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

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:

Service Providers

(Comes with free Newsroom and Research access)

Teachers

(Comes with free Newsroom and Research access)

Research

For Research users and Tertiary Education Libraries

Teacher Member Posts

This category can only be viewed by members.
job interview questions
Job Guidance

Job Interview Preparation and Questions

ECE Job Interview Questions.

If you have been asked to attend an interview then you have been short-listed out of the applications received.

The information below will help you to prepare for the interview and participate in the interview process with confidence. 

This article covers:

what checks are likely to be done on youqu

This is a member/subscriber only post. To access it, please see the message below for details on access and joining.

Read More »
Outside‑the‑Box Play Ideas

Transforming an Old Woodwork Table

I am James Lochead-MacMillan and I’m going to share with you our review and evaluation of the woodwork table and children’s use, and what we did to bring about improvement

Review and evaluation of woodwork

The hammers had seen better days, the saws were rusty, the screwdrivers were AWOL, the vices and the drills were all broken. The work benc

This is a member/subscriber only post. To access it, please see the message below for details on access and joining.

Read More »
website 100
Putting Theory into Practice

Co-construction, Problem-Solving, Scaffolding and Hypothesising

The early childhood years are a busy, exciting time. New discoveries, skills and competencies are a regular part of life for a young child. Early childhood teachers have the opportunity to optimise these amazing and important years. In this article, I will discuss teaching strategies, such as co-construction, that can turn children’s possibilities into realities.

The practices that will be discussed involve expanding thinking, problem-solving and developing hypotheses. These teaching strategies can build on children’s learning dispositions and their strengths and interests to put the ‘wow factor’ into learning.

The ‘wow factor’

It is probably safe to say that most of us who choose to become teachers do so because we enjoy knowing that our work can make a meaningful contribution to children’s lives.

Most teachers I talk to are passionate about teaching and seeing young children learn.

This is a member/subscriber only post. To access it, please see the message below for details on access and joining.

Read More »
Child tells the story of the hungry caterpillar to friends at ECE centre
Assessment of Learning

Assessing Reading Readiness

Assessing Reading Readiness – 7 Signs a Child is Ready to Go from Listening to Reading.

How can you tell if a child is ready to go from listening to stories to reading stories? The best way to know is to look at the behaviours, skills, and interests which indicate that a child is ready for reading.  The checklist can be useful also as

This is a member/subscriber only post. To access it, please see the message below for details on access and joining.

Read More »

Service Provider Member Posts

This category can only be viewed by members.
behavioural disorders
Employer Guides and Staff Management

Disciplinary Process

There may be a time that you find an employee is underperforming or an employee is engaging in misconduct or serious misconduct.

You may not want to, but you will need to begin a disciplinary process with that employee.  Here is information to assist you in learning about disciplinary processes as an employer or manager of early childhood s

This is a member/subscriber only post. To access it, please see the message below for details on access and joining.

Read More »
Early childhood education financial and money matters
Financial Management and Records

Maximising 20-Hours ECE Funding Around Public Holidays

20-Hours ECE Changes.

When a service is closed for statutory holidays and is not providing care for children it does not receive funding.

Unfortunately this can mean a loss of income for a service, which is difficult especially when there are still wages and other costs to pay.

However, there is a trick to getting around this. &nbsp

This is a member/subscriber only post. To access it, please see the message below for details on access and joining.

Read More »
money budget
Financial Management and Records

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 to put into a separate bank account all the advances received each four months and then transfer it into the normal bank account monthly. You will also need some capital of your own in the bank to cover the c

This is a member/subscriber only post. To access it, please see the message below for details on access and joining.

Read More »
job description for early childhood teacher educator manager staff
Employer Guides and Staff Management

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

This is a member/subscriber only post. To access it, please see the message below for details on access and joining.

Read More »

Research Library – Today’s Featured Articles

This category can only be viewed by members.
early childhood research journal online
2012 NZRECE Journal Articles

Children as Teachers: Creating Opportunities for Children to Share Expertise with their Peers

In early childhood centres young children have the opportunity to interact with their peers in a play based environment. Play takes a central role and is a way by which children may challenge and extend each other’s thinking. Current accounts of how children learn and develop recognise the importance of peer interactions in this process. The stud

This is a member/subscriber only post. To access it, please see the message below for details on access and joining.

Read More »
child climbing ladder of fort in ECE playground
How-to-do Research Articles and Thesis Library

Designing An Early Childhood Study and Starting It!

Designing Your Study and How to Get Started

Here are articles we think will help advise you best on designing early childhood research and support you with helpful tips through any tough times.

Start by checking out all the published articles in the NZ-International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal on this website (over 25 years

This is a member/subscriber only post. To access it, please see the message below for details on access and joining.

Read More »

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.

The Office of ECE Login

Take Action!

Help spread this vital ECE information, join our free social and email groups and become a member of OECE.

pay parity funding policy

1. Share This Information

2. Follow Our Social Pages

3. Get Regular Updates

Sign up to our free newsletters.

4. Become a Member