Child Care News
Neighbours oppose childcare centre
Eastern Courier - Imogen Neal - January 8, 2018Almost two dozen neighbours have banded together to oppose the development of a childcare centre on their residential East Auckland street. Earlier last year, Aspin Ridge Ltd lodged an application to build an 84-child daycare centre at 27 Shelly Bay Road, Beachlands.
Kids battling to learn because of gaps in teaching fundamentals
Stuff NZ - Karoline Tuckey - January 3, 2018Some Kiwi children face a battle to learn to read and write because of gaps in teaching, a top education official says, and practices will be reviewed. The admission comes in response to falling international rankings in literacy and criticism from educators and academics that teacher training...
Kids battling to learn because of gaps in teaching fundamentals
Stuff NZ - Karoline Tuckey - January 3, 2018Some Kiwi children face a battle to learn to read and write because of gaps in teaching, a top education official says, and practices will be reviewed. The admission comes in response to falling international rankings in literacy and criticism from educators and academics that teacher training and classroom practices skip some of the most basic lessons for beginner readers, setting many children's learning back...
Kiwi newborns to live longer than most other babies on the planet
Stuff NZ - Megan Gattey - January 1, 2018"There is a social expectation in New Zealand that babies will be born well, named immediately, and the family will have access to support," she said. "All of those things add up to babies surviving their first days, then their first month, first year and so on. At our best, the families are...
Working parents in Rotorua struggle to provide holiday care
Rotorua Daily - Carmen Hall - December 30, 2017A Rotorua working mother-of-two says finding childcare over the school break is a nightmare and holiday programmes can cost about $400 per week for her kids. School holiday programme providers in Rotorua will receive more than $230,000 in government funding next year and...
Working parents in Rotorua struggle to provide holiday care
Rotorua Daily - Carmen Hall - December 30, 2017A Rotorua working mother-of-two says finding childcare over the school break is a nightmare and holiday programmes can cost about $400 per week for her kids. School holiday programme providers in Rotorua will receive more than $230,000 in government funding next year and police also want to make sure parents have adequate supervision for kids under-14 and aren't leaving them to fend for themselves...
Childcare worker accused of putting toddlers life at risk gets compensated for distress
Stuff NZ - Anuja Nadkarni - December 22, 2017A childcare worker who resigned, claiming she was "singled out" after she was accused of putting the health and safety of children at risk, has been compensated $8000 for distress. Florence Murwira worked at Sunshine Childcare Centre in Hamilton. She left her classroom for two hours...
High demand for qualified early childhood education teachers in Bay of Plenty
NZ Herald - Zoe Hunter - December 21, 2017The Bay's early childhood education centres are struggling to find qualified teachers, with some Tauranga centres receiving a majority of interest from unqualified applicants. The University of Waikato's Te Kura Toi Tangata Faculty of Education endorsed the new Government's indication...
Kerry Henderson: PORSE general manager on home childcare
NZ Herald - Kerry Henderson - December 21, 2017Child Forum's survey of early childhood educators working in centres and subsequent New Zealand Herald article, "Childcare workers speak out again factory farming of children", has provided food for thought for parents of preschoolers. The survey results shared that more than...
Preschoolers flock to childcare centres
Stuff - Ewan Sargent - December 19, 2017New Zealand has seen a big increase of preschoolers enrolled in early childcare education places over the past eight years. A new report from Stats NZ on childcare reveals 63.6 per cent of preschoolers had formal childcare in 2017. This is well up on the 53.9 per cent enrolled in 2009...
Grandparents Lend a Hand for Childcare
Scoop - December 19, 2017One in four young children were cared for by grandparents in 2017, Stats NZ said today. "The majority of informal care for kids was done by grandparents, almost triple the next largest category," labour market and households statistics senior manager Jason Attewell said...
More Toddlers in Formal Early Childhood Care
Scoop NZ - December 19, 2017More two- and three-year-olds are in some form of formal early childhood education now than there were eight years ago, Stats NZ said today. Formal early childhood education (ECE) and care includes things like kindergarten, playcentre or playgroup, kōhanga reo, and other childcare centres...
Grandparents Lend a Hand for Childcare
Scoop NZ - December 19, 2017One in four young children were cared for by grandparents in 2017, Stats NZ said today. "The majority of informal care for kids was done by grandparents, almost triple the next largest category," labour market and households statistics senior manager Jason Attewell said...
Early Childhood Council calls for balanced view
Scoop NZ - December 18, 2017The Early Childhood Council (ECC) says so-called research released today about the early childhood education (ECE) sector lacks integrity and needs to be taken with a grain of salt.The Chief Executive of the ECC, Peter Reynolds, questions the way data is summarised and presented in the...
Factory farming doesn't need to be the norm for ECE
Scoop NZ - December 18, 2017There is a worrying trend here. A similar survey was undertaken in 2014 which showed the same results – that 25% of teachers would not enrol their own children at the places they worked. There is a better way. Home-based education and care is becoming an increasingly popular option...
