Child Care News
Education the best way to adjust to new early childhood food guidelines
Stuff NZ - George Heagney - January 27, 2021Educating families could be the best way to help parents adjust to the new food regulations at early childhood centres. New Ministry of Education rules started on Monday, making centres follow food safety guidelines. Food provided by centres must be appropriate for children...
Ministry of Education process stifled complaints of abuse at childcare centre, teacher says
NZ Herald - Charlotte Cook - January 26, 2021The Ministry of Education made it hard to make allegations of mistreatment against the owner of a Feilding childcare centre, a staff member of the centre says. The Ministry's complaints process would refer all complaints straight back to the owner of The Pitter Patter Education Centre...
Doctors issue challenge to do more for Māori children
RNZ - January 24, 2021Danny de Lore, the chair of the organisation's Child Health Working Group, said he sees a lot of Māori children hospitalised due to preventable problems, and a tangible 'health gap'. "It is the major issue in child health. I see a lot of Māori children presenting to hospital...
Daycare food dispute: Banned items to prevent choking include sausages, hard crackers, dried fruit, raw apples
NZ Herald - Amy Wiggins - January 20, 2021A ban on sausages, hard rice crackers, dried fruit and popcorn in early childcare centres has created a stir with parents and professionals split on whether the rules have gone too far. New food rules for early childcare centres which aim to prevent choking come into force next week...
Busy Auckland woman seeks 'Mum' to help raise her son
NZ Herald - January 15, 2021A West Auckland mum's advertisement for a nanny and housekeeper might seem like a big ask, but she says that she's just reflecting the reality of life for working mums. She has placed the ad for someone to work four days a week caring for her son and managing much of her household. Writing that the successful applicant would "take over all duties" that she would otherwise be carrying out....
Whitireia And WelTec On-site Childcare Supports Mum Through Studies
Stuff NZ - Press Release: Whitireia and WelTec - December 6, 2021There was a big focus by the Government in 2020 to financially support New Zealanders who want, or need, to gain skills-based qualifications as pathways to employment in the wake of Covid-19 - but sometimes finances are not the only barrier to study. With unemployment on the rise...
Young children are intuitive urban planners — we would all benefit from living in their ‘care-full’ cities
The Conversation - Christina Ergler, University of Otago - January 4, 2021In an age of climate crisis, unaffordable housing and increasing disparities of wealth, the livability and functionality of our cities are more important than ever. And yet, important voices are missing from urban planning debates — the voices of those who will one day inherit those cities...
Stay@home: More than half of all preschool children in some form of daycare
Stuff NZ - Stephanie Ockhuysen - December 31, 2020As more parents choose to return to work after having their babies, experts worry early childhood centres are being used as de facto parents. Daycare can be great for a child to develop a schedule, prepare them for school, and make friends however experts worry the amount of children enrolled ...
Further complaints about Feilding's Pitter Patter childcare centre revealed
RNZ Charlotte Cook - December 17, 2020The complaints focus on manager and owner Pauline Murphy and her treatment of children, staff and parents. The investigation was launched after four Pitter Patter teachers resigned in a month and written complaints were given to the MOE. In one complaint, a former teacher...
Pitter Patter Education Centre in Feilding under investigation after raft of allegations
NZ Herald - Charlotte Cook - December 17, 2020Parents and former teachers have told the Ministry of Education that the owner and manager of a childcare centre in Feilding locked toddlers in rooms, fed children mouldy food and smacked them. The Pitter Patter Education Centre had its licence suspended for three weeks ...
Feilding childcare centre under investigation due to 'serious complaints'
Stuff - George Heagney - December 17, 2020A Feilding childcare centre is being investigated by the Ministry of Education and was shut down for three weeks after a series of serious complaints. Pitter Patter Education Centre was shut down for three weeks in late November before opening again on Monday. Ministry deputy ...
Two years on: Mum in dark over investigation into staff at daycare
Stuff - Tom Hunt - December 16, 2020There is a Hutt Valley boy who believes the daycare teachers accused of mistreating him are in jail. It is the best his mother can do amid the dearth of fact and consequence. Complaints about staff at the Hutt Hospital Childcare Centre first surfaced in December 2018...
Covid-19: 35.5 million hours of early childhood education lost due to virus
Stuff - Josephine Franks - December 14, 2020More than 35 million hours of early childhood education (ECE) have been lost this year due to Covid-19, with Auckland and Pasifika preschoolers missing out most. The average Auckland child lost 177 hours of ECE; for the rest of the country, it was 108. A report into how ...
Corrections conducting review after paedophile placed near Wellington school
Stuff - Tom Hunt - December 14, 2020Department of Corrections is reviewing its processes after high-risk paedophile Aaron Laurence was paroled to a house surrounded by children and a short walk from a Wellington primary school. New information released by the Ministry of Education under the Official...
Early childhood centre's food rules to change following Rotorua boy Neihana Renata's choking incident
NZ Herald - Kelly Makiha, Rotorua Daily Post - December 10, 2020Neihana Renata is 6 and still can't walk or talk. But at last, his family's decision to speak out about his horrifying choking incident, while eating a piece of apple, at his Rotorua daycare that left him severely brain-damaged has resulted in something good. The Ministry of Education ...
