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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

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Teacher Member Posts

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teacher in lovely interaction with small group of children. Six signs of quality early childhood education
Job Guidance

Survival Tips for Beginning Male Teachers

Tips for New Male Teachers.

“I am a beginning teacher.  Any tips on how I can survive and not let the glances, laughs, the inquisitorial questions, and the sexist assumptions about my competency because of who I am as a male affect me?”

Early childhood teacher Stuart Miller says “you may get some or a lot of dung hurled your way!”  

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books children reading to each other
Teaching and Putting Theory into Practice

Making Books and Reading Fun

Books and Reading Fun. By Barb Morris.

We learn best when we are playing and having fun especially if we are rewarded with smiles, positive comments and cuddles. Children are no exception! So how do they learn? When it comes to reading it is mainly by copying and you, as educators are the most powerful role models that children copy.

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rugby world cup
Learning Activities - Outside the Box Ideas

Under-5s Rugby

Teaching Rugby to Children in Early Childhood Education. This fosters a sense of belonging, pride, and achievement.

Rugby is part of NZ’s culture and central to our cultural identity.  (See another article on following and celebrating the Rugby World Cup with children

It is a great sport to introduce to children from about 2 years of a

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Puddle jumping after the rain
Learning Activities - Outside the Box Ideas

Winter and Rainy Day Activities

Winter and Rainy Day Children’s Activities.

When the children are getting restless and the noise levels are going up and up and you are thinking about how to get through the day, it’s time to bring in some new ideas and fresh activities.

Here’s help. Below are lots of teacher ideas of experiences you can give to children and activities t

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Service Provider Member Posts

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Learnings from Serious Incidents

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.

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Child and teacher playing with toy farm animal block set.
Employer Guides and Staff Management

Getting Relievers and Managing Relief Staff

An early childhood reliever is a much welcome part to any ECE service. Teachers and home-based coordinators will require annual or sick leave, or you may need someone to fill in, while you look for a new staff member. Whatever the reason for your need for using a reliever, there are many questions and concerns that may arise for employers and manag

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early childhood education staff interviews
Employer Guides and Staff Management

Leadership and Delegating

Delegating as a leader.

A key reason why the workload of a manager or leader can become unreasonable is that they can take on too much!

When a teacher takes on a management role a common mistake is to assume that the job consists of ensuring that they comply with regulatory and licensing requirements, health and safety and financial systems

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change infant nappies in childcare
Child Protection

Female Centre Educator Uses Mobile Phone to Share Indecent Images of Children

Teacher Sexually Abusing Children.

Indecent pictures of children, including bathroom pics, were taken by teacher “K” at her early childhood centre, using her mobile phone and shared online.  Vetting before she was appointed to her job revealed no criminal record.  

Parents at the UK early childhood centre she worked at descr

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Research Library – Today’s Featured Articles

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early childhood research journal online
2014 Special Policy Issue

Breach of Trust – Getting it Right for Children in Early Childhood Care and Education in Ireland

Breach of Trust – Getting it Right for Children in Early Childhood Care and Education in Ireland.

Mary Moloney. Mary Immaculate College, Ireland.

Full Reference: Moloney, M. (2014). Breach of trust – Getting it right for children in early childhood care and education in Ireland. NZ Research in Early Childhood Education Journal. Special

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NZIRECE Journal early childhood education research
2021 NZIRECE Journal No. 2. Special Issue

Through the Eyes of the Puppet: Using Puppetry to Foster Children’s Sense of Wellbeing and Belonging

Research on the use of puppets and outcomes for children’s wellbeing and sense of belonging in early childhood education settings. Read the full paper below. Or to order a pdf copy of the article go to the main NZIRECE Journal page.

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bus trip outing
2002 NZRECE Journal Articles

Research as a Journey: The New Researcher as a First-Time Traveller

Research as a Learning Journey. By Michael Gaffney. Published in NZ Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 2002, Vol. 5, pp. 1-11 

Beginning the Journey

This paper uses journey as a metaphor, and to a lesser extent problem solving, to provide a framework for understanding the activity that more early childhood practitioners are

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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.

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