Early Childhood Education Regulatory Review Report – Comment and Analysis.
Wednesday, 18 Dec 2024.
Minister Seymour has released the report of the Ministry for Regulation on its regulatory review of the ECE sector.
Chief advisor to the OECE, Dr Sarah Alexander said that the terms of reference for the review meant that the advice provided
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Anyone thinking about getting a job in ECE working in ECE or thinking about moving to a different service will find clear, practical information in this article about pay rates, employment conditions, and what to expect in different roles. It explains everything from starting salaries and pay‑step calculations to workplace rights, benefits, and how to recognise a supportive, professional environment.
Discover the key organisations and sector groups shaping early childhood education in New Zealand – who they are, what they do, and how they influence the services, policies, and people at the heart of the ECE sector.
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
Early childhood service sun protection policy and guidance.
A few years ago I was a head teacher in a kindergarten. We prided ourselves on not allowing children outside without hats and sun screen. We deliberately created areas in the grounds that were shaded. One very hot February day we had a sprinkler out and the children had a wonderful
Job description templates for various centre and home-based positions and examples.
Creating an effective job description is an important part of the hiring and employment process.
An appealing job description will attract the best candidates for the job you are advertising and will ensure you have a range of different applicants to choose
FULL REFERENCE: Méndez-Jurado, A. and Pearson, R. (2026). Mathematical skills instruction in 5-year-old children. NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 28(1), 69-86.
ABSTRACT: Early mathematical skills are initially influenced by children´s home environment and later by formal instruction. This study analyses the relationship between teachers’ strategies and mathematical performance of five-year-old children attending kindergarten private schools across different socioeconomic contexts in Buenos Aires. Using a mixed-methods approach, this research integrates classroom observations and teachers’ interviews (n = 7) with the assessment of 132 children using a digital mathematical skills test. Results show that explicit instruction is linked to higher performance in basic numerical skills, such as counting and number recognition, while verbal calculation and problem-solving showed lower performance than expected. Non-symbolic numerical skills remain within the expected range despite the absence of formal instruction, suggesting that informal learning experiences at home play a significant role. Although children may acquire certain mathematical concepts implicitly, the findings suggest that more complex symbolic skills may benefit from systematic and explicit instructional opportunities.
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KEY WORDS: Mathematics, instruction, kindergarten, mathematical concepts, numerical skills, counting, number recognition, teacher strategies, teaching practices, mixed methods.
INTRODUCTION
Learning mathematics during early childhood implies not just acquiring number knowledge; it builds the essential cognitive framework for logical reasoning and paves the way to long-term academic achievement (Peake et al., 2021). Classroom instruction typically prioritises symbolic skills such as number recognition and the relationship between numbers and quantities (Cabrera Leonardini & Delgado Tovar, 2021), often within content-based teaching approaches (Clements et al., 2019).
Mathematical skills result from the interaction between specific numerical processing skills and domain-general functions (e.g. memory, reasoning). The mathematical skills include symbolic and non-symbolic skills. Symbolic skills include tasks with verbal or visual numerical symbols (e.g. counting, writing numbers, and comparing symbolic magnitudes). Non-symbolic skills entail the ability to represent quantities and compare magnitudes without relying on visual or verbal symbols (e.g. comparing groups of dots). Attention and executive functions are essential to support the representation and manipulation of mathematical relationships e.g., retrieval arithmetical facts, problem solving and operations (Geary & Moore, 2016; Amland et al., 2024).
The 2023 ECE teacher survey exposes a far tougher reality than the profession’s positive image, with many teachers reporting bullying, injuries, low pay, and unstable workplaces. It’s essential reading for anyone wanting a clear, honest view of what working in early childhood education in Aotearoa is really like.
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
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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