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Welcome to the Office of Early Childhood Education
National and public adviser on ECE, the OECE is a sector body representing teachers and all types of licensed services driving safer, higher‑quality education 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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Teacher Member Posts
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!”
Death of a Child, Parent or Other Adult
In the event of the death of a child or person known at your service, the impact will be extensive on children, yourself, members of your team and your community.
You should be open and honest with your service leader and discuss the option of seeking professional help and support for yourself, in order to be able to adequately support children
Volunteers and Unpaid Workers in ECE – Your Rights
Voluntary work in ECE.
There are many examples in the early childhood sector of different ways employers may rely on free labour, such as:
I was offered an unpaid position and it was a foot in the door as there were no jobs going in my area. I’ve been at ____ for four months and I do the same work as other teachers.
My centre manager t
Money – Teaching Children in ECE About Money
Teaching Children About Money
By Lucy Wood
Money. They say “it doesn’t grow on trees”, but also that “it makes the world go round”. They say “it doesn’t buy you happiness” although admittedly it’s very rare to see someone looking sad while on holiday in Paris! It’s a big topic and it affects life, and lifestyle, in lots of different ways.
In researching this article, I came upon a lot of advice saying that teaching our tamariki about money is important, and that we can’t start early enough. Even infants can begin to learn about the concept of delayed gratification, an important skill for managing finances later in life.
How can we as ECE kaiako help tamariki to develop positive attitudes about money, and to see themselves as capable and competent when it comes to things like saving? While conversations about money are something which likely will also be happening at home, in ECE spaces we can support this learning, in ways that are age appropriate, positive and empowering for our tamariki.
Service Provider Member Posts
Business Structures and Board Legal Requirements
ECE Business Structures.
Early childhood education and care services differ in organisational type.
Here is an outline of different business types, the defining features, and broad legal requirements for each.
Owner-Operated or Sole Trader
Any person can own an early childhood service business. They collect all profits
Food Allergy Management
Food Allergy Management.
Sharing a sweet treat on your birthday is great fun, but in an early childhood setting it can be more complicated than simply working out how many pieces you need to cut the cake into.
If your centre or home-based service has children who have food allergies or intolerances, what seems like some harmless baking coul
Formal Warning Letter and Expressing Concern Letter
Here are templates for a letter ‘of concern’ and a letter giving an early childhood employee a formal first or second warning.
EXAMPLE LETTER OF CONCERN
Private and Confidential
DATE
Dear <Name>
Letter of Concern
This letter is to formally raise our concerns around <insert a general description of the concern, i.e. inapp
Excursions Policy and Procedures
Policy and procedures for excursions and outings.
An excursion is when children are taken outside the licensed premises as part of the learning and teaching programme while attending the service. It does not include an outing for emergency evacuations, drills, or to receive urgent medical attention (we provide a separate policy template for leaving the premises for these reasons).
RATIONALE:
In the rationale section of your written policy some things you may wish to include are:
Research Library – Today’s Featured Articles
Contents – NZ Research in ECE Journal, 2012, Vol 15
This issue spans quality review in ECE, Montessori‑based literacy, relational ways of living and learning, optimal outdoor environments, parent–child coping communication, peer expertise‑sharing, communication in early intervention, a child’s lived experience in care, practitioner research journeys, student‑teacher support, cultural‑historical borderlands, and the complexities of goal‑setting in field‑based programmes, alongside research on the social needs of solo fathers.
Characteristics of Optimal Early Childhood Centre Outdoor Environments: Spaces and Places in which Children and Adults Want to Be
The purpose of this project was to investigate what teachers deemed optimal in their provision of an outdoor environment. This research involved 46 teachers from 15 early childhood centres in the North Island of New Zealand. The findings reported in this paper will enable those responsible for outdoor design and provision to better understand the c
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.
Factors Influencing the Use of Digital Technology in Early Childhood Education
Research on the factors influencing the use of digital technology in early childcare 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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