Policy Proposal from the Office of Early Childhood Education

On 22 August 2026, the Office of Early Childhood Education published a Facebook post with the title 'New Zealand's early childhood education policy proposals to strengthen parent partnerships', available here. Excerpts from the post follow:

... two of the strongest predictors of ECE quality linked to positive outcomes for children: having ECE‑qualified teachers and strong parent-teacher partnership. Empirical evidence shows that when parents and teachers work together, children develop stronger learning competencies, and the gains are deeper, more sustained, and more likely to carry forward into school and beyond.

... Parents are the one constant across ECE, school, and community settings. Their engagement directly shapes children’s learning skills, motivation, behaviour, and long‑term connection with education. 
...
2. PARTNER WITH PARENTS TO STRENGTHEN LEARNING CONTINUITY BETWEEN ECE AND HOME FOR BETTER OUTCOMES
Introduce a national requirement for ECE services to implement practices that strengthen partnerships with parents as their children’s first educators and promote learning continuity between ECE and home.

INITIAL POLICY SETTINGS

• Scale up Early Reading Together® 
A proven, low cost New Zealand programme (endorsed by the OECD, The Economist Group, and UNICEF) that brings teachers and parents together through three one hour workshops. It provides culturally relevant guidance on reading, oral language, storytelling, rhyme, song sheets, and books. Scaling this programme would deliver national reach at a fraction of the cost of centre only interventions such as the ENRICH programme. 
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