Cindy Walsh
Areas of leadership: School Vision and Strategic Direction
Cindy is an experienced school principal. She is passionate about leading Freemans Bay School to engage, empower and enrich students’ learning to prepare them for their journey into the twenty-first century. Through her leadership the school is well placed to deliver quality education outcomes for learners at Freemans Bay School.
Helen Armstrong
Areas of leadership: Professional Learning, Staffing, Partnerships, Literacy
Helen is an experienced leader. She has previously been Deputy Principal, SENCO and Literacy Leader at Oranga School, and prior to that, was a Team Leader, Literacy Leader and acting Deputy Principal at Kohimarama school. She has experience teaching at all levels, from Year 0 – Year 8. She holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Literacy Education (with Distinction), a SPELD certificate, and has recently completed her Master of Education. Helen’s passion is in empowering students to make a positive difference in our world, and developing confident, resilient life-long learners. Helen is a mother to three children, and in her spare time, she loves to garden, read, knit and camp and explore beautiful remote parts of New Zealand with her husband.
Sinead Heckett
Areas of leadership: Learning Support (SENCO), Digital Technology and eLearning, Staffing (Learning Assistants and ESOL), Partnerships, Internationals Students, Health & Safety
Sinead has been teaching in New Zealand for over 10 years. She was the Deputy Principal at Red Beach where she led Maths and Science, Community Engagement and Wellbeing. She is passionate about empowering students to be the best learners that they can be. Sinead thrives on future-focused learning and supporting teachers in being innovative. Sinead has three teenage children and lives on a farm with sheep, goats and a funny dog called Taffy ! She enjoys travel and culture and is excited to be part of such a welcoming and diverse community.
Loren Wihone
Ko Panguru ko Papata ko te rākau tūpatapata i tū ki te Hauāuru
Ko Ruarei Ko Raparapa ngā uri i Wharewhare ki te rangi
Tū te rā, Tū te pō
Tīhei Mauri Ora!
Nō ngā pito maha tēnei o Te Rarawa, Ngāti Kuri, Tūwharetoa, Tainui e mihi ana.
Tata iwa tau kua tū au hei kaiako ki rō ngā kura tuatahi o te rūmaki, kura kaupapa, anō hoki te whakahaere i te reo me ōna tikanga ki rō ngā kura auraki.
Ko taku taha māmā e poipoi ana i ēnei tamariki, heoi, ko taku taha auaha, taha mōhio ki te ao matihiko, taha mātau ki te ao tūroa, taha mārama ki ngā mahi o te rēhia e whakaputa ana ngā hua mā ēnei iti kia tupu.
I runga i te karanga o ngā whānau, nōku te whiwhi hei kaihautū mā rātou, te rūmaki reo o whānau Ata ki Waiatarau.
Ko te hā o kui te hoe o tēnei waka, kia rere, kia Māori te reo ki rō ngā uri whakaheke. Tau ana!
Laura Alpe
Ko Titirangi te maunga e rū nei taku ngākau.
Ko Manukau te moana e mahea nei aku māharahara
Ko Te Wao Nui a Tiriwa te ngahere e poipoi nei i aku wawatā
Nō Aerani, nō Kōtirangi, nō Ingarangi, nō ngā moutere o Shetland hoki oku tūpuna.
Ko Laura Alpe tōku ingoa, tēnā koutou katoa.
A passion for Te Reo Māori and its revitalisation led me down a teaching pathway in 2011, and I’ve spent the last 8+ years teaching across Tāmaki Makaurau in a diverse range of kura, including kura kaupapa Māori, and bilingual and immersion Māori units within English medium schools. Visual arts, te reo Māori oral language development, literacy, mindfulness and emotional regulation are my strengths and interests in the classroom.
Hauora – wellness is a passion of mine, and I took a break from teaching in 2018 to study wellness massage therapy and yoga. This break allowed me to refresh my energy and passion for teaching, and I also started a part-time wellness business. I have found a lovely balance between my part-time teaching work and running a business part-time , where each helps to compliment the other so that I can be fully present and thriving in my mahi (work).
Jill Raines
Tēnā koutou katoa. Ko Jill tōku ingoa. Nō Kōtirangi, nō Ahitereria hoki ōku tūpuna. Kei te noho au kei Bayswater.I have been teaching for many years in junior school classes. Previous to coming to teach in Whanau Ata I was a reception room teacher, having done this for the last 3 years. I am passionate about play based learning and hauora. A real strength of mine is having excellent communication skills which enables me to build strong relationships with children and their whānau. I am particularly eager to continue my Te Reo Māori learning journey after stepping into my current position at Freemans Bay School in the Rumaki Reo and feel it is a great privilege to be working here.
