About Us

Vision and Values

To empower your child to learn and grow through their own curiosity and sense of wonder.

Our People

Mayuri

Kia Ora , I’m a qualified and registered early childhood teacher. Since 2007, I have worked in various centers in Hamilton and Morrinsville , gaining valuable skills and knowledge that I can pass on to tamariki. I believe in actively engaging with children, having conversations with them, and providing experiences that leave them curious. While I enjoy all aspects of teaching, I have a particular interest in music, art, messy play, and outdoor activities. I have two amazing children, Kiaan (age 7) and Sofia (age 10), and I love spending as much time as possible with them.

 

I’m very excited to be part of Child’s wonder, to be working with a team of teachers to welcome children and their families into amazing centre and to be part of the team that gets to know your children and provides an amazing programme to further extend their learning and development.

Angel

Hi, my name is Angel and I work in the preschool. I work full time here at Child’s Wonder I have been working here for 4 years now and I absolutely love it.

I come from a big family of eight, 4 sisters and 1 brother and my mum and dad. I have always loved children and wanted to be an early childhood teacher and I look forward to starting my training soon alongside while I work. I have a passion for working with pre-schoolers and building strong respectful relationships.

In my spare time I like to go to the beach with my friends and family. I also like to spend time in Napier where I grew up.

Karen
Kia Ora. I am Karen Neubrandt, mother to two adult children, and “Gogo” to two grandchildren. As a young mum, Maria Montessori’s forward-thinking approach to teaching the whole child resonated with me, and a few years later I gained my Montessori Diploma. After teaching for about two years, I embarked on a delightful five-year journey of home schooling – which I believe has made me more intuitive and creative as an educator, with a special interest in and compassion for neurodiverse learner identities.

After immigrating to Aotearoa, I spent about ten years in corporate before returning to Montessori. I realised there was so much more to learn so I took the deep dive to work towards gaining a Bachelor of Education – ECE Teaching, which is where I became irresistibly drawn to the philosophies of Reggio Emilia, Emmi Pikler and play based learning. So, I decided to be a Reliever for a few years to explore these philosophies in real life.

Working in a variety of ECE settings has certainly helped me appreciate how open-ended play creates a safe space for tamariki to tap into their natural curiosity and creativity – devising and testing their wild hypotheses to make sense of their world.

I am a passionate life-long learner – about myself, and how I can better support tamariki from infancy until they transition to school. I am very interested in how to effectively (calmly) co-regulate and support emotionally dysregulated children back to a state of self-regulation. I feel it all starts with building mana enhancing relationships based on trust, non-judgement, and aroha

I strive to be intentional about hearing the holistic voices of children and then reflect these back to them by modelling positive language/dialogue so that they constantly get feedback on their learning dispositions, their positive learning attitude, and thus embrace their unique learner identity.

It is truly a privilege to be a part of the Child’s Wonder learning community, especially during these precious early years of our tamariki and their whanau.

Cathy

Kia Ora, my name is Cathy, and I am a Teacher in the Nursery room. I gained my bachelor’s degree in 2009 and completed my full teacher registration in 2012. I really enjoy working with children and have had a lot of experience working in preschool/mixed aged settings. I am looking forward to working in the Nursery again. I love to set up experiences for children to explore, gain knowledge/learning and understanding as they get involved.

 

I recently moved to Papamoa (January 2022) to be closer to family and for my children to see their Grandparents. I have two children attending Child’s Wonder, Finlay (almost 5 years old) and Isla (almost 2.5 years in February), my husband is working at Body in Motion as a Hand Therapist. I also have 3 older brothers. In my spare time I enjoy baking, chilling out and spending time with family and friends. I did Ballet as a child and have done an adults Ballet based jazz class for quite a few years, I hope to get back into that soon. Since we are new to the area, we have begun exploring walks, parks, and other fun things the Bay of Plenty has to offer.

