary only w

Head Injury Suffered by Toddler on Concrete Ground in Mid-Winter
For an outline of key facts read our article: Nelson’s fall: Parents still don’t know how their toddler hit his head on concrete and had a brain injury at childcare
We’ve reviewed the centre manager’s report of the incident, Ministry of Education communications, Worksafe report, and lawyer correspondence. The learning we’ve taken is:
Don’t take children outside until the outdoor playground safety check is completed and ticked/signed.

Fostering Teamwork
Good teamwork is vital. When most teachers/ educators are asked who the most important people in an early childhood service are, they will answer, “The Children”.
Children are the ultimate reason that teachers have chosen a career in early childhood education and probably the main reason why you got involved in the sector. It is, however,
Research Library – Today’s Featured Articles

Children’s Participation in Disaster Risk Reduction as Curriculum
Children’s Participation in Disaster Risk Reduction as Curriculum.
Dian Fikriani* and Jane Bone** * Gadjah Mada University Indonesia. **Monash University Australia.
Full Reference: Fikriani, D. & Bone, J. (2014). Children’s participation in disaster risk reduction as curriculum. NZ Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, Spec

The teacher’s role in visual arts learning
Great research on the visual arts experiences of young children (aged 3-4) at early childhood settings in NZ. Learn about the experiences and visual arts pedagogies of early childhood teachers. Login to read the full research paper below. Or you can order a pdf copy of the article go to the main NZIRECE Journal page.

Supporting Preschool age Children’s Wellbeing through Home-based Literacy Development
Research on supporting young children’s literacy development in their home languages and transgenerational cross-cultural learning. 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, 2001, Vol 4
The titles, authors and abstracts for papers published in the NZ Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, Volume 7, 2004 are shown below.
To view any paper, scroll to the end of this page for copies.
A Right to Respect and Reciprocity: Ethics and Educational Research with Children
Helen HedgesNZRECE Journal, Vol.
What We Do
Resources