My most important job is being a mum to my four children, I have three sons and a daughter. My youngest is in her last year of study at Canterbury university.
In my leisure time I enjoy many sports, particularly water activities and beach walks.
I also enjoy my gardening.
Wiremu Stevenson
Caroline Cels
Areas of leadership: Whānau Rau – Co-Team Leader
Over the last 20+ years, Caroline has had a diverse educational career having worked in both rural and urban schools in Taupo, Auckland, Napier, Northland and Waiheke Island. She has taught across all year levels and has developed a passion for supporting younger tamariki to thrive in their early schooling years. Her previous school was a shared space school and she strongly believes in the positive impact collaboration has on accelerating student learning. Caroline strives to ensure every child feels safe and valued through meaningful relationships. She loves to support each child to develop their own positive learning story. Poipoia te kākano, I puāwai – nuture the seed and it will blossom.
She is fortunate to have a very supportive family, and they all enjoy reading, sailing and other outdoor adventures.
Jo Watson
Areas of leadership: Whānau Rau Co-Team Leader, Visual Art Leader and BOT Staff Representative
Jo is an experienced teacher who has worked in many levels. She is currently a team leader as well as a classroom teacher in the Year 1 and 2 area. Jo is passionate about children’s learning and strives to help them experience success while also having fun. Jo is the teacher in charge of Art. She plans the annual Freemans Bay School art exhibition which takes place in Term 3. Jo is also the staff representative on the Board of Trustees.
Maryam Dadabhai
Maryam is an experienced primary school teacher and has a passion for providing positive learning experiences for all children. She values the importance of relationships between whanau and the community. With her additional studies in Special Education she focuses on inclusion for all and strives to continue learning about new skills and strategies. Her ongoing community work has helped make connections with the various organisations in Auckland and their families. Coming from a diverse background, she values culture, language and experiences of all in the classroom.
Shital D’Rozario
Shital was a teacher in India for 11 years before she moved to New Zealand 4 years ago. She is a fluent speaker of Hindi and Marathi. Shital completed the Teacher Refresher Course in NZ and was a relief teacher in a number of Early Learning Centers and Primary Schools before she started teaching at our school. The inquisitiveness in children motivates her and keeps her passionate about teaching.
Bonnie Holmes
Bonnie graduated with her Bachelor of Education (Primary) in 2016. Since then she has spent time volunteering in different countries overseas and working with youth in South Auckland. She is passionate about children enjoying learning and finding their place in the world. Bonnie brings her energy and enthusiasm into our classrooms.
Kay Stables
Catherine Minogue
Catherine has a passion for “mindfulness” and how to encourage our learners to strive to achieve their best through persistence and self belief. She brings with her a wealth of experience and knowledge in meeting the diverse needs of our learners.
MinYoung Song
MinYoung has been teaching various subjects and year levels for many years. She has a Bachelor’s Degree and a teaching certificate from overseas and gained a Postgraduate Diploma, a Graduate Diploma and a teaching certificate in New Zealand. Her passion is helping children to reach their highest potential. She focuses on their social and emotional development as well as literacy and numeracy. She treasures building strong relationships with students, and whãnau to create a sound learning environment. In this way, she believes that children can prosper and flourish. MinYoung enjoys music, sports, reading, hiking and flower arrangements.
Helen Stewart
Helen has a Post Grad in Primary Teaching and a Bachelors’s in Visual Arts. She encourages ākonga to be critical thinkers, persistent, and to embrace a growth mindset. Helen supports safe, creative, diverse classrooms that celebrate ākonga as individuals in a collaborative collective setting.
Hannah Telford
Hannah has a Post Graduate Diploma in Primary Teaching from Victoria University of Wellington and a Bachelors Degree with Honours in English Studies. She is a passionate educator who believes every child can succeed in education. Hannah is excited to provide a learning environment where differences are celebrated and tamariki can freely express themselves; where they are inspired and motivated to become lifelong learners. Outside of classroom life, Hannah enjoys being active, spending time with friends and most of all enjoying what each day has to offer alongside her two young daughters.
Larissa Goebel
Areas of leadership:- ASL Te Kāhui Ako o Waitematā – Collaborative Pedagogies
Larissa has a Bachelor of Education, and a Postgraduate Certificate in Applied Practice, Digital Leadership and Collaborative Learning. Her strengths include literacy, digital technologies, developing student agency, working with gifted and talented students and collaboration.
She has a passion to strengthen home-school partnerships by creating a positive atmosphere for parents and teachers to work together to enhance the learning and development of all children.
Larissa enjoys cycling, puzzles, spending time with family and exploring new places.
