Child Care News
Auckland daycare centre's challenge to hospitality industry over leftover food
Stuff - Torika Tokalau - January 31, 2020A daycare centre is helping feed hundreds of people in its community with its leftover meals, and it's challenging restaurants to do the same. Angels Childcare Centre in New Lynn, West Auckland, has been leaving leftover children's lunches at food pantries for others...
My kid is starting school, and the reality of being a working mum is sinking in
Stuff - Emily Brookes - January 31, 2020Here's something several other mums have said to me over the last few months: "It all gets so much easier once they start school." That might be true for mums that don't work, or have a partner who doesn't, or who work part time or very flexi hours. But for me the encroaching advent...
Major breaches found at kindergarten after disabled boy's fall
NZ Herald - RNZ - January 30, 2020The mother of a young disabled boy badly injured in an accident at a south Auckland kindergarten says there has been no justice for her son, even after the kindergarten was found to have breached multiple health and safety rules. In October 2019, four-year-old Masua Tusa...
Education Ministry, ERO at odds over early childhood service breaches
RNZ - John Gerritsen - January 30, 2020Documents show the Education Review Office found no rule breaches at an early childhood service even though the Education Ministry wanted to shut it down for multiple failings. The Education review office (ERO) was preparing to give the home-based service a positive review ...
Coronavirus: Ministry tells school hostels to isolate students at risk of having coronavirus
NZ Herald - Simon Collins - January 30, 2020he Ministry of Education has told school hostels that they must have facilities to isolate students at risk of having coronavirus. New advice posted on the ministry website today says hostels "may need to give consideration to the number of boarders and the facilities" they have...
Preschool teachers doing bar work and babysitting to make ends meet
Stuff NZ - Lee Kenny - January 30, 2020Could you look after five babies at once? NZ's preschool teachers have one of the toughest jobs in education but some staff feel underpaid and undervalued. Preschool teachers are pulling pints, cutting hair and nannying to make ends meet – while one early education centre...
NZTC scholarship supports primary teacher to follow ECE dream
New Zealand Tertiary College - January 29, 2020A primary school teacher of 15 years, Sue Tung knew very little about early learning before studying with New Zealand Tertiary College (NZTC). “Early childhood education was something that used to be a bit of a mystery to me,” Sue shared. “Since studying, I’ve learnt...
Virginia Oakly: Why early childhood teachers need pay parity
NZ Herald - Virginia Oakly - January 29, 2020How many teachers do you know with a second job? For Amelia, a bar job on a Friday night on top of a 40+ hour week as a fully qualified teacher in an early...
Coronavirus: Officials tell schools to keep students away if they have been in China
NZ Herald - Simon Collins - January 28, 2020Education officials are advising students and teachers who've travelled to China and are at risk of contracting the deadly coronavirus to stay away from school for 14 days. An edict was sent to all New Zealand principals last night by Education Ministry head Iona Holsted as fears...
Pātaka kai movement takes off in Northland
NZ Herald - Jenny Ling, Northern Advocate - January 27, 2020Ōhaeawai is your typical small Northland town boasting a modest dairy, butcher and garage, along with the customary historic hotel. But just down the road at the local preschool, young children are learning a big life lesson - how to give unconditionally to others. It started with...
Toi Ohomai enrolments for early childcare at a five-year low
NZ Herald - Cira Olivier - January 27, 2020The Bay of Plenty will start the school year with nearly 40 vacancies for early childhood teachers, as industry figures point to low pay and a downturn in trainee numbers to explain the shortage. And...
Councillor childcare costs will be covered by the Waimakariri District Council
Stuff NZ - Emma Dangerfield - January 24, 2020A North Canterbury council will pay for childcare costs incurred by elected members up to $6000 per child, per year – uncapped. Waimakariri District Council had already agreed to support paying for childcare when it adopted the Elected Members' Expenses Policy in November...
Tauranga early childcare teacher Kirstene Hutana censured for bruising child
NZ Herald - Melissa Nightingale - January 21, 2020An early childcare teacher who left a boy with bruises after picking him up "rugby style" has been censured. The incident happened in Tauranga in 2018 when teacher Kirstene Hutana was working at an early childcare centre at TopKids, Welcome Bay. Parents were beginning to arrive...
Hamilton fire destroys 'safe haven for youngest members of the community'
NZ Herald - January 20, 2020A blaze which tore through a Hamilton daycare, destroying a "safe haven" for the youngest members of the community, is being treated as suspicious. Waikato Police are appealing for any information about the fire which burnt down Learn a Lot Child Care Centre at the...
NZ Govt spent almost $500,000 on advertising to woo overseas teachers
NZ Herald - Jason Walls - January 19, 2020The Government spent almost half a million dollars on foreign advertising in a bid to woo overseas teachers to come work in New Zealand as the country grapples with a teacher "supply crisis". Teachers' unions say the Government needs to be doing more to train additional Kiwi teachers...
