At the centre of every early childhood education (ECE) service are its people. Kaiako, leaders, and support staff form the living infrastructure that keeps children safe, learning, and loved. Yet, burnout and attrition remain widespread. According to Education Counts (2023), staff turnover rates are climbing, especially in high-deprivation areas.
The ECE Funding Review (MAG 2025) is an opportunity to redefine sustainability as a measure of quality and protection. When educators are well, children are well. When leadership is supported, culture becomes safe by design.
Protect the people who protect the children.
1 - Engage: Seeing Burnout as a System Signal
Burnout is not a personal failing; it is a structural red flag. The Teaching Council of Aotearoa NZ (2024) highlights in Our Code, Our Standards that professional care and reflection are ethical obligations, yet they remain chronically underfunded. Long hours, administrative load, and emotional fatigue are symptoms of a system stretched beyond its limits.
The Ministry of Education’s (2024) Regulatory Review of ECE confirms that leaders and kaiako are spending more time managing compliance than mentoring or observing children. Burnout, therefore, is not about capacity. It is about conditions.
Sustainability begins when we stop accepting depletion as normal.
2 - Enable: Funding Conditions for Wellbeing
Workforce sustainability requires more than wages; it requires time, mentorship, and rest. OECD (2021) research demonstrates that educator wellbeing directly influences child outcomes. The Funding Review can embed these findings by funding:
- Protected non-contact time for reflection and documentation.
- Paid supervision and mentoring sessions.
- Leadership release time for coaching and team development.
- Professional learning in emotional regulation, resilience, and trauma-informed practice.
These are not extras; they are essential infrastructure for safety.
3 - Empower: Aligning Accountability and Care
Accountability must empower rather than deplete. Currently, leaders juggle multiple reporting systems across the Teaching Council, Oranga Tamariki, and Ministry of Education. Streamlining these processes through a unified wellbeing and reporting framework would reduce duplication and improve clarity.
Harvard’s Center on the Developing Child (2016) notes that adult stress directly impacts children’s sense of safety. When educators are supported to reflect and regulate, they create calmer, more predictable environments for tamariki.
Policy opportunity: Fund reflective supervision and wellbeing PLD as measurable quality indicators rather than discretionary costs.
You cannot protect others from an empty cup.
4 - Evolve: Leadership and Succession
Leadership sustainability is vital for long-term system health. According to the Ministry of Education (2024), the ECE sector faces increasing leadership vacancies and reduced mentoring capacity. The Funding Review should establish:
- Succession funding to support leadership transition and mentoring.
- Regional networks for shared reflective practice.
- Cross-agency collaboration between MOE, Oranga Tamariki, and the Teaching Council to define sustainable leadership standards.
When leaders are supported to lead ethically and reflectively, they model wellbeing and build teams that stay.
Leadership is not just administration; it is the architecture of culture.
Closing Reflection
A sustainable workforce is a safeguarding workforce. When educators are trusted, trained, and resourced, they can do the slow, attentive work that keeps children safe. The 2025 Funding Review must therefore treat workforce wellbeing as a protection mechanism, because safety starts with the people who provide it.
When we fund people, we fund protection.
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Reflection Prompts
- Where does your team’s time pressure most impact safety or connection?
- What would a funded model of reflective supervision look like in your service?
- How can wellbeing become part of quality assurance rather than an optional goal?
Inline References
- Ministry of Education (2025). ECE Funding Review (MAG 2025). education.govt.nz.
- Ministry of Education (2024). Regulatory Review of Early Childhood Education. education.govt.nz.
- Education Counts (2023). ECE Workforce and Retention Data. educationcounts.govt.nz.
- Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand (2024). Our Code, Our Standards. teachingcouncil.nz.
- OECD (2021). Starting Strong VI: Supporting Meaningful Access and Quality in ECEC. oecd.org.
- Harvard Center on the Developing Child (2016). From Best Practices to Breakthrough Impacts. developingchild.harvard.edu.