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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
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Teacher Member Posts

Gun Play?
Do You Allow (Or Even Encourage) Gun Play? By Tim Kahn.
Tim Kahn writes his thoughts about the superhero and weapon’s play that is often indulged in relentlessly by a small group of boys – and less persistently by another group of boys and a few girls.
Starting with the child
Effective learning for young children starts from their i

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 school.
Shortly after they begin school new entrants will be assessed by their teachers.
These assessments are called school entry assessments and take place between four and eight weeks afte

Beyond Quality in Early Childhood Education & Care Postmodern Perspectives
Beyond Quality in Early Childhood Education & Care Postmodern Perspectives by Gunilla Dahlberg, Peter Moss & Alan Pence. This review was first published in the NZJES journal, 34(2), 1999, pp. 368 – 369. Reviewed by Dr Sarah Alexander.
Beyond Quality challenges the discourse of early childhood education and over two decade

Seven Tips to Ease Back into Work After the Holidays
Going Back to Work.
Here are 7 of the best tips for easing back to work after a holiday or other break away – smoothing the transition for children and others around you.
Tip 1: Don’t worry, be happy
Children need to see their teachers and carers relaxed, positive and cheerful at the start of a new day and especially at the star
Service Provider Member Posts

Record of Meetings – Writing the Minutes
This explains why and how to keep a record of meetings and what to record when writing the minutes.
Why take Minutes
Keeping a record of meetings, by writing the minutes of the meeting, allows the time spent in a meeting to be productive, by stopping the same discussions and topics coming up that have already been well threshold. Records

Dismissal Letter
EXAMPLE LETTER OF DISMISSAL.
Below is a general draft letter of dismissal to assist you in learning how a letter can be constructed, and what things you need to consider including in it,
Private and Confidential
DATE:
Dear <Insert Name>
Termination of your employment
This letter is to formally advise you of the termi

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

Playground Risk Assessment
When the Health and Safety at Work Act was brought in concerns were expressed by the education sector. For example, does the Act mean children can’t climb trees in ECE anymore?
Then there’s NZS 5828: Playground Equipment and Surfacing to think about.
Well the good news is that it’s pretty much all good news.
In this article we’ll look at how risk assessment, the HSW Act and NZS 5828 can combine to develop safety approaches that recognise the goal of Te Whariki: To grow up as competent, confident learners and communicators, healthy in mind, body and spirit.
Research Library – Today’s Featured Articles

Early Childhood Education: Fracture Lines of Social Context and Neural Development
Early childhood education: Fracture lines of social context and neural development.
John A. Clark. Massey University, NZ.
Full reference: Clark, J.A. (2015). Early childhood education: Fracture lines of social context and neural development. NZ Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 18, 80 – 86.
Critical Review Paper

Constructing Teacher Identities across Different Learning Paradigms
Abstract:
This article discusses one key finding from a qualitative study that investigated the experiences of overseas-born, ethnic minority early childhood pre-service teachers in New Zealand. Data were collected through interviews with recently graduated Bachelor of Teaching (Early Childhood Education) teachers and early childhood lecturers

The Relationship between Early Childhood Education and Care and English Proficiency at School Entry for Bilingual Children in Australia
The Relationship between Early Childhood Education and Care and English Proficiency at School Entry for Bilingual Children in Australia.
Meredith O’Connor1,2, Elodie J. O’Connor1, Amanda Kvalsvig1 and Sharon Goldfeld1,21. Royal Children’s Hospital, Victoria, Australia2. University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Full Reference: O’Co

Early Childhood Educator Perceptions of Children’s Physical Activity and the Outdoors
Research on how early childhood educators perceive the natural features outdoors influencing children’s movement development and physical activity. 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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