Kidz Corner has a fabulous staff of 11 – our teaching team of Gillian, Helen, Sue, Felipa, Debbie, Tessa, Jo, John, Paul and our Office Administrator Claire.
Kidz Corner is very fortunate to have a fully qualified teaching team. Our very low staff turnover contributes to our ability to offer high quality early childhood education to our community.
Here's a little information about each of our team members:
Kia ora, Ko Sue ahau.
I love working at Kidz Corner, especially with the under twos. I have a BEd Degree Teaching (ECE) and a Diploma in Art and Creativity. I have a husband, two daughters and a son.
What is fabulous? Learning, playing and exploring with the children outside in the sun.
My most amazing discovery - How much I love to draw and paint and I encourage the children to do the same.
If I had a bucket of play dough ... I would show the children how to roll it into balls and roll the balls across the table.
What is fabulous? Surfing and my dolphin style laugh.
My most amazing discovery - The ocean, which is my happy place.
If I had a bucket of play dough I'd ... Make snails.
Miramar is my second home as I grew up in Miramar, my parents live in Miramar and I work in Miramar! I live in Karori with my lovely husband Chris and my cat and lone gold fish.
I am a fully registered kaiako/teacher with a graduate diploma in early childhood education and have a Bachelor of Communications Degree.
I enjoy creative activities and love to discover and learn new things with children, supporting them to see out their wonderful ideas.
I feel that learning is continuous, vast and valuable. Tamariki can teach us as much as we can’t teach them, we can learn together (Ako).
I love being part of the Kidz Corner team, there is a great vibe!
What is fabulous? Bright colours, glitter, rainbows, kindness, feeling truly grateful and happy.
My most amazing discovery - there are many amazing things to discover! One thing in recent years is that I found the confidence to play the ukulele at a workshop that team and I went to. It was a great personal achievement.
If I had a bucket of play dough I'd ... ponder what to do – there are so many possibilities. Make cupcakes, unicorns, animals. I made a train play dough cake once for a tamaiti/child (and a unicorn one for another, now that I think about it ha-ha!)
My name is Tessa Mitchell, I initially trained as a primary school teacher but an opportunity to be an early childhood teacher came up in 2015. I took the opportunity and have been working as an early childhood teacher ever since! I continued my study and did a one year post graduate diploma of early childhood study in 2019.
I started working with pre-schoolers and then worked with toddlers. It has been great getting to work with the different age groups. I have learnt lots and have gained valuable experience.
I live in Mapula with my partner and our cheeky lovable cat Salem. I am one of four girls and am the twin sister of Debbie. I love art and creativity. I love working in a team.
What is fabulous? When something is exciting and creative and people working together to do/make fabulous things.
My most amazing discovery - finding out about The Learning Connexion Art School and studying there. Getting into early childhood teaching.
If I had a bucket of play dough I'd ... play with it all day, make lots of things and take a photo of what I had made at the end.
I am the Office Administrator at Kidz Corner and started in the role in March 2012. I moved from London to Wellington in 1998 with my Kiwi husband Andrew and we now have two children, Oliver and Ada.
What is fabulous? A walk with my dog on a fresh sunny morning. Sharing a leisurely meal with family and friends.
My most amazing discovery - My children are continually amazing me.
If I had a bucket of play dough I'd ... enjoy a relaxing session of squidging, kneading and rolling the play dough.