Child Care News
Childcare fees rise as ECE teacher shortage deepens
NZ Herald - Simon Collins - August 27, 2019Childcare centres have started hiking fees to parents as teachers demand higher pay amid a critical shortage of qualified staff. Kindercare chief executive Kelly Wendelborn said he has raised fees this month by $1 or $2 a day for 4200 families across his 45 centres to attract and keep staff.
Bomb threat clears kindergarten in Takaka
Stuff - Skara Bohny - August 26, 2019A bomb scare in Takaka was a false alarm. Police were called just before 11am on Friday after a person found a threatening note. Both Police and Fire and Emergency services responded to the threat and several nearby buildings, including a kindergarten, were evacuated as a precautionary measure.
Childcare payments for councillors off the table
Stuff - Janine Rankin - August 26, 2019Palmerston North's city council has thrown out the idea of paying councillors' childcare costs, for now. The Remuneration Authority this year approved the concept of allowing elected representatives to claim up to $6000 a year for a child's care while a parent was on council business.
Red zone home mooted for Christchurch character school Te Pā o Rākaihautū
Stuff - Michael Hayward - August 25, 2019A Christchurch school with more than 200 students on the waiting list is so popular it might move to the red zone for more space. The red zone is being considered as a possible new site for Te Pā o Rākaihautū, a character school focussed on creating a pā wānanga, or learning village.
Dead tree toppled on toddlers: Discoveries Educare fined more than $210,000
NZ Herald - Chelsea Boyle - August 23, 2019An early childcare centre has been fined more than $200,000 after it failed to identify the danger posed by a dead tree that toppled and injured toddlers. Four toddlers were seriously injured when the tree fell to the ground of the outside play area at Discoveries Educare in the Auckland ...
Another 39 Auckland measles cases: Nine in 10 of the infected unvaccinated
NZ Herald - Dubby Henry and Ben Leahy - August 21, 2019Another 39 measles cases have been confirmed in Auckland overnight as the city teeters on the edge of an epidemic. Measles has been rapidly spreading after 37 new Auckland cases were also confirmed on Tuesday morning and 126 in the eight days before that. The total number of ...
Early Childhood Education centre teaches children about food
Stuff - Samesh Mohanlall - August 21, 2019Parents and children at ABC Marchwiel are learning to take the healthier option when it comes to food and help save money in the process. The Timaru early childhood centre has been participating in the Kai Kōrero (talk about food) programme with Wave (Wellbeing and Vitality in Education) ...
Schools thought Christchurch terror attacks lockdown order was a hoax
NZ Herald - John Gerritsen - August 19, 2019Schools and early childhood centres thought a police order to go into lockdown during the 15 March Christchurch terror attacks was a hoax, a review of the process that closed 221 Canterbury schools and early learning centres says. The KPMG report said schools and early learning centres ....
Kindergarten Sunflower Project prepares to bloom!
Scoop - August 19, 2019A staggering 13,024 kindergarten tots around New Zealand will become little green thumbs and showcase their gardening knowhow by competing with other kindergartens in their region to grow the tallest sunflower or widest sunflower head. The 2019 Daltons Sunflowers in Kindergartens ...
Tongan culture to be celebrated at South Canterbury schools
Stuff - Samesh Mohanlall - August 19, 2019The culture and language of Tonga will be celebrated in South Canterbury starting with the region's youngest minds. The Tongan Society of South Canterbury will visit schools throughout the region during Tongan Language Week (TLW) which runs from September 1-7...
Former G8 boss takes over management of Evolve
Scoop BusinessDesk - Paul McBeth - Friday, 16 August 2019Evolve Education's biggest shareholder will take over the day-to-day running of the early childcare education operator in 10 days after chief executive Roseanne Graham handed in her notice. Chris Scott, who founded the Australian early childhood education firm G8 Education, acquired a 19 percent stake...
Book born in Rotorua helps inform early childhood education cultural practices
NZ Herald - August 13, 2019A new book born out of Rotorua is guiding the early years' education sector to practise culturally responsive learning and teaching. The book refers to a Ngāti Rangiwewehi tupuna, Hikairo, as an exemplary figure around which the content is based. The Hikairo Schema was...
Childcare teacher accused of taking 'unhealthy' food off kids
NZ Herald - Simon Collins - August 12, 2019A childcare teacher accused of taking sweet food off children says childcare operators have become afraid to upset parents for fear of losing customers. The teacher, whose name is suppressed, appeared before the Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal today on 10 charges including...
More males needed as early childhood teachers to reflect true diversity, advocates say
Stuff - Greer Berry - August 10, 2019New Zealand has few male teachers in early childcare. Greer Berry asks those in the sector what can be done to shake off the stigma of the past and move towards a more balanced approach to gender representation in the eyes of our little ones. Edward Todd was always interested...
Successful first year for Timaru's first bilingual early children centre celebrated
Stuff - Joanne Holden - August 9, 2019Timaru's first bilingual early childhood centre has a six month-long waiting list after only a year in operation. He Manu Hou, where preschool-aged children learn and communicate in both English and te reo Māori, celebrated a successful first year with singing, speeches, and cake...
