I am very proud to be involved in the Waiuku Kāhui Ako and leading the charge for change in our community of learning. Collaboration and collective responsibility are instrumental in helping all our tamariki find success in their education and beyond. I have been involved in education for over 20 years and have been a Deputy Principal at Waiuku College for 10 years. My three children attended Waipipi Primary and Waiuku College.

I began my journey as a primary school teacher in Pukekohe 23 years ago. Working alongside our youngest learners and with whānau are my passions, along with mentoring others within the teaching profession. Currently, I am Deputy Principal (Junior Team Leader), and SENCO at Pukeoware School. I believe that our best mahi is achieved together, and that the key to seeing our learners achieve greatness, is having a holistic approach. I am looking forward to serving on the Kāhui Ako Lead Team, to positively impact our community.
Ngā mihi nui, Dianna.

My name is Emma Heaford and I am a teacher and SENCO at Waipipi School. This year, I am an Across School Leader for our Waiuku Kāhui Ako. I have been teaching for 20 years in the South Auckland and East Auckland areas. I moved with my family to Waipipi three years ago to live closer to my parents. I have been holidaying in Awhitu for over 10 years and am drawn to the beautiful Peninsula often. I believe that every child has the potential to be a successful life-long learner and that with the right teaching, all potentials can be reached. Catering to a variety of learning needs and providing a rich engaging environment are essential for me. Making strong links with whānau and the wider school community are high priorities of mine.

I have been a Science/Biology teacher at Waiuku College since 2006, with a couple of breaks for travel and study. I am passionate about creating safe, relational and culturally responsive learning environments for all our kids. I have also loved working with our young teachers in the mentoring space. I am really excited to join the Kāhui Ako lead team in 2021 and look forward to working collaboratively across our community.

Hi. I am Alison. I currently work at Otaua School as a Year 4/5 teacher. I am originally from the United Kingdom, and moved to New Zealand in 2004. I have been living in Waiuku and love the lifestyle away from the hustle and bustle of the city. My favourite thing to do at school is art and I run an Art Attackers club for our talented students. We have painted school murals and have brightened up the school grounds with our art work. Last year, we were runners-up in the national Resene mural design competition. Not bad for a small country school! I also love travelling, reading and spending time with my family.

My name is Belinda Gribbon and I’m passionate about raising engagement and achievement for all our learners. I am a born and raised Cantabrian, teaching at Cashmere High School before moving to Auckland due to the 2011 Earthquakes. I taught at Southern Cross Campus in Mangere for several years, before moving here to Waiuku to purchase our own slice of the town. After the birth of my now toddler Mia, I was lucky enough to acquire a job at Waiuku College as Assistant HoD of English. A decision made for family, sanity, petrol prices and traffic has allowed me to become a part of the Within School Teachers of this Kāhui Ako, allowing me to continue to grow my passion to help all learners learn.

I was born in Mosgiel and raised in Christchurch and Blenheim. I graduated from Christchurch Teachers College in 1982 and have been teaching ever since. Although I have been living in the North Island since 1987, I still consider myself to be a Mainlander. I have one son, who currently lives in Christchurch. Most of my formative years in teaching were spent at rural schools. I then spent 20 years teaching in low-decile schools in Otara and Papakura. Now I’m back in the country and loving it.

Hi, my name is Danielle Johnson and I am a Year 4-6 teacher at Aka Aka School. I have a long experience of teaching in various South Auckland schools and teaching different year levels. I really enjoy the years that I have been in Waiuku. My strengths and passions within education are, e-learning and implementing technology and design thinking into the classroom. I also love art, Lego, making and creating resources and I endeavour to make learning hands-on and exciting for my students.

Based at Waiuku College, I teach Media Studies and English and am also the GATE Coordinator. Prior
to Waiuku, I taught at Putaruru, Waiora and Fairlie: these were all Year 7-13 schools and gave a
degree of insight into transition into college.
Last year I completed Mindlab Postgraduate Certificate in Digital Leadership and Collaborative
Learning. To complement my BA and Grad Diploma teaching (Secondary), I have also done a Massey
University short course on Twice Exceptional learners.
Being in a Within School Kāhui Ako member is exciting and I count it a privilege to work with other
schools who share the goal of improving the learning, success and wellbeing of our students.

