“I observed the social situations that occurred and the behaviour management that was in place and found it was not too dissimilar to what was in place when I was at school.”

An experienced approach.

My interest in children and education was ignited as a Mum when my eldest son started Kindergarten and I quickly became involved in the Parent Committee. It was the teachers at this facility who encouraged me to train as a teacher, I probably drove them crazy with my constant questions about curriculum, child development and play-based theories.

I began my degree in Psychology studying extramurally through Massey University and then changed to a Dip. Tchg and B.Ed through Otago University, graduating in 1999. During my training, I developed a high interest in children who were exceptional. There was not a lot of focus on the Gifted & Talented and it was something rarely discussed and even rarer still, actually identified and catered to.

As a classroom teacher, I enjoyed teaching students who challenged the status quo and questioned rules and regulations that they disliked and disobeyed. I spent a great deal of time wondering about the system and the things that seemed to me to be setting children up for failure and not success. I observed the social situations that occurred and the behaviour management that was in place and found it was not too dissimilar to what was in place when I was at school.

This set me to thinking that doing the same things over and over and expecting different results was simply not working for anyone. It began my search for different strategies and approaches. This pathway led me to develop a community collaboration involving 23 local schools and opening enrich@ILT, a one-day school catering exclusively for students identified as gifted & talented.

This is an achievement I am enormously proud of and is a testament to what you can achieve if you have an end goal in mind and refuse to be deterred.