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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
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
ICT Digital Technology Use in ECE and Questions
ICT in Early Childhood Education: Questions, Issues and Planning Considerations.
Technology is part of every child’s life and at some point, children are almost certain to want to use and may get hooked on technology – a phone, iPad, or digital camera.
While there are some that would say pre-school years are too early to be introd

Teaching How to Ride a Bike (a pedal bike)
Every child will learn things in their own time but learning how to ride a bike and using pedals before 5 years of age is a reasonable aspiration for parents and early childhood teachers to have for children.
It is a significant event in life that most of us can remember so it is worth making it a rewarding experience for a child.
The

Giving Children Choices – Strategies for the Best Outcomes
Giving young children choices and empowering them to make their own decisions will help prepare them for life.
The early years are the best time for children to begin to learn about making choices and consequences.
The ability to choose is the essence of being human.
Consider how many choices you make each year, month, week, da

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 an early childhood setting can therefore be a noisy working environment -and especially during bad weather when children are stuck indoors all day. Children screaming can damage adult ears.
Employers do h
Service Provider Member Posts

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

Sun Protection Measures and Responsibilities
Management of Sun Protection.
Responsibilities to Staff and Staff Responsibilities to Themselves.
Staff must practise recommended sun protection behaviours for their health and wellbeing too. Tell staff that they are never too old, and it’s never too late, to begin to protect themselves from the harmful effects of the sun.
Requirem

How to do a Press Release Right
Education Press Release.
If you are planning to invite a local reporter along to your event or send an education press release out to manage what the media reports about something that has happened at your service, it pays to do a bit of planning beforehand to increase your chances of success.
Here are some tips to get you started on the ri

The Risks of Implicitly Endorsing Third Party Schemes to Parents
Endorsing Third Party Schemes and Products.
What happens when parents see flyers / pamphlets and posters displayed in the entrance way of ECE services or when advertising material is sent home in children’s bags?
These might be from the Ministry of Education to promote the choices that it wants parents to make, or a new government scheme
Research Library – Today’s Featured Articles

Increasing Early Childhood Education Enrolment and Attendance Rates
Report on a project to increase child enrolment and attendance rates at early childhood centres in socio-economically deprived areas of NZ. Read the full paper below. Or to order a pdf copy of the article go to the main NZIRECE Journal page.

Public-Professional Barriers to Breastfeeding
Drawing on lived experience within the ECE sector, this reflection reveals how public‑professional attitudes can undermine breastfeeding despite clear developmental and equity benefits. It’s a must‑read for anyone shaping research, policy, or system‑level change in early childhood education.

Index for the NZ Research in ECE Journal, 2005, Vol 8
The titles, authors and abstracts for papers published in the NZ Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, Volume 8, 2005 are shown below.
To view any paper, scroll to the end of this page for copies.
Children as Rights Holders: Considerations for Research
Cindy KiroChildren’s Commissioner, New ZealandNZRECE Journal, V

Contents – NZ International Research in ECE Journal, 2021, Vol 23, No. 2
This special journal issue on Health and Wellbeing in Early Childhood Education Settings examines how health and wellbeing intersect with early childhood education, from wellbeing literacy and Pacific children’s cultural identities to home‑based literacy, puppetry for belonging, outdoor risk‑taking, and healthy feeding practices.
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