Early Childhood Education Calendar, For 2026
Start the year feeling organised and confident with our free 2026 wall planner designed especially for early childhood education services.
Featuring key dates, public holidays, events, and Ministry of Education funding deadlines, this planner helps you plan ahead with ease. Keep everything visible at a glance and ensure your team stays on track throughout the year.
Download and print the Wall Planner for your office and staff room. And, make it your own—there’s plenty of space to add notes, reminders, and other events that matter most to your service and community.
| Stay informed about ECE requirements, policies, & best practice online at https://oece.nz | ||||||
| MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY | SAT & SUN | |
| JANUARY | 1 STAT HOLIDAY | 2 STAT HOLIDAY | 3 & 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 & 11 | |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 & 18 | |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 & 25 | |
| 26 Term One starts for many schools | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |
| FEBRUARY | 1 | |||||
| 2 RS7 March funding submission period opens | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 STAT HOLIDAY Waitangi Day | 7 & 8 | |
| 9 | 10 RS7 paper-based submission due for 1 March payment | 11 | 12 | 13 RS7 electronic submission due for 1 March payment | 14 & 15 | |
| 16 | 17 Chinese New Year Shrove Tuesday | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 & 22 | |
| 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | |
| MARCH | 1 Children’s Day | |||||
| 2 MoE Funding Payment (for 1 March) | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 RS7 submission due for 20 March payment | 7 & 8 | |
| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 & 15 | |
| 16 | 17 St Patrick’s Day | 18 | 19 | 20 MoE Funding Payment (for 20 March) | 21 & 22 | |
| 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 & 29 | |
| 30 | 31 World Down Syndrome Day | |||||
| APRIL | 1 | 2 Term One ends | 3 STAT HOLIDAY Easter | 4 & 5 | ||
| 6 STAT HOLIDAY | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 & 12 | |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 & 19 | |
| 20 Term Two starts | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 & 26 ANZAC Day (25th) | |
| 27 STAT HOLIDAY | 28 | 29 | 30 | |||
| MAY | 1 | 2 & 3 | ||||
| NZ Sign Language week | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 & 10 Mother’s Day (10th) |
| 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 & 17 | |
| 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 & 24 | |
| 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 & 31 | |
| JUNE Sāmoan Language Week | 1 STAT HOLIDAY King’s Birthday | 2 RS7 July funding submission period opens | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 & 7 |
| Soccer World Cup Starts | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 RS7 paper-based submission due for 1 July payment | 12 | 13 & 14 |
| 15 | 16 RS7 electronic submission due for 1 July payment | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 & 21 | |
| This week: Submit ECE return (census) info to MoE | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 & 28 |
| 29 | 30 Financial declarations due with MoE for 2025 financial year | |||||
| JULY | 1 MoE Funding Payment (for 1 July) | 2 | 3 Term Two ends | 4 & 5 | ||
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 STAT HOLIDAY Matariki | 11 & 12 | |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 & 19 | |
| 20 Term Three starts | 21 | 22 | 23 Commonwealth Games Start | 24 | 25 & 26 | |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | ||
| AUGUST | 1 & 2 | |||||
| 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 & 9 | |
| 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 & 16 | |
| 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 & 23 | |
| 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 & 30 | |
| 31 | ||||||
| SEPTEMBER | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 & 6 Father’s Day (6th) | |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 & 13 | |
| Māori Language Week (Te Wiki o te Reo Māori) | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 & 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 Term Three ends | 26 & 27 | |
| 28 | 29 | 30 | ||||
| OCTOBER | 1 RS7 Nov funding submission period opens | 2 | 3 & 4 | |||
| 5 World Teachers’ Day | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 & 11 | |
| 12 RS7 paper-based submission due for 1 Nov payment Term Four starts | 13 | 14 | 15 RS7 electronic submission due for 1 Nov payment | 16 | 17 & 18 | |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 & 25 | |
| 26 STAT HOLIDAY Labour Day | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 Halloween | |
| NOVEMBER | 1 | |||||
| Diwali celebrations start | 2 MoE Funding Payment (for 1 Nov) | 3 | 4 | 5 Guy Fawkes | 6 | 7 & 8 Diwali |
| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 & 15 | |
| 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 & 22 | |
| 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 & 29 | |
| 30 | ||||||
| DECEMBER | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 & 6 | |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 & 13 | |
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 Term Four ends | 19 & 20 | |
| Christmas and New Year period starts | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 STAT HOLIDAY | 26 & 27 |
| 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |||
Are you interested in the 2027 key funding dates? Pease check this page for updates in late 2026.
