Lisa completed  her training at Christchurch Teachers College where she spent 12 years before moving into a technology facilitation role with Time Education Consultancy. She then stepped into school leadership as Deputy Principal at Linwood North Primary School.

For the past 13 years, Lisa has been immersed in innovative educational design. As Foundation Deputy Principal at Hobsonville Point Primary School in Auckland, she helped build a school from the ground up and contributed as a member of the Hobsonville Point Schools Board of Trustees. During this time, she also worked in teacher training as an Education Lecturer with AUT.

Lisa holds a Counselling Certificate and an English Language Certificate, and recently completed her Post Graduate Diploma in Digital and Collaborative Learning through MindLab.

Lisa believes that true confidence comes from children understanding their unique value, experiencing academic success, and building self efficacy, not despite their wellbeing, but because of it.

I view my role as an educator as someone who will provide an authentic, relevant learning environment and culture that is responsive to the voice and needs of the learner. I want learners to own their learning journey; to become capable, confident, and self-directed so that they can reach their potential and develop their passions.

I enjoy working alongside the learners to provide an education that meets their individual needs and supports them to grow and thrive. I believe it is the job of school leadership to support the children, their whānau, and their teachers to create a space where each child feels valued and supported.

I believe it is critical to identify individuals' strengths and passions to help them thrive in an educational setting. I am passionate about play-based learning and hope that by fostering a well-being and play-focused learning environment, I will be able to give students a genuine sense of belonging and ownership, as well as a sense of safety and happiness. Experience has taught me that significant effort is needed to develop positive and meaningful relationships with children; it results in significant positive shifts in their learning.

I am excited to be working with the AGE team that shares my beliefs and passion for guiding learners to realise their potential.

The biggest learner in the classroom…is ME!!  I am passionate about reimagining education and helping young people become the best versions of themselves: surfacing their unique strengths, sparking passions and nurturing curiosity. 

My personal values include wellbeing (encompassing joy, gratitude and connection) and growth (learning, courage and challenge).  These underlie my passion for designing innovative, inclusive learning experiences that honour and empower students to become agents of their own learning; encouraging them to question, take risks, think critically and creatively, and embrace failure as an important part of learning.

‘How boring would this world be if we were all the same?'

I want to see our ākonga learn about their differences, have the tools they require for expressing their unique experiences and perspectives, and for understanding the perspective of others; to be capable of positively shaping the world they encounter, and being shaped positively by it.

I am most interested in the work of quantity, pattern, and structure - what mathematics is built of - but find every aspect of learning and knowledge to be beneficial. I am excited for our learners to discover wider ways of seeing and doing so that they can discover who they are for themselves and make their own path forward.

I am passionate about creating inclusive learning environments where ākonga feel safe, listened to, and confident to be themselves. Student voice sits at the centre of my teaching; I believe learning is most meaningful when young people’s perspectives, interests, and experiences help shape what and how they learn. I support students to develop strong literacy skills, critical thinking, and a sense of agency in their learning.

As an English and Psychology specialist, I also teach Media and Social Studies, and enjoy working across subjects to help learners make meaningful connections. I am particularly drawn to project-based learning, where students are encouraged to follow their passions and interests while building academic skills. With a Master's in Educational and Developmental Psychology, I take a strengths-based, neurodiversity-affirming approach and place wellbeing alongside academic progress, knowing that learning happens best when students feel safe and supported.

Learning is fun. Everything we do, whether it's playing video games, playing sports or watching a favourite show, we are learning; how to do better, mastering new skills or seeing how characters change and develop, every activity we enjoy involves us learning more about it. It makes me sad that sometimes the education system makes children think that learning in school is different. School should be the most amazing time we ever experience. 

I have a masters degree in inclusive education from Nottingham University in the UK, and I have taught in schools around the world. I have taught classes from newborns through to 18 year olds and at every stage, everywhere in the world,  I have consistently found that children learn best when they are happy and feel safe. The foundation of everything I do as a learning coach is to encourage the children to feel safe and protected, whilst also supporting them to take risks and delve deeply into their passions. Learning is amazing, when you feel safe enough to take big risks.

With over 30 years of teaching experience, I believe I have a lot to offer and a lot to learn in this wonderful environment and community. I thrive on building children's confidence and bringing out the best in each individual while encouraging and weaving positivity and compassion through all learning. We know that children learn and cope best when they feel loved, safe, heard, engaged, and inspired, and taking ownership of their own learning builds independent work habits and lifelong skills.

Growing and fostering relationships aligns naturally with my teaching style, and authentic, open relationships with families are of huge importance to me when seeking to better understand a child's uniqueness and strengths. Let the journey begin!

As an experienced educator, I know in order to meet a child’s social, emotional and learning needs, they need to feel happy and secure in their learning environment. I want children to be able to develop their self confidence, individuality and foster both a curiosity for learning and the world around them.

I endeavour to provide a creative and personalised learning experience for every child to help them grow as young learners, thinkers and individuals.

One of the joys of working with students is discovering their individual uniqueness and how 'who they are’ shapes their learning journey towards adulthood. I am convinced that best learning outcomes are achieved when the school and parents work in close partnership to support students, and I value the contributions of significant others in decisions that are made about student learning.

My experience over the past 30 years has taught me that all students can learn, so I consider it a privilege to be able to work alongside other caring, passionate educators at AGE School, as we support our students to experience success in Literacy Learning, using researched, evidence-based practises.

Bula vinaka.

I am excited to be living in a time of great abundance and resources. When I was at university the internet hadn't been invented yet, so I am thrilled by all the amazing opportunities and limitless possibilities we have in this day and age.

I am a mother of seven children and 3 of my sons are Autistic, so I totally celebrate the individuality and uniqueness of each child. I am also very excited to work with and learn from the brilliant team at Age.

Hello! My passion in life is children and I’ve spent the last 30 years as a full-time nanny for various families on the North Shore, working alongside the parents in nurturing and caring for their needs.

I love watching the children grow and flourish to adulthood and my role at age is to support learners and learning coaches and most importantly filling their tummies with delicious, healthy lunches in the Nourish2Flourish programme.