Maunganui All Day Kindergarten

01/09/2026

Last week, Catherine, as part of NZEI work for ECE, met with representatives of some of the political parties. We were asking for a commitment from each party to uphold 100% funding bands for ECE and pay parity. We meet with the Greens, Labour and Opportunity Party. The other parties didn't respond to our request to meet.
"Teachers conditions are children's conditions"

25/08/2026

https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/lend-a-hand-for-bonnie

Support Bonnie and her whānau as she undergoes lengthy leukemia treatment, helping to ease the financial burden on her family.

03/08/2026

Most people think the debate about early childhood education is about funding. It isn't. The real debate is about purpose.

Is ECE primarily there to support workforce participation?

Or is it one of the country's most important public investments?

How we answer that question determines everything that follows, from teacher qualifications to ratios, funding and quality.

Our latest State of the Sector article explores why one idea could shape the future of early childhood education in Aotearoa.

www.ecnz.ac.nz/articles/news/The-Hidden-Theory-Shaping-Early-Childhood-Education

To read all the articles:
https://www.ecnz.ac.nz/state-of-the-sector

31/07/2026

If you haven't managed to write a submission on the Ministerial Funding Advisory Group yet, try this link. This group is giving options to the government about how to fund early childhood. Options include stop funding for 100% trained teachers in kindergarten, not having qualified in early childhood centres and not keeping pay parity. There is nothing about quality or best practice. Please support your kindergarten teachers and the quality you presently enjoy.

https://win.newmode.net/nzeiteriuroa/savepayparityforeceteachers?utm_source=sosha&utm_medium=facebook&utm_name=1a3386df-c0b9-4d9a-9b69-dc696e3e5011&utm_content=a669b3f4-8264-47c5-93ef-8fa851433dc2&source=sosha&shalid=44d02378-41df-9596-9da7-adffea4776af&shltok=hE951sT6&fbclid=IwVERDUATYqtJwZG9mBWZkaWQWULhihDNFWdzkaXWn7up5zfApgMrDgGV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkCjY2Mjg1NjgzNzkAAR7u7M-DQUtOeSxQxpSbaInz7Tu6Y-8D5K2PAq39-sTb6Oft_SANUWDKIMOBOA_aem_r9Xo1pLpxalgCHoe0C6thw

17/07/2026

09/07/2026

An exciting addition to our carpentry area thanks to Mount Maunganui Men's Shed. They have created a frame of a house for us and the children will get to do the rest. Let's see what it looks like in a few months time.

07/07/2026

The Education Minister, Erica Stanford, has announced the extension of the ENRICH oral language programme to more than 450 early childhood education services. The programme is based on findings from the Otago study Kia Tīmata Pai and aligns with Te Whāriki, our world leading curriculum.

We welcome the investment. It’s another approach, adding to the rich and diverse range of resources available to support and enhance teaching practice.

Authentic, sustained, intentional teaching delivered by qualified teachers is a key component of high-quality early childhood education. Qualified kaiako understand how tamariki learn, and they create language-rich environments where tamariki grow confident in their own language, identity and culture, building on the knowledge each child and their whānau bring.

That is why the wider policy picture is hard to reconcile. While the Education Minister resources a programme grounded in the value of quality teaching, the Associate Minister of Education, David Seymour’s funding review group has proposed cutting funding to services that employ 100% qualified (degreed or equivalent) teachers, and his Ministry of Regulation recommended qualifications should be ‘flexible.’

Investing in the outcomes of quality teaching in teacher-led services also means investing in the qualified teachers who deliver it.

04/07/2026

The Government can't have it both ways.

Education Minister Erica Stanford says oral language support is a priority for tamariki. But Associate Education Minister David Seymour is proposing to remove the pay parity and funding settings that help ECE centres attract and retain the qualified teachers needed to deliver those programmes.

You can't strengthen children's learning while weakening the workforce that makes it possible.

Link to full media release in our story.