Updated early childhood curriculum welcomed by advocates
12 April 2017
Te Rito Maioha Early Childhood New Zealand (ECNZ) today welcomed the updated Te Whāriki, New Zealand’s early childhood
education (ECE) curriculum, just released by the Ministry of Education.
‘Ahead of the 2014 election we began lobbying government to revisit and strengthen Te Whāriki so that every child
experiences a rich curriculum,’ said Kathy Wolfe. Government heard this call and, overall we’re pleased with the new
document.’
Updating what has become a taonga was always going to be a huge challenge. It was essential that the Ministry took up
this challenge, along with the ECE sector. Te Whāriki was first published over 20 years ago, and while it was highly
regarded both nationally and globally, it needed to be updated to reflect the world our children live in today and how
they learn.
Ms Wolfe said that the submission ECNZ provided on behalf of members, staff and its Council has been responded to in the
final document.
‘We feel that we’ve been heard, and this is encouraging. We’d like to commend the Ministry on getting the updated Te
Whāriki to a good place for the sector, and most importantly for children.’
‘We’re heartened to see the commitment to biculturalism reflected front and centre. Also, the organisation is encouraged
that $4m has been earmarked for professional development for the sector.’
‘We thank the Ministry for their commitment to investing in professional development for teachers,’ said Ms Wolfe. ‘As
with any curriculum, its true success is determined by the people charged with delivering its contents and those
receiving the professional development. These are the teachers that work with over 200,000 tamariki every day. The
challenge now is that kaiako pick up the baton and provide high quality consistent delivery of Te Whāriki in their
centre.’
‘I would like to extend our thanks to Sir Tamati Reedy, Lady Tilly Reedy and the writing team for their work. I also
thank our former Chief Executive Nancy Bell (now Director Early Learning with the Ministry) for leading this critical
project.’
Ms Wolfe said that while today was a day to celebrate it was important to note that having a 100% qualified workforce to
deliver the refreshed Te Whāriki was another key aspect to ensuring high quality ECE provision. Ms Wolfe calls on all
political parties to reflect this in their ECE policies in the lead up to the September election.
ENDS