Emma Alexander
Emma has a Bachelor of Education (Primary Specialist) from The University of Auckland. During her studies she looked in how to cater towards a diverse range of ethnicities, culture and exploring the strong concept of involvement of communities. This was through developing her knowledge of the Pasifika Curriculum (Tapasā), Pasifika learners, Māori Language and Learners, and the pedagogy for Raising Student Achievement. Emma emphasis’ on creating inclusive, collaborative and stimulating learning environments in all students’ educational journeys where the learning is created by knowing the learner and they style that best helps them to shine. Outside of school Emma enjoys getting outdoors, playing the guitar, music, and spending time with family and friends.
Genevieve (Gen) Clements
Areas of Leadership – (Enviro Schools Leader)
Creating relationships with true purpose, care and understanding is a key way in which Genevieve teaches and interacts with her School community. She has been in Education for over 15 years from in the classroom, to working closely with diverse learners through to varying leadership roles. Genevieve instils a love of learning, is passionate about pastoral care and brings a sense of fun and humour with her daily. She knows Freemans Bay School is a pretty special place and she is thrilled to be here. Outside teaching she enjoys gardening, keeping active, cooking, reading, being on Waiheke and she loves her dog, friends and family.
Se Yeon Han
Se Yeon graduated with her Bachelor of Education from the University of Auckland. Previously, she taught keyboard and theory classes at a children’s music centre to share her love for music. Se Yeon believes in the importance of helping children develop confidence in themselves as learners and to build a positive self-esteem. Se Yeon is dedicated to helping children flourish with the strengths that they have and support them in becoming lifelong learners. Outside of teaching, Se Yeon enjoys playing the piano, doing arts & craft, and spending time with her family.
Chander Kumar
Chander is an experienced teacher. She is passionate about literacy and brings a wealth of experience in this area to her students. Chander provides support to our library programme as well.
Ching Liu
Ching’s greatest strength is her love for learning and dedication towards helping young minds discover the same. She actively seeks to motivate students to be brave and curious in discovering their passions. Ching has a Graduate Diploma in Teaching from the University of Auckland and a Postgraduate Certificate from the University of Nottingham in the U.K. She is multilingual and experienced in working with students from different cultural backgrounds.
Caitlin O’Brien
Area of Leadership: Cultural Competency
Caitlin has a Bachelor of Education and a specialty in Steiner Education. Her strengths include literacy, outdoor education and student wellbeing. Caitlin is passionate about educating the whole child and bringing their social and emotional development into their learning journey as well as celebrating cultural identity. She thoroughly enjoys building strong relationships with students, whānau and the wider community based on trust, respect and kindness. Creating an inclusive learning environment where every child feels a sense of belonging is at the heart of Caitlin’s practice. In her spare time Caitlin enjoys being in the ocean, cooking and spending time with her whānau.
Lisa Imm
Areas of Leadership – Whānau Wai Team Leader / WSL Wellbeing
Lisa is an experienced teacher who understands and caters for the diverse learning needs of all her children. She has a BA /Graduate Diploma in Education and a Postgraduate degree in Digital and Collaborative Learning. In her classroom, Lisa engages her students in the inquiry process and incorporates digital technologies in her teaching. Her strength is in teaching literacy, and she enjoys working collaboratively in an ILE. She is passionate about motivating children to become empowered, self-directed, life-long learners.
Shelley Duncan
Areas of leadership: Digital Technology Specialist Teacher, Digital Technology and eLearning Leader
Shelley is skilled in the area of Digital Technologies and elearning and loves to share these skills with her students across the school. Shelley co-leads the school in this area and supports staff and students with their learning. She also enjoys outdoor education and loves to stretch her students with their thinking.
Tia Ernst
Area of Leadership: Peer Mediation
Tia is an elementary teacher from Ontario, Canada. She graduated with a Bachelor of Education and Bachelor of Arts in 2019. Tia instils a safe, inclusive, equitable and engaging learning environment. Her dream has always been to travel and teach abroad. She is thrilled to be teaching at Freemans Bay School! Outside of teaching, Tia enjoys hiking, gardening, and camping.
Annette Hollis
Areas of leadership: PE and Health Co-Leader, Te kāhui-ako o Waitematā Within School Co-Leader for wellbeing
Annette has been teaching since 2008. During this time she has taught both in New Zealand and in North Carolina, USA, where she was based for three years. Outside of school Annette plays hockey at a representative level. She is passionate about travel and likes to bring a broad worldview to the students that she teaches across the school.
Daniel Merrill
With nearing 20 years teaching experience, Daniel is now in his 4th year here at Freemans Bay, enriching the Year 5 & 6 students with his skills and knowledge. He believes that engaging with students individually, and creating a safe and caring relationship is essential to learning. Daniel strives to empower his students to be resilient, self-managing and respectful life-long learners. Outside of school Daniel appreciates the simple pleasures of walking, music, cooking and napping on the couch while reading a book.
