Bec

Lou

Kia ora, I’m Lou. I am a dedicated and passionate teacher, Mum, wife and friend and have had such a fun and for filling journey in my Early Childhood career and personally in my life so far. Teaching and nurturing young children is my passion, and has been from a young age. Growing up I was a little girl who loved her dolls and played with my doll “Lisa” for years and years, taking her everywhere I went!  At the age of 19, I hadn’t lost my passion and interest in children and decided Early Childhood teaching was my calling. I finished my degree and graduated with a Batchelor of Teaching and Learning in Early Childhood Education and Care in 2002 and have never looked back. I begin my teaching career in a Nursery with children 0-2 years of age, which I loved, growing my hands on skills and knowledge as I worked with a fantastic team of like-minded teachers. After a few years I became the head teacher in the nursery, supporting the team to provide the best learning environment we could imagine for our babies. I loved this role but had a calling to learn more about home-based care as I learnt more and more about the importance of connection and secure relationships for our young children. This took me to a position of ‘Visiting Teacher’ in home-based care, mentoring home based educators in their work with children from home. I have never looked back, as quality home-based care is where my heart is.

Billie

Kia ora, I am Billie. First and foremost, I am a learner and then secondly I am an educator to others. I strive to always be learning and growing within myself as a contributor to our society and community and also for my partner and our 5 children. My nature is to never sit still; I strive to discover and develop ways to ensure my life is richer, more authentic and to simply be better and feel better than I did the day before. My mission for my role in education is to share this passion with others and to support them to be the best that they can possibly be. I empower others to drive forward, to question, to develop intrigue and to provoke the ‘norm’.

My teaching career began when I was 21 years old and although I did not know a lot about early childhood education, what I did know is that I wanted to make a positive difference in children’s lives. This passion led me to several leadership roles and ultimately a mentorship role with kaiako across the country, supporting and empowering them through facilitating professional development and implementing professional growth cycles. I strongly believe that my teaching and leadership strategies are driven by the ideology of advocacy and empathy. I believe that as educators, if we can implement and reflect on our teaching practice with the child at the heart of our decision making and interactions, then we are doing the right thing by our babes.

Being an advocate for play-based learning and free movement, not only in my education role, but also as a mother, I recognise that all children learn at their own pace and in their own time. This same belief is held dearly for all the adults in my life as well. Our role is not to ‘teach’, yet to walk alongside them and foster an environment where risk taking, problem solving and intrigue are supported and encouraged.

I feel blessed to be able to share my passion with others and to be in a position where collaboration is celebrated.