Danya

Tenā Koutou,

Kia ora whānau

I gained my Bachelor of Teaching (Early Childhood) back in 2008, and last year I completed a teacher refresher program. My daughter, also attends Child’s Wonder.

I consider myself an advocate for our young tamariki and I whole heartily believe that the Te Ao Māori concept ‘Whanaungatanga’ should guide my practice indefinitely. I endeavor to collaborate, learn alongside you, your wider whānau and tamariki.

Tracy

Kia ora, my name is Tracy and I am privileged to be working in the preschool 4 days a week, Monday to Thursday as the Team leader. I started with Child’s Wonder in 2013. I am a passionate, bubbly, nurturing, energetic person who relishes the interactions with children and families. I find the early years to be such an exciting time in families lives and I enjoy sharing the many trials and triumphs that we experience as teachers and parents each day. On the weekends you’ll most likely find us at the beach or doing a variety of outdoor activities. We love spending time together and making memories as a family. My husband Steve has his own Audio-Visual company called AV Logic and we have two grown daughters, Aimee an Accountant and Summah a Microbiologist.

Sofi

Hi , I’m Sofi  I am a nursery teacher. I’m from Argentina but I’ve been living in NZ since 2016. I’m a friendly person with an eternal young soul and a big smile. Sensitive, affectionate and care-given. My curious mind always leads me to study new things. There is always comething new to learn!

I’ m fully passionate about art. When i’m not drawing , I’m probaly writing soemthing, I usually write short stories for children, and I’m currently illustrating two books that I can’t wait to be published.

Belen

Kia Ora, My name is Belen, I’m a qualified chef and a mum of 3 kids. I found my perfect job cooking in a childcare centre, I’m very passionate about kids nutrition, wholesome, and honest food. Filling our tamariki tummies with goodness is my biggest reward. I’m very excited to be part of Child’s Wonder whānau.

 

Ngā mihi

Dani

Kia ora, my name is Dani and I am a teacher in the Preschool Room. I have an almost 2 year old son Quinn who also attends Child’s Wonder. I have been here for one year now and love our beautiful centre. My little family (husband Johan, Quinn and our golden retriever Loki) moved down to Papamoa 1.5 years ago and think this is a pretty amazing place.

I am a fully qualified primary school teacher by profession. I have taught in primary schools in Auckland, Hamilton and Paeroa. I have since shifted my practice to Early Childhood Learning and enjoy supporting our tamariki with their learning, development and growth.

I love travelling and have travelled a few countries with many more to tick off my list. You will find me hanging with my family and friends on the weekends, walking, gardening, and enjoying our beautiful beaches in Aotea.

 

Eloise

My name is Eloise and I’m the Centre Manager here at Child’s Wonder. I started my experience at Child’s Wonder as a Kaiako in Preschool which gave me a great opportunity to get to know the tamariki and whanau in our lovely centre, before stepping into my current role as Manager.

I am a mum of two teenagers, Brooke and Sydney and live locally in Papamoa Beach. My family and I moved from Auckland 7 years ago to have a change of pace, and a longer slice of paradise to enjoy our water activities which we love. You might see me out and about walking up Papamoa Hills or Mount Maunganui or walking my two dogs. I love being outside exploring our amazing city and community with my family and friends.

I’ve been incredibly lucky to enjoy a diverse group of roles over my career spanning from Account to Marketing, Travel and now Teaching – which is my true passion. I love the spontaneity children possess, their energy and optimism on life, and their innate ability to have fun. It is a great reminder to enjoy the little things in life and keep my cup full!

 

Angelica

My name is Angelica. I am originally from Brazil and I have been living in New Zealand for 19 years. I started working within Early Childhood Education over 5 years ago, working with preschoolers for one year and toddlers for four and a half years.

I am very happy to join the Nursery room at Childs Wonder and support your children in the coming months.

My passions are making connections, messy play, loose parts, arts and crafts, music and dancing. I love supporting children to become confident in themselves and develop their own special gifts.

 

papamoa kindergarten
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