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
- 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
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:
Teacher Member Posts
Beach Trip
Taking children for a trip to the beach can offer opportunities for all kinds of learning – from discovering creatures to practising building skills. Just check first that you have prepared safety plan for the excursion, including sun protection, and have more than sufficient adults to the number of children.
Try these ideas when you take a t
Cooking with Children – Using a Slow Cooker
Using a Slow Cooker for Teaching Children about Cooking and Preparing Kai
As a responsible teacher or educator you role model and pass on good nutritional dietary habits… don’t you? Well…, in front of the children anyway! But does this mean leaving a wonderful learning opportunity consigned to the pantry? It probably mean
Tikanga in Practice
As a part of my journey I have focused on supporting my colleagues to learn and begin to understand some of the basic stuff that is important to Te Āo Māori. I understand and accept that if you don’t know, you don’t know, hence we should as teachers find ways to become aware. Along with this unknown factor I have experienced resistance. Resistance to acknowledging what it means to weave the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and therefore promote tikanga within our Centres.
For example, after partaking in these korero sessions and hearing Kaiako show enthusiasm for incorporating Tikanga in Practice, often those changes to practice that have been discussed, debated, worked out, and agreed upon as a collective don’t eventuate into practice.
It often feels like participants come to the workshops as a part of a box ticking exercise – they can put it in the appraisal system, but then don’t follow through with making actual changes to the practices.
For example, observing colleagues continue to sit on tables, place shoes or hair ties and hats on tables or benches where Kai is sometimes placed, using a chair to place food plates on, finding shoes in the hat basket, observing teachers straddle tamariki stretchers, or doing the laundry all in together.
When we have had discussions about how tikanga helps to make meeting regulations so easy, yet the changes are not forthcoming.
What is Research? Methodological Practices and New Approaches
What is Research? Methodological Practices and New Approaches by Jeanette Rhedding-Jones.
What is Research? Articulating a clear-cut answer to this question that everyone will agree on is just not possible.
As Jeanette Rhedding-Jones shows in her splendidly plain-spoken book by addressing this question one becomes aware that there is so muc
Service Provider Member Posts
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.
Overtime – Paying Staff for Work Outside Normal Hours
Employers’ obligations and rights on paying staff overtime and when they work outside of normal hours. This article covers what constitutes work outside of normal work hours that an employee must be paid for. NZ employment law that cannot be negotiated out of with an employee. Legal requirements for waged and salaried staff. It also tells you
Responding to a Child’s Disclosure of Abuse
Getting Help for an Abused Child. By Eric Hollis.
When a child discloses sexual abuse, it will always be distressing. It is natural for adults to feel at a loss to know how best to respond.
The information provided here covers how to listen and respond to a child who tells you, or hints in even a vague way, that she/he or someone they know
Ways to Be the Best – Paths to Quality
Five Paths to Quality Improvement.
Do you want to grow and develop a service that is unique?
Would you like to see parents shouting from the rooftops about how great your service is?
Would you like to future-proof your service to help it continue to be one of the best in your local community, or even in the whole of NZ?
Aim for
Research Library – Today’s Featured Articles
Communities of Learning: Promoting Equity in ECE Policy and Practice
Research on equity ideas and strategies for teachers and kaiako to advance equitable educational opportunities for all tamariki/children. Read the full paper below. Or to order a pdf copy of the article go to the main NZIRECE Journal page.
Children Learning about Same-Sex Families
Research on parents’ perceptions of children’s understanding of same-sex families and inclusion in ECE. Read the full paper below. Or to order a pdf copy of the article go to the main NZIRECE Journal page.
The State of Play in Early Childhood Policy: A Note from Australia
The State of Play in Early Childhood Policy: A Note from Australia.
Frances Press. Charles Sturt University, New South Wales.
Full Reference: Press, F. (2014). The State of Play in Early Childhood Policy: A Note from Australia. NZ Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 17, 11 – 20.
Invited Country Note
Abstr
Changing Roles and Responsibilities: The Development of Coaching in Early Intervention
This paper examines if coaching has a potential role in helping authentic collaborative partnerships between early intervention teachers and early childhood educators and families.
Coaching is a process that can empower. It can also help ECE teachers to examine their own perceptions about the knowledge they hold. Read the full paper below. Or to order a pdf copy of the article go to the main NZIRECE Journal page.
What We Do
Resources