Rebecca (Becs) Swift
Prior to traveling to Europe and living and teaching in London for four years, Becs taught for 6 years in schools around Auckland where she completed training in Reading Recovery and spent time as a specialist music teacher. On her return from London, Becs joined FBS where enjoys teaching children from a variety of different cultures and strives to build resilience and empathy in all her students.
Shelley Duncan
Areas of leadership: Digital Technology Specialist Teacher, Digital Technology and eLearning Leader
Shelley is skilled in the area of Digital Technologies and elearning and loves to share these skills with her students across the school. Shelley co-leads the school in this area and supports staff and students with their learning. She also enjoys outdoor education and loves to stretch her students with their thinking.
Claire Holmes
Claire studied music at the University of Auckland and has been working as a specialist teacher at Intermediate School level for the past ten years. She is looking forward to engaging the students at Freemans Bay School in music and developing each child’s unique talents and abilities.
Marcela Cameron
Marcela has a Graduate Diploma in Teaching and a degree majoring in Health Promotion. She has been a classroom teacher for 8 years and has held units in Health and PE, and Student Leadership. Marcela is passionate about teaching in a multicultural environment. She likes to empower her students to take charge of their learning and to step up into leadership roles whenever possible. Marcela is looking forward to teaching Health and Physical Education at Freemans Bay School and sharing her love for movement and wellbeing.
Richard Naidu
Richard has a bachelor’s degree in English and Media Studies, a Graduate Diploma in Teaching, and a Master of Management from the University of Auckland. He has held various teaching roles, including full time teaching, short term contracts and relief teaching within various levels at primary school. He is very passionate about and excited to be teaching STEM.
Trina Saxon
Trina is an experienced, innovative, creative teacher who has worked both in New Zealand and Cambodia. She has a Bachelor of Teaching and Learning and has vast experience in creating and working in ‘play-based’ learning environments.
Trina has taught extensively in both Kindergarten and New Entrant settings. Her strength is creating spaces and environments that are safe, inclusive, nurturing for all tamariki and whānau.
Teaching in international settings has accentuated her unwavering belief that all children are individual learners who deserve learning experiences that are adapted to offer support and extension at differentiated levels to reach their full potential.
Adele Croucher
Adele has worked different roles in various multicultural settings where children have always been the stars of the show. She is passionate about music and dance and loves to see students thrive and express themselves in creative ways. Adele has a vested interest in how technology can be used to enhance the children’s learning, how they can use it share their work and start to make an impact on their community.
Susan Maddren
Susan has taught all year levels both in New Zealand and the UK, but most of her experience is with the juniors. Susan loves being a part of the rich diversity here at Freemans Bay School. She gets great enjoyment out of the successes the children make in their learning, and finds it really rewarding watching the ESOL students’ language develop as they become bilingual learners.
Lucy McAlpine
Lucy is teaching part-time, releasing for Team Leader Larissa Goebel, two to three days a week, in Whanau Puna
Emilia Magana
Poulami Bhandari
Poulami is a part of the learning support team. She works with small groups and individual children on specific programmes developed to support their needs.
Waseem Kousar
Waseem is a part of the learning support team. She works with small groups and individual children on specific programmes developed to support their needs. Waseem is currently studying Education at Auckland University.
Revathi Muthiah
Revathi is a Learning Assistant and has a Bachelors Degree in Biotechnology. She has had over 4 years experience working in preschools overseas and has undergone training in Montessori methodologies, applying these philosophies when working with our children. She is passionate about working with young children, their energy and enthusiasm is what motivates her. She loves to sing, crochet and cook and is so glad to be a part of Freemans Bay School.
Annie Sharrow
Annie is a part of the learning support team. She works with small groups and individual children on specific programmes developed to support their needs.
Laura Tucker
Laura is a part of the learning support team. She works with small groups and individual children in Rau Tahi on specific programmes developed to support their needs.
Neelam Upadhyay
Neelam is a part of the learning support team. She works with small groups and individual children on specific programmes developed to support their needs. She was a teacher in India before moving to New Zealand. She has a Bachelor in Economics and a Masters in Political science. She also has a Diploma in computer application.
Priyanka Mathur
Priyanka is our new ICT Assistant. She has a post graduate in Master of Cost Control & Accountancy and loves to play with numbers and maths. Priyanka is also passionate about dancing.
Sharon Yap
Sharon is part of the learning support team in Whānau Wai . She is also a fluent mandarin speaker and can be relied on to translate information to children and parents when needed.
Mike Knight
Mike has been the caretaker of the school for over 30 years. He works tirelessly to make sure that the school grounds are kept clean and safe. Mike can be seen every morning and afternoon on the school crossing ensuring that the children of Freemans Bay are kept safe on the roads.
