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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
School Entry Assessments
School Entry Assessments. One of the most important things an early childhood service can do for its older children is to help them prepare for…
Relieving Work – Relief Teaching
Working as a Reliever in ECE. Most permanent early childhood teachers will have experienced relievers within their services, either from an agency or permanent relievers…
Teaching Pre-Reading Skills
Teaching Pre-Reading Skills. By Barbara Morris. Is it important for parents and early childhood educators to be involved in teaching pre-reading skills to children? Yes…
Sports and Large Muscle Physical Activities
Sports in the Early Childhood Curriculum. Have you ever heard a sports coach or commentator describe something good a player did saying, “that is natural…
Service Provider Member Posts
Cashflow Management
Cashflow Management. How do we cope with huge cash inflows from the MoE three times a year then famine in between? The simplest way is…
Health and Safety at Work Act Requirements
This is an easy to read summary and early childhood friendly perspective on the Health and Safety at Work Act. It also points to specific…
Lockdown Policy and Procedures
ECE Service Lockdown Policy Template and Procedures. The terror incident in Christchurch in March 2019 prompted many ECE services to review their lockdown procedures, leaving…
Food Allergy Management
Food Allergy Management. Sharing a sweet treat on your birthday is great fun, but in an early childhood setting it can be more complicated than…
Research Library – Today’s Featured Articles
Engaging in Collaborative Research: Lessons Learned
Teacher-Researcher Partnership and Research Collaborations. By Margaret Turnbull and Helen Dixon. NZ Research in Early Childhood Education journal, Vol. 9, 2006, pp. 91-103 Abstract A…
Satisfaction with Autism NZ’s early support programme, EarlySteps
FULL REFERENCE: Moffat, T.K., Stuart, N.A., Fitzgerald, H., Shepherd, D. & Patrick, L. (2024). An evaluation of parent/whānau satisfaction with Autism New Zealand’s early support…
“A City Possessed”: The Christchurch Civic Creche Case by Lynley Hood
No other case of child abuse in New Zealand's history has held public attention so strongly and for so long as the Christchurch Civic Creche…
We’re All in This Together: Approaches to Inclusive Early Childhood Education for Disabled Children in Aotearoa New Zealand and the United States, and What We Can Learn From One Another
FULL REFERENCE: McAnelly, K., Purdue, K., Hall, L.J., Odom, S.L., & Hall, E. (2025). We’re all in this together: Approaches to inclusive early childhood education for…
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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