Our People

I have been a teacher for nearly 10 years and have enjoyed all the opportunities I have been given. I have originally come from the Kapiti Coast; this is where my family reside.

In my spare time I enjoy travelling and enjoy drag racing, this also helps with travelling as drag racing has taken me all over NZ and to Australia. I also enjoy riding motorbikes, horse riding and spending time with my family.

I left the sector when I had my second child and became a stay at home mum.

When my children were at primary school, I became a Kaimahi (teacher aid) and worked up until starting at Active Explorers, with many beautiful children with specific needs such as cerebral palsy, autism, ADHD, Fetal alcohol syndrome, type one diabetes just to name a few.

I am a mum of two teenage boys which I have raised with my husband, we also have a dog who is our biggest baby.
I have come full circle and decided now is the right time for my family and myself to return to my passion of teaching preschool children.

I look forward to getting to know you and your family.

I enjoy getting to know the children here and forming a bond with them. 

I have 4 children (adults now), all at different stages in their life and parts of NZ. 

Wanting to learn more I began my journey into teaching. I graduated with a Bachelor of Education from Victoria University and am a fully registered teacher. I have been teaching for over 10 years in ECE with all ages.

I am passionate about promoting an environment where children are free to develop at their own pace, celebrating each child’s unique journey. Relationships with families is such an important aspect of my work. Through these relationships I learn all about what you as a parent want for your child. I look forward to working alongside you in supporting your child to grow and develop through respectfully relationships, close bonds and helping them to reach their potential.

My personal teaching philosophy is seeing every child as an individual with something special to offer. I believe children learn best when they in an emotionally warm, supportive, physically safe, and challenging environment with a genuine rapport with their teacher. Relationships will grow from interactions between people that are respectful, responsive, and reciprocal.

I live in Miramar with my partner and 4-year-old son Lucas. I have a passion for animals and children and after 3 years doing my vet nursing and rescuing animals for them to have a better life, I decided to finally give my first passion since I was 5 years old a go and start my work with children.

As a young woman I trained as a Nursery Nurse in the UK which allowed me to teach children through play.  This led me into nannying .  I worked for three families and stayed with one for fifteen years.  During that time, we lived in the USA for 2years before coming to New Zealand. 

I had the opportunity to be involved in organizations such as Brownies, Scots and swimming clubs and do voluntary work at several schools.  I fell in love with New Zealand and decided to stay in 2000.  I continued with my training and became an Early Childhood Teacher and have taught ever since.

I believe that every child is unique and has the right to a childhood filled with love, warmth, and rich experiences within a secure loving environment.

I have been working as an Office Manager/Administrator for the last 27 years, running a successful family business in SA and remotely from NZ.

My husband Gary and I have been together since 2005.  We have 2 awesome boys; Jake is 11 and Daniel is 3.

I am studying a Bachelor of Education majoring in Early Childhood

I am originally from a small town in Central Hawkes Bay called Waipukurau. I come from a big family of four siblings and was raised in a Christian household.

I am a very creative person so I like getting involved in projects I enjoy art, photography, and creating new games or resources where I can be super creative.

I have a great passion for teaching and creating relationships with tamariki. I strive to impact tamariki in their early stages of life and believe in the mana enhancing of each individual.  

Coming from a big family, I got plenty of babysitting experience as a teenager, and this sparked an interest in working with children. Since then I have explored this through working as a teacher aide, after-school care coordinator and  gymnastics coach.

From spending time with different age groups of children, I have since realised that my biggest passion is with the early years. What I love the most about working in early childhood education is building close bonds with the children and getting to share in so many of their achievements.

I have been working here at Active Explorer since March 2015. I believe that to support the children that wellbeing and belonging we need to encourage them to expand their learning development, their own children's identity, and the wider world view. We need make this centre feel their second home where they feel safe with their Kaiako's.