A career in early childhood education is filled with opportunities for you to contribute to children’s learning – from working directly with children as an early childhood teacher, to developing curriculum, to sharing your knowledge with other aspiring early childhood professionals as a lecturer.

REWARDING PROFESSION

Whether working directly or indirectly with children, you’ll find that contributing to the ECE sector is a rewarding experience.

CREATIVE ROLES

Those working in ECE often have the opportunity to be creative in their contribution to children’s learning.

PROFESSIONAL GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES

Once you’ve gained experience working in the New Zealand ECE sector, you can pursue various ECE management roles that give you the opportunity to grow as an ECE professional.

CONTRIBUTE TO CHILDREN’S LEARNING

Play an active part in the development and education of young children.

CORPORATE CAREER

Various positions are available in the corporate offices of large early childhood centre chains, such as Kidicorp, Barnados New Zealand, Kindercare Learning Centres, Lollipops Educare and Porse In-Home Childcare.

OUT OF SCHOOL CARE AND RECREATION (OSCAR) ROLES

OSCAR

services are before/after school and school holiday programs for children, usually up to the age of 13 years.

TRAINER

Trainers plan and provide practical training courses for employees of businesses, government or other organisations in subject areas they have experience and expertise in.

ECE ENTREPRENEUR

If you have a keen business sense and leadership and management skills, you might be attracted to the possibility of running your own early childhood education centre or service.

• During study, all students on a student visa can work up to 20 hours per week during semester and full time during vacations.
• After completing Level 7 Bachelor’s Degree or Higher Qualification, a student will get a three years open post-study work visa.
• After completing Level 8 Post Graduate courses of 1 year, students get 1 year PSW.

• Applicants need to be a minimum of 16 years old prior to starting the programme. International applicants must be a minimum of 18 years of age prior to starting the programme.? 
• Applicants for the Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching (Secondary) must hold a bachelor’s degree, at level 7 on the New Zealand Qualification and Credentials Framework (NZQCF) or a recognised equivalent degree programme.?? 
• Where an applicant’s qualification has been undertaken outside of New Zealand, NZTC has discretion to determine equivalency to the New Zealand qualification. Equivalency is assessed on a case-by-case basis.? 
• All applicants must:? 
  • Have sufficient depth and breadth of a subject relevant to the Aotearoa New Zealand secondary school curriculum from NZQCF Level 5 to 7 or higher in your entry qualification. Preference will be given for students applying to teach in subject specialist areas in short supply in New Zealand, such as the STEM, English, Learning Languages, and Social Science subjects.?? 
  • Provide at least one professional reference.? 
  • Provide a statement of intent.? 
  • Demonstrate their ability to meet the expectations of the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand in terms of personal and professional qualities, based on the Code of Professional Responsibility and Standards for the Teaching Profession (2026), through a personal visual interview.? 
  • Take the Literacy and Numeracy for Adults Assessment Tool and attain Step 5 for literacy and Step 5 in numeracy where required.? 
  • Be assessed for their current te reo M?ori competency based on the levels in Te Aho Arataki Marau and are expected to actively develop their te reo M?ori knowledge throughout the programme.? 
  • Have attained a New Zealand Police vetting report. The report is uploaded to the New Zealand Police portal under the occupation “Student Teacher” to ensure the vetting includes the Children’s Act 2014. If the report indicates the applicant has been convicted of a crime, the matter will be referred to Programme Board, which will decide on the entry of that applicant to the programme based on the applicant’s response to the conviction, and support from an approved school. The school must be aware of the conviction.? 
  • Be physically and mentally fit to carry out the responsibilities of a teaching role safely and effectively.? 

• International students must submit an overseas police certificate(s) for each overseas country they have lived in for more than one year within the last 10 years if they were 18 years old or over during the time they lived there.? 

• Credit for prior formal study is awarded towards this qualification.? 

For More Information Please Contact To Our PSA Counselor.