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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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Disability, Health & Learning Needs

Diabetes

What is diabetes?  What does it mean for a young child to have diabetes?  What does it mean for the child’s family, caregivers and preschool?  How can you help support the diabetic child? 

This article will answer many of the questions you may have about diabetes and caring for and teaching a young diabetic child.&n

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Child Health, Attachment, and Wellbeing

Controlled Crying or Training Children to Settle Themselves to Sleep

Controlled Crying.

This article discusses the Controlled Crying method. It gives clarity to conflicting opinions about whether this is a good practice and its benefits. We discuss if this method should and can be used in early childhood education (ECE) settings and in our teaching practice. Suggestions are included for other ways of support

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Outside‑the‑Box Play Ideas

Rhythm Ribbons and Physical Movement

Rhythm Ribbons and Physical Movement. By Bronwyn Norman.

Bursting out in the beautiful sunny Autumn/Ngahuru afternoon our tamariki were ready to embrace their environment and interact with each other by choosing materials and playing games.

Fuelled by eating a healthy afternoon tea their bodies were ready to move. Tamariki were walking, ru

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Outside‑the‑Box Play Ideas

Art Gallery Visit

Taking Children to an Art Gallery.

Don’t assume that art galleries are too high-brow for young children. They may not be able to tell you the name of the artist but they will still appreciate the work. Early childhood education should include exposing children to contemporary art practice in different forms.

Here are suggestions to help

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Service Provider Member Posts

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kitchen early childhood centre Food Act
Health and Safety Management

Complying with the Food Act

Complying with the Food Act.

All ECE services to whom the Food Act applies must apply for registration (under national programme 2) and be registered before they can provide food to children.

Exempt early childhood services

An early childhood service is not required to operate under the national programme 2 if:

It is a home-based s

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Employer Guides and Staff Management

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&

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Employer Guides and Staff Management

Allegations Made Against a Teacher

Allegations against a teacher.

You have noticed a problem with a staff member’s behaviour, or someone comes to you with allegations of professional misconduct or harming a child. What can you do – and what should you do and why?

Responding to allegations against a teacher, investigation, and disciplinary meeting

Quietly assess if this c

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Early childhood teachers meeting to discuss planning.
Governance and Committees

Building Members Enthusiasm and Commitment

Committee Member Commitment.

For their investment of time what do your board or committee members get back?  

It’s rare that someone will keep contributing if he/she is not benefiting from participating.

And those with the most to offer are often those with the least amount of time available and the greatest number of other c

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Research Library – Today’s Featured Articles

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NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education journal
2017 NZIRECE Journal, No. 2, Special Issue

Retaining Early Childhood Teachers: What Factors Contribute to High Job Satisfaction?

The results of a study on why early childhood teachers leave their jobs and factors such as better adult-to-child ratios that contribute to satisfaction in the workplace. 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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NZIRECE Journal early childhood education research
2006 NZRECE Journal Articles

Index for the NZ Research in ECE Journal, 2006, Vol 9

The titles, authors and abstracts for papers published in the NZ Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, Volume 9, 2006 are shown below.

To view any paper, scroll to the end of this page for copies.

Too Much, Too Soon?  The Multiple Roles and Identities of Newly Qualified Early Childhood Teachers

Helen Aitken

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2024 NZIRECE Journal

The teacher’s role in visual arts learning

Great research on the visual arts experiences of young children (aged 3-4) at early childhood settings in NZ. Learn about the experiences and visual arts pedagogies of early childhood teachers. Login to read the full research paper below. Or you can order a pdf copy of the article go to the main NZIRECE Journal page.

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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.
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