Our People

I live in Feilding with my supportive partner James. I have two beautiful daughters Jazmine and Sophie and two wonderful stepchildren Frankie and Boston.

I enjoy working with the team here at Lollipops Ruapehu and working in partnership with the staff, children and parents. Lollipops is my home away from home, I have been here since Feb 2010.

I am very approachable, humorous and a good listener.

I am passionate about leading our children to become confident lifelong learners’ and leading the team to their fullest potential.

We both lived in Mount Maunganui for most of our lives. I now live in Woodville.

In my spare time my pets and grandchildren keep me well entertained.

I really enjoy working with the children, families and the team here at Lollipops Ruapehu

I resided in Manawatu area since emigrating from England in 1978 with Richard, my husband and two sons. In 1981 had our daughter, who today also works with children. Over the years our family has extended with seven grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

My interests are gardening, variety of art and crafts and travelling.

As an enthusiastic and educated professional with a commitment to facilitating outstanding first educational experiences for young children. My background includes more than 40 years in preparing   various preschool classroom activities, enforcing safety policies, tracking children’s social and emotional development, and in partnership with parents.

I am flexible in my approach to working within a team environment.

Working alongside children and families has been a lifelong passion. I’m excited to be working here at Lollipops Ruapehu

I am a qualified early childhood teacher from Singapore with over 18 years of experience nurturing children from 18 months to 6 years old. I attained my qualifications from universities in Australia and London. My first spoken language is English and am also able to converse fluently in Mandarin. I adore teaching children of this age group as I believe that we, as educators, together with parents, can be their pillars of support, to facilitate and scaffold in achieving their developmental milestones.

My personal motto is “Children are my passion, profession and responsibility”. To me, every child is a unique individual who deserves to be given the best we can in every aspect, be it physical, emotional, intellectual or social. Hence, having been in this field for so long, it has driven me to be versatile and sensitive in my styles of teaching and methods of nurturing. I believe they are our future leaders and we should provide nothing but the best for them.

I enjoy reading and travelling, which had led me to be smitten with this exhilarating town in New Zealand. I look forward to connecting with all of you here at Lollipops!

I studied Early Childhood through Massey University and I have many years experience working as an educator and special needs teacher in early childhood centres. Before joining Lollipops I spent my time at a rural Primary School as a special needs teacher and working closely with children who require extra help with their numeracy and literacy.

I have a great passion for children’s learning and care and enjoy implementing literacy and numeracy programs for young children through play. As well as a moving smart programme which focuses on developing children’s motor skills and provides the foundations necessary for early success and transition into school. I find it extremely rewarding seeing a child progress and the happiness they show when they have achieved something for the first time. By giving children opportunities and confidence I believe this can help them reach their full potential.

I enjoy being a part of the Lollipops Team as I continue to nurture and foster your tamariki/children’s early learning years as an educator.

When I am not working, I love to spend as much time as I can with my two dogs, Brax, and Dusty. I am a big family person and love being surrounded by friends and family. I have always loved taking care of tamariki and have grown up surrounded by many younger cousins and more recently my nephew Ozias who attends here at Lollipops Ruapehu. I am an easy-going, thoughtful, and caring person, who always thinks of others, which are key characteristics I implement into my everyday practise as a Kaiako.

Throughout my experience at Lollipops and study I have and continue to refine my personal teaching philosophy. I strive to create a warm, welcoming, and caring environment for all tamariki and whanau where everyone feels a sense of belonging. I believe all tamariki, especially infants need strong links between home and ECE, which I endeavour to create through building trusting and respectful relationships with whanau, in which I can work alongside, and create the best quality learning environment which caters for each tamariki individual needs.

From being an infant teacher, I have also built a strong value of creating consistency and familiarity for tamariki. This is something I implement within my practise through always being available and attentive to all my tamariki needs and wants. I believe it is so important for tamariki to have trust and confidence in their Kaiako, and this practise is one way I ensure this happens. I look forward to continuing my teaching journey here at Lollipops Ruapehu!

I grew up on a farm in the Manawatu and the Hawkes bay, but all my education has been in the Manawatu which means I had to go to boarding school from a young age, after leaving High school I stayed in Palmerston North for work and to live with my Partner, I consider Palmerston North to be my home now.

When I am not at Lollipops working, I enjoy playing and watching sports (mainly rugby), I like going to the beach as I enjoy surfing, I love spending time with my dogs pepper, samba and benny at my parents farm and my dog Koda who lives with me in Palmerston North, I spend a lot of time with my Partner and my family because it is important to me and  I try to get out and be active as much as I can. I find myself to have a fun, humorous, kind, and caring personality and am easily approachable.

As I am still quite new to the centre, so it is my goal to get to know every parent, tamariki, whanau, and staff member as I believe it is important to create these relationships and trust with each of you. I look forward to supporting, caring, and building relationships with/for your tamariki while also learning with them along the way of their lollipops journey.

I grew up in Eketahuna on a dairy farm and I went to school in Masterton. I have three sisters Deana, Rose, and Lucy. I moved to Palmerston North when I began studying and have enjoyed living here.

In my spare time I enjoy doing arts and crafts, photography, and spending time with my friends and whanau.

I’ve always wanted to be an Early childhood teacher, so I am very excited to join the team here at Lollipops. I look forward to working with you all.

I am from the Manawatu and have always lived in Palmerston North. I have two sons Bradley who is 15 years old and Hunter who is 11 years old and a daughter Harper who is 5. My interests are going for walks, going hunting with my two sons, shopping, and spending time with my family.

I have always been passionate about early childhood education, I love working with children and supporting them to grow, learn, and succeed. I really enjoy being a part of the Lollipops team working with the tamariki and whānau as I continue to learn and progress alongside them during my studies.

I have over 20 years of general administration experience and 3 years of Early Childhood administration. This position combines two of my most passionate things in life - to be surrounded by children and to do admin work.

I hope to form strong bonds with both the children and whanau and to streamline the administration part of the centre even more.

I am a caring and patient teacher. My teaching philosophy is all about establishing trusting relationship with children, families and colleagues first and then working as a team to create a better self for everyone that is involved. I agree with the saying that it takes a village to raise a child. Thus, I believe it is a collective effort to provide a safe, healthy environment for children, where children are given the security, they need to develop and flourish, and to be able to realize their hopes and potentials. Freedom of movement is also one of my focuses. I believe providing the time and space, and some extra support, children can grow and develop into independent individuals in their own special time.

I was born in Taiwan and then our family moved to New Zealand when I was young. I have done most of my schooling in Palmerston North, and basically, I have settled down here ever since. I can speak English and Mandarin Chinese. I am married and have no children or pets at the moment (still deciding) …In my spare time I like to watch movies and just relax. I also enjoy traveling and hiking when I get the chance!

I look forward to meeting you all.