My pedagogy for the 21st Century is how we teach must reflect how our students learn as well as reflecting the world that they will emerge into. As this is a world that is rapidly evolving, changing, connecting and adapting, so too must our pedagogy to meet these needs. I have been involved in the Education profession in the Counties/Manukau area for 31 years. I have experience working with students across Year 0 to Year 8 level in the capacity of a classroom teacher (1991-2006) and through to Year 11 as a Supplementary Learning Support Teacher (2006-2012). From 2013-2014, I worked as a Resource Teacher of Learning and Behaviour based at Pukekohe Intermediate – Cluster 13. Since 2015, I have been employed at Awhitu District School as Deputy Principal/SENCO/Classroom Teacher. I enjoy working with children and supporting them to achieve their potential. I have a special interest in working with students with Specific Learning Needs. I have engaged in further learning to enhance my knowledge in this area and gained a Graduate Diploma in Special Teaching Needs in 2007 (University of Auckland) and Postgraduate Diploma in Learning and Behaviour in 2014 (Massey University). Prior to this study I gained a Diploma of Teaching – Auckland College of Education (1990) and a Bachelor of Arts (1996). Teaching is a passion of mine and I feel humbled and honoured to be a part of the Waiuku Kāhui Ako in my current role as Within School Teacher for Awhitu District School.

I am currently the Deputy Principal at Glenbrook School and teach across all levels. I consider it a privilege to be working as part of the Waiuku Kāhui Ako Within School Teacher Team. I am a passionate teacher and educational leader who is excited about seeing students realise their potential. I believe that through effective collaboration across our Kāhui Ako we can improve the educational experience and outcome for all our students.

Kia ora. My name is Jodi Hermond and I am the Within School Teacher for Pukeoware School. I have a wide variety of experience as I have worked as a teacher aide, teacher and now, a deputy principal. My strengths are literacy, numeracy, and eLearning. I am passionate about fostering the needs of every learner to ensure their individual learning needs are met, in an environment of inclusiveness where they can take ownership of being the best they can be.

Kia Ora, my name is Kay Kendall. I am proudly born and raised in Waiuku, and have since raised my own five children here. Problem solving is my passion and kids are my craze. They’re fun, cheeky and mischievous making me laugh often in my current job as SENCO and DP at View Road School. My heartfelt belief is that happy children learn with automaticity. My job in facilitating that happiness is a total pleasure and I am grateful for it. I love playing word games, sudoku, hockey, reading, and music among other things.

Kia ora kouto katoa, I’m Kristine Jones and I am the Hub Four Team Leader and class teacher of an awesome year seven and eight class at Waiuku Primary School. I am originally from Dunedin but have called Auckland my home for the last twenty five years. I have a passion for teaching in project based learning that provides motivation and authenticity to intermediate aged learners. I look forward to working with the Waiuku Kāhui Ako Team and in particular, implementing ways in which all students have equal opportunities to learn, across our cluster.

My name is Lauren McKinlay. I am a year 7&8 teacher at Waiuku Primary School. I am also the Sports Coordinator. As an educator I believe in inspiring and motivating students to learn through purposeful and relevant learning experiences, that will enable them to apply skills and knowledge learnt beyond the classroom. My aim is to get students to excel beyond their own expectations, by creating a supportive and trusting learning environment that provides students with the tools they need to be engaging lifelong learners of society. I believe in catering for all students and
celebrating the differences that each student can bring to create a safe and unique classroom culture.

I’m Tineke Dippenaar and I currently teach within Ohurua our innovative learning space for year
7 and 8 students at Sandspit Road School. I am passionate about ensuring that all ākonga have
the opportunity to engage in a range of learning experiences within and beyond Waiuku.

Kia ora. Hello. Nihao. Talofa lava. Namaste. Konichiwa. Annyeonghaseyo. Apart from being one of the Within School Teachers, I am also the HoF of Languages and Dean of International Students at the college. My teaching career started in Singapore in 2002, as a teacher of GCE O-Level English. I also spent 2 years teaching English in Shanghai at an international school. Since my move to New Zealand, my passion for teaching English to speakers of other languages has grown a lot stronger. This passion and desire to enhance my competency in this specialist area motivated me to pursue further studies – completed the GradDip in TESSOL at the University of Auckland. My current new-found passion is in teaching the Chinese language. Indubitably, my strengths and interests are all related to the fact that I love CULTURE!