Junior Team
Michele Dakers (BEd, DipTchg) - Junior Team Leader - Kindle 1
Email contact: micdak@georgestreet.school.nz
Michele offers a really warm and friendly welcome to our newest students. She is highly experienced and is passionate about ensuring our youngest children get a good start to their learning. She enjoys getting to know children and their families and introducing them to school life. Michele has a special interest and strength in teaching literacy and numeracy. She enjoys singing and music and is working on improving her guitar skills. Michele likes to teach science and PE and is a learner of te re Māori. She is currently investigating aspects of the Learning Through Play teaching and learning approach.
Sandra Gordon (BSc, Dip Tching, Grad Dip Ap Theo, PGDip Theo) - Kindle 1
Sandra is relatively new to 'The Mainland', after shifting here in mid 2019. She is an experienced Junior School teacher having taught in Auckland, Hamilton and Wellington. Sandra has done 5 years as a Reading Recovery Teacher and is passionate about ensuring children get the best possible start to their school journey. Recent areas of professional study include Play Based Learning, Student Agency and Te Reo Maori. Sandra releases Michele (our Junior Team Leader) each Wednesday.
Natalie McCulley (BEd, Dip Tchg) - Kindle 2
Email contact: natalieb@georgestreet.school.nz
Natalie greets children every morning with a friendly smile. She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience of how children learn in their early years. Natalie loves teaching New Entrant children as she feels it is a very special experience being a child's first teacher and supporting them in their learning journey. Natalie has a strong interest in Literacy, Visual Art, and the Learning Through Play philosophy and brings her research of this into her daily classroom programme.
Kate Chhin - Room 3 (BMus (Hons), Grad Dip Tchg (primary)
Email contact: kate@georgestreet.school.nz
Kate has many years of experience as a junior teacher and loves creating a warm and inclusive classroom environment, where all children feel valued and enjoy coming to school each day. She has strengths in early literacy and numeracy and loves integrating the arts, particularly music and waiata, into classroom programmes. Kate values building positive relationships with the students in her class, as well as whānau
Grace Dore (BTchg) - Room 4
Email contact: grace@georgestreet.school.nz
Grace is passionate about developing relationships with her children and believes this is at the heart of teaching. She endeavours to create a warm and welcoming classroom environment where everyone can learn and grow together. Grace loves teaching literacy and enjoys collaborative teaching. She particularly enjoys welcoming ESOL students into her class.
Bronwyn Macgregor (BA, DipTchg, Dip Sec Tchg, ATCL) - Room 7
Email contact: bronwyn@georgestreet.school.nz
Bronwyn believes in creating a warm, friendly and welcoming environment at school so that all children feel happy, safe and ready to learn. She values parents partnering with her to support their children's learning. Bronwyn is an experienced Junior teacher and has strengths in literacy and numeracy and special interests in music and art. She enjoys playing the piano and guitar and singing with the children. Bronwyn believes in the importance of learning Te Reo Māori and uses it everyday in her class. She is beginning to research the Learning Through Play philosophy and how it can benefit children's learning.
Leslie Hanson BA (Hons), BEd - Room 8
Email contact: leslie@georgestreet.school.nz
Leslie is an experienced junior teacher with many years working overseas in Australia and Canada. She values building relationships with not only students, but all school staff and the wider school community. She enjoys collaborative teaching as well as teaching literacy and PE. Leslie shares rm 4 with Nichola Ferguson and teaches on Mondays, Tuesdays and alternating Fridays.
Nichola Ferguson - Room 8
Email contact: nichola@georgestreet.school.nz
Nichola puts lots of energy into creating positive relationships with her children. She encourages, challenges and supports children to work at their own level. Her classroom is a print rich environment, and is filled with different learning centres and displays of children's work. Nichola has a passion for teaching and loves seeing children grow and achieve as learners. She shares room 4 with Sarah McKenzie and teaches on Wednesdays, Thursdays and alternate Fridays.
Catherine Smith (BA Hons, PhD, Grad Dip Ed) - Room 9
Email contact: catherine@georgestreet.school.nz
Catherine enjoys getting to know all the children in her class as individuals and creates a happy, supportive environment for learning. She has strengths in teaching literacy and provides hands-on, engaging learning experiences. Catherine loves learning and her latest course has been Te Teo Māori through Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.
Michelle Whelan - Teaching Assistant
Michelle is a qualified English Learner Assistant. She loves working with our younger and older children, and has a particular passion for mathematics. Michelle has a bubbly personality and the children enjoy working with her.
Aki Poor - Teaching Assistant
Aki is a fabulous teaching assistant working in both our Junior and Middle Teams. Aki loves working with our children and has a real strength in building positive relationships with them. You will often see Aki out in the playground during break times spending time and playing with our children.
Janna Ewing - Teaching Assistant
Janna works in our Junior Team. Janna has a lovely warm manner with every child she works with. She has expertise in a computer application called Story Maker that is enabling children to gain great success with their reading and writing. She is a great asset to our team!
Marie Hansen - Teaching Assistant
Marie knows where to find any resource in the school and is a great support to teachers in helping to prepare and maintain resources. Marie enjoys working with our youngest learners and seeing them gain skills and confidence.
Elina Hoxha - Teaching Assistant
Elina comes to George Street Normal School bringing a wealth of experiences, originally from the USA, she is particularly interested in the teaching of the English language. Elina is presently working with some of our younger children and enjoys seeing them experience success on a daily basis.