Child Care News
Hamilton mother furious after toddler comes home from kindergarten with head injury
Newshub - Hannah Kronast - September 10, 2020A Hamilton mother is furious after her 18-month-old son came home from kindergarten with a large bruise on his head. Jaz Smith went to collect her children from BestStart Clarence Street on Tuesday when she discovered a purple bruise on her son's forehead. Smith told Newshub ...
Early Childhood Council calls on Government for more support as attendance dwindles
Newshub - Hannah Kronast and Emma Stanford - September 5, 2020The Early Childhood Council is calling on the Government for more support as attendance at centres plummets. In the middle week of August, only 56% of children attended their early childhood education centre (ECE), compared to 96% in the same period before the...
Company fined after kindergarten playground found 'awash' with mud, dairy effluent
Stuff - Rachael Kelly - September 4, 2020A Southland farming company has been fined after mud and dairy effluent swamped a neighbouring kindergarten playground and seeped inside a building. Whakahi Dairies Limited was fined $31,500 and must pay $14,514.70 cost recovery to the kindergarten, plus a further ...
Italian flavour for Montessori celebration at Whanganui preschool
NZ Herald - Liz Wylie, Whanganui Chronicle - September 1, 2020Children at Whanganui Montessori Preschool had a taste of Italy this week as they celebrated the 150th birthday of their school's founder. Maria Tecla Artemisia Montessori, born on August 31, 1870, in the Italian town of Chiaravalle, pioneered the methodology that children...
Qualified early childhood teachers could earn more working in a supermarket, says centre boss
Stuff - Lee Kenny - August 31, 2020Early childhood centre teachers could earn more money working in a supermarket, says one manager, as the long-running issue of pay parity continues. The average pre-tax pay of early childhood centre teaching staff is $26.78-an-hour but some certified teachers ...
Childcare owner 'holidayed overseas while tax debt mounted over $250,000'
NZ Herald - Simon Collins - August 29, 2020A Hamilton childcare operator has been struck off the teaching register after taking overseas holidays while running up tax debts of more than $250,000. Virginia Jane Emma (Ginny) Pace was director and shareholder of Home Base Kids Ltd and ActionWomen Ltd, which traded as...
ECE pay talks paused, up to $10m needed says union
NZ Herald - John Gerritsen of RNZ - August 28, 2020Pay talks for hundreds of early childhood teachers have again paused while employers and the teachers' union, the NZEI, urge the Government to bankroll higher pay rates. The union, Te Rito Maioha Early Childhood New Zealand, and Barnardos said they needed millions of dollars...
What do students need in the age of lockdown learning? Early lessons from New Zealand’s online frontline
The Conversation - Cheryl Brown, Associate Professor of e-Learning, University of Canterbury - August 28, 2020Walking into my building just prior to New Zealand’s most recent heightened alert levels, I found students and staff alike were cramming in a last bit of social contact before the one metre rule came into effect. I passed post-grad students on the stairs popping onto campus to ...
Early childhood teachers taking out loans to live, new study finds
Stuff - Laura Wilshire - August 24, 2020Teachers looking after New Zealand’s youngest children are being forced to take out loans to live, being bullied in the workplace, and in some cases not even making minimum wage, a new study has found. The report, The State of Play with Early Childhood Teacher Pay...
Concern about redundancies, closures as some early childhood centres struggle to attract parents back
Stuff - Laura Wilshire - August 21, 2020Private and community early childhood centres are struggling to get children back to class in alert levels 2 and 3, and sector leaders are warning of redundancies and closures. According to a members’ survey by the Early Childhood Council, half of all private and community...
Alkimos childcare centre plans out for consultation
Perth Now - Lucy Jarvis, Wanneroo Times - August 21, 2020A proposed $2 million childcare centre in a northern coastal growth suburb would accommodate about 90 children. Plans for the Nido Early School development at 145 Leatherback Boulevard in Alkimos are out for public consultation. The proposal includes a single-storey building...
Covid 19 coronavirus: 'Anxiety is higher this time' as kids stay away from school and childcare
NZ Herald - Simon Collins - August 19, 2020Auckland's children are staying away from schools and childcare centres this week as fear grows about the latest Covid-19 outbreaks. Ministry of Education data shows attendance rates of 30 per cent in early childhood education and 5 per cent in schools across Auckland...
Covid 19 coronavirus: Ministry of Education rejects claim it has relaxed rules for ECEs
Covid 19 coronavirus: Ministry of Education rejects claim it has relaxed rules for ECEsNZ Herald - Isaac Davison - August 17, 2020 The Ministry of Education is rejecting claims that it has relaxed the alert level 3 rules to allow more children to return to early childhood education centres. The largest early learning organisation in the country says the ministry's advice...
A natural ventilated childcare centre by CASA settles within NZ countryside
Architectureanddesign.com.au - Via designboom - August 17, 2020Sitting sensitively within its rural New Zealand context, the ‘fantails’ childcare center by CASA (Collingridge and Smith architects) uses sustainable design to provide state-of-the-art, modern education spaces for 154 young children. The building incorporates dynamic forms...
Coolstore key focus in search for outbreak source
Otago Daily Times - August 17, 2020At least 10 cases of Covid-19 are now linked to schools, universities and a preschool as the Health Minister confirms an Auckland coolstore remains a key focus in solving the mystery of the outbreak. None of the preschoolers or students are believed to have become ill ...
