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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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Education Bulletin and Sector Notices
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Membership Services and Support for:
Teacher Member Posts
Picky Eaters and Managing Children’s Eating Habits
Picky eaters? Some children may display anxiety and unhealthy eating habits when they begin early childhood education, others may display behaviours at different times that you are wondering if these are normal, and what to say, do and change.
This article covers:
The adult’s role in providing for children’s food preferences and eating b
Sick Leave: Key Rights and Rules for Teachers and Staff
Learn your paid sick leave rights – and what every person who works in early childhood settings needs to know to protect themselves, their income, and the children they care for.
People working in early childhood education get sick more often than those in many other professions. Close contact with young children, shared resources, and constant exposure to new bugs means illness spreads quickly. That’s why understanding your sick leave entitlements isn’t optional – it’s essential for your wellbeing and your job security.
If you’re applying for a role in an ECE centre, home‑based service, kindergarten, playcentre, or hospital‑based setting, one of the most important questions you can ask is:
“What sick leave do you provide?”
This article explains exactly what you’re entitled to, how sick leave works in real ECE settings, and what to do if you feel pressured to work while unwell.
Log in with your member details to read the full guidance. If your membership has lapsed or you’d like to join, get in touch and we’ll help you get set up quickly.
Why Staying Home When You’re Sick Matters
When you’re unwell, it can be tempting to “push through” and go to work. But in ECE, that can cause more harm than good.
Supporting the Language of Aotearoa. Mauri Ora, Mauri Rere – Striving to Thrive
Supporting the Language of Aotearoa.
Let’s review current teaching practices and see where we go from here. Despite substantial work involving kaupapa Māori over the last two decades our early childhood sector has not been as active as it could have been in reinforcing the speaking of te reo Māori and bicultural practices.
Ngā Wero – The
Making Pet Rocks
Making Pet Rocks.
This is a fun activity for ages 2 – 102 – so its highly suitable to involve parents and grandparents in doing too alongside their children.
This can be done inside or at an outside table. , to produce something that reflects the personal style of the creator.
Brilliant for building imagination and creativity, leadin
Service Provider Member Posts
Transforming Difficult Relationships with Senior Staff or Committee Members
Strong relationships are essential in ECE, especially when someone in a senior role begins to dominate, micromanage or undermine others. This piece helps leaders shift their focus to building healthy, respectful working relationships through clear boundaries, trust and effective communication.
Union Rights and ECE Service Provider Duties
Union rights.
Whether your early childhood service is party to a collective agreement or not – you need to know the ins and outs of the law on rights and duties in dealing with unions.
There are also obligations you must meet in respect of new staff appointments. Keep reading below to find out more.
You may also be interested in reading&
Pay Reviews – Why, When and How
Regular annual pay reviews can help in developing and retaining a high-skilled and loyal staff. Reviewing staff pay is also a useful exercise to ensure that each member of staff is receiving pay that is appropriate and all legal obligations continue to be met.
Contents
What are employer’s legal responsibilities and moral obligations?Whe
Interview Questions for Teaching Job Applicants
This article goes over the broad areas to cover when interviewing an applicant and questions interviewers have found work.
When interviewing for a teaching position try to cover at least the following broad areas:
Prior work experience and reasons for any gaps in the applicant’s work record.Qualifications, when, where, how, areas of
Research Library – Today’s Featured Articles
Early Childhood Care and Education Policy: Ireland Country Note
Early Childhood Care and Education Policy: Ireland Country Note.
Deirdre Horgan, Shirley Martin, Maura Cunneen and Marcella Towler. University College Cork, Ireland.
Full Reference: Horgan, D., Martin, S., Cunneen, M., & Towler M. (2014). Early childhood care and education policy: Ireland country note. New Zealand Research in Ear
Contents – NZ Research in ECE Journal, 2014, Vol 17
This issue brings together international perspectives on early childhood policy, from country‑specific analyses in Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, and Ireland to research on disaster‑risk‑reduction curriculum, parental childcare choices, trust and quality in ECE, leadership expectations, early intervention, Indigenous family participation, and bilingual children’s school‑entry outcomes.
The Wellbeing of Pacific Children and Families: Foregrounding Culture, Language, and Identity Formation in ECE
Research on health and wellbeing of Pacific children in NZ early childhood education, and factors that impede or enable better health and wellbeing. Read the full paper below. Or to order a pdf copy of the article go to the main NZIRECE Journal page.
Moving Beyond the Environment Towards a Multi-Pillared Approach: Early Childhood Teachers Understanding and Practices of Education for Sustainability in Aotearoa NZ
Full reference: Maxwell, A., Hohaia-Rollinson, F, and Woolston, D. (2025). Moving beyond the environment towards a multi-pillared approach: Early childhood teachers understanding and practices of education for sustainability in Aotearoa New Zealand. NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 27, pp. 69-82.
Login to read the full research paper below. Or order a pdf copy of the article from the main NZIRECE Journal page.
ABSTRACT: The future health, wellbeing and sustainability of our planet and those living upon it is in urgent need of transformational change. Early childhood education (ECE) settings in Aotearoa New Zealand are an important part of the national education infrastructure that can be transformational in bringing about this change. The early childhood curriculum Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education [MoE], 2017), provides an important bicultural and sociocultural framework that can support ECE settings increase the national consciousness when education for sustainability (EfS) knowledge, understanding and pedagogies are embedded in everyday practice and apply a place-based education approach. This article shares findings from a research project that investigated ECE teachers’ current understandings and practices of EfS in Aotearoa New Zealand and the influence of local community and context on EfS practices. The results discussed in this article contributes to the EfS discourse and critical global conversations in relation to EfS to facilitate with more urgency transformational change.
Key words: Education for sustainability (EfS), localised curriculum, environmental education (EE), kaitiakitanga/guardianship, pillars of sustainability, place-based education.
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