Child Care News
Parents 'disappointed, shocked' at lack of consultation over school closure
Stuff NZ - Mandy Te - May 17, 2018Declining rolls, owners retiring, schools never opening and the Ministry of Education withdrawing licences due to non-compliance are some reasons for school closures. Information released to Stuff showed 119 early learning services across the country had closed last year and almost...
Budget funding for early childhood education underwhelming
Scoop NZ - May 17, 2018The Early Childhood Council (ECC) says the 1.6% Budget increase announced for early childhood education centre universal funding is significantly underwhelming. Early childhood education (ECE) centres are to receive $104.8 million increase in funding over the next four years, beginning...
Early Childhood NZ says Budget 2018 a small step
Scoop NZ - May 17, 2018Budget 2018 is a small step in the right direction for early childhood education, says Te Rito Maioha Chief Executive, Kathy Wolfe. 'On behalf of the early childhood education sector, we thank the government for increased funding of $21.537m for early intervention services,' says Ms Wolfe...
Unpaid hours for early childhood teachers 'appalling'
Radio NZ - May 16, 2018Early childhood teachers have joined the ranks of workers who say they are working extra hours without pay. A growing number of retail workers have complained about the practice since the Employment Court last week ruled Smiths City must back-pay staff for unpaid meetings held...
Tauranga education leaders react to preschool Budget announcement
NZ Herald - Scott Yeoman - May 15, 2018A Budget increase for preschoolers with extra learning needs has been welcomed by two education leaders in Tauranga, but they are both hoping for more support come Thursday. So is one local mother who says the new funding is "hardly a drop in the bucket". Prime Minister...
New digital story for Bullying-Free NZ Week
Scoop NZ - Press Release: New Zealand Government - May 14, 2018A new digital story that aims to teach children about kindness is another step in helping to combat bullying, says Associate Education Minister Tracey Martin. Minister Martin today launched an interactive bilingual story, Oat the Goat or Oti te Nanekoti, at Thorndon School in Wellington...
Early childhood funding boost doesn't go far enough, govt told
Radio NZ - Jessie Chiang - May 14, 208The government's been told that preschoolers can't wait four years for funding that is urgently needed now. The $21 million funding boost over four years is aimed at pre-schoolers with learning and behaviour problems who are missing out on extra support. It is expected to halve...
More focus needed on reforming learning support
Scoop NZ - May 13, 2018The Government's $21.5 million investment in early intervention is a positive step for children and families who need additional learning support, but there is a need to focus on reforming the system, National's Education Spokesperson Nikki Kaye and Early Childhood Education...
Budget 2018: More specialist help for preschoolers with special needs
NZ Herald - Simon Collins - May 13, 2018A small Budget increase for early intervention services will halve the waiting list of preschoolers needing extra help, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced. She told 800 people at an education summit in Auckland today that Thursday's Budget would include an extra $21.5 million...
Govt unveils funding boost for early childhood sector
Radio NZ - May 13, 2018Thousands of preschoolers with learning and behaviour problems are set to get extra support before they start school under a new funding increase unveiled today. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who made the pre-Budget announcement at the Education Summit in Auckland...
Why is noise an issue in ECE?
Scoop NZ - Susan Bates and Dr Wyatt Page - May 13, 2018Imagine trying to learn a language while unable to hear what is being said. Imagine trying to fit into the culture of a group and routine and only having body language and watching others as cues. Imagine working in an environment that by NZ Standards can cause you injury...
The last bastion of inequality: unpaid work
Stuff NZ - Rose Hoare - May 11, 2018Women may have gained access to all kinds of new opportunities in the past century, but home life hasn't really changed to accommodate them. Most who go to work come home and do what American sociologist Arlie Hochschild called "the second shift". (In a landmark 1989 book, she calculated...
Family speaks out over child's death following fall at Palmerston North daycare
NZ Herald - Simon Collins - May 7, 2018A grieving family claims a childcare centre did not tell them that their 20-month-old toddler had suffered a fall until after he died in hospital that night. Palmerston North parents Beaudene Wi and Ricardo Miranda told Māori Television's Native Affairs show they are determined...
Mike Hosking: Doing the confusing numbers on teachers' pay
NZ Herald - Mike Hosking - May 7, 2018So to the early childhood teachers, do they deserve a better deal? Probably. But not because of equity based issues. They deserve a better deal because teachers by and large are poorly paid and their contribution to our kids' lives is undervalued. But because it's a union-dominated...
Child poverty casts long shadow on oral health care
Scoop NZ - May 7, 2018Up to 18 years of age, more dental decay occurred among children from socio-economically disadvantaged families, but those who needed dental care mostly got it due to New Zealand's universal dental health care for children and adolescents, Associate Professor Broadbent explains...
