Is There an Optimum Age for Starting School in New Zealand?

Research that uncovers what the best age for children to start school is at the national level. Considers cognitive development, age and school readiness. 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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Getting a Job with your ECE Qualification

Getting a job. How can my ECE qualification help me to get a job? With an early childhood teaching qualification you may find yourself attractive

Teacher preparing to talk children for a walk at an early childhood centre.

Relieving Work – Relief Teaching

Working as a Reliever in ECE.

Most permanent early childhood teachers will have experienced relievers within their services, either from an agency or permanent relievers employed by their service and they may be interested in pursuing relieving themselves. If you are a reliever and for teachers who are considering moving from a permanent role

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Safeguarding Children from Abuse in Childcare

Safeguarding Children from Abuse.

Does your early childhood service have a whistle-blowing policy? Having a whistle-blowing policy can help to give confidence in the safety of an early childhood setting and keep it safe for children.

Furthermore, there are some additional ways to ensure a service is a safe place from abuse for children.

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Child Numbers and Group Size Survey

The survey examined public and sector reactions to a proposed regulation change allowing early childhood centres to increase their licence size dramatically. Respondents warned that such large group environments would undermine quality, heighten risks to children’s wellbeing, and disadvantage those already most vulnerable.

Visible Difference: Photostory as Capacity Building, Research and Evaluation Method

This paper presents research on the use of visual documentation – photo stories – to support reflective teaching practice, disrupt traditional power relations between educators and families, and enable teacher and researcher co-construction of knowledge. 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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Half of ECE services rated “below the threshold for quality” by Education Review Office on at least one metric in the last year

OPINION/ANALYSIS – October 23, 2025

The Education Review Office considers more than half of 394 early childhood services it has visited in the last year to be “below the threshold for quality” on at least one of its four metrics.

In September 2024, ERO started using a new rating system for its quality assurance reports for ECE.

How did your service do? View our our interactive table and read full details.

The Office of Early Childhood Education’s chief advisor Dr Sarah Alexander says because ERO gives ECE services four weeks’ notice of reviews, it was concerning that so many services were still not measuring up to quality standards.

Moreover, because the Education Review Office no longer has the capacity or resources to review every licensed service it now assesses only a small selection from providers that operate 14 or more services. As a result, we have no way of knowing how many of these services fall below ERO’s threshold for quality.

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Chinese New Year – Feb 17, 2026, 新年快乐

This article offers many appropriate activity ideas for celebrating the Chinese New Year with children, parents, grandparents, and teachers in early childhood education settings.

It also explains the legend of the beast Nian, who threatened crops, describes traditional family customs for Chinese New Year, and outlines how contemporary festivals are celebrated today.

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