Meet The Leadership Tīma

Owner/Manager

Abby Cheney

Abby is the day-to-day manager, some might say she lives here... She has a huge passion for early childhood education with over 20 years experience. She has owned the centre since August 2020 with her husband Lawrence.

Mātauranga

Gabby Dyet

Gabby is the brains behind our centre! She is passionate about supporting the teachers to grow and develop so that they are able to provide the best care and education to your tamariki!

Kākano Team Leader

Emma Gilmore

Emma leads the team in the Kākano room, these are our smallest tamariki and Emma has loads of experience and a great passion for this age group! You will often see her on the floor with the tamariki playing games and having a laugh!

Mātātupu Team Leader

Holly Macky

Holly leads the team in our middle room, potentially the most dynamic of age groups! She is a busy mum of four who is passionate about providing an environment that supports children to learn and develop at their own pace

Tupu Team Leader

Courtney van der Heyden

Courtney leads the team in our Tupu room. These are the biggest of our tamariki and as a busy mum she is able to handle the busy dynamic of our curious explorers! Courtney is often taking children to visit our centre animals.

Kākano Tīma

This is the team for our Kākano room. We have a mixture of qualified and unqualified teachers, all with a huge amount of experience! They are passionate about providing the best start to childhood that they can!

Emma

Team Leader

Alex

Qualified Kaiako

Sonakshi

Qualified Kaiako

Wendy

Kaiako

Mātātupu Tīma

This is the team for our Mātātupu room. We have a mixture of qualified, unqualified teachers and in training teachers, all with a range of early childhood experience!

Holly

Team Leader

Bonnie

Qualified Kaiako

Charlene

Kaiako in study

Kayla B.

Qualified Kaiako

Kayla T.

Kaiako

Lauren

Qualified Kaiako

Te Manu Ahi

Kaiako in study

Cath

Support Kaiako

Tupu Tīma

This is the team for our Tupu room. We have a mixture of qualified and unqualified teachers, all with a range of early childhood experience!

Courtney

Team Leader

Cris

Qualified Kaiako

Dishika

Qualified Kaiako

Emily

Qualified Kaiako

Jessica

Kaiako

Paige

Kaiako

Suman

Qualified Kaiako

Cath

Support Kaiako

Support Team

Administration

Trina

Trina is the face of the centre. She will be the one welcoming you in the mornings and helping you out with any questions you may have. Trina is a jack of all trades and will sometimes cover the kitchen as needed. She works Mon - Thurs.

Kaiāwhina

Leena

Leena job shares alongside Jasmin as our Kaiāwhina. She works three days a week and is responsible for the background jobs that mean our kaiako can focus on the tamariki. She cooks, does dishes and laundry and keeps the place running!

Qualified Reliever

Maree

Maree has soooo much experience! She has been at the centre for 20 years and is a busy local mum who you will find in either our Mātātupu or Tupu rooms, or maybe you will see her at the gym!

Relief Kaiako

Sarah

Sarah is a mum of three and working towards her Bachelor of Education (ECE) and will be seen around the centre supporting tamariki as and when needed.

When she is not at work you will see her studying or training for her Power Lifting competitions where she holds three NZ records!

Relief Kaiako

Ashlee

Ashlee attends Te Awamutu College and works with us outside of school hours, sometimes after school but mostly in the school holidays. She works in all of the rooms, you will spot her quietly talking with children as she plays alongside them.

Relief Kaiako

Ruby

Ruby is a local who is passionate about learning all that education has to offer. She is the newest member of our team and we are excited to see her learn and grow within our environment