Our People
Lois Chick
MNZM, MEd (Cant), ADipT (NZDE)
Member of NZGSE鈥檚 Board of Directors
Member of NZGSE鈥檚 Advisory Board
Lois is a founder of NZGSE and a highly experienced teacher educator. Lois taught at eight primary and intermediate schools around New Zealand and at special schools in New Zealand and England. Before the establishment of NZGSE in 1996, she worked at a college of education for six years. Lois is widely regarded for her practical approach to classroom teaching, and her expertise in learning support. Lois has held governance roles in special education and been the board chair of two special schools. She is co-author of Training Teachers Properly: a book ready for publication. Lois was appointed as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to education, in the 2020 Queen鈥檚 Birthday Honours. Lois is now heavily involved in the activities of the New Zealand Choral Federation.
Dan Clarkson
BSpC (Cant), GDipT (NZGSE)
Adjunct Tutor
Dan is NZGSE鈥 s Physical Education specialist. After training as a teacher at NZGSE, he began his career at St Teresa鈥檚 School before heading overseas. Dan taught in London for two years. Back in Christchurch, he joined the staff of St Mark鈥檚 school, where he currently teaches. Dan coaches football for the Ferrymead Bays FC.
Glenda Climo
Office Manager
Glenda joined NZGSE staff in 2004 as Administrative Assistant and was promoted to Office Manager in 2008. Her wealth of experience includes administration roles at government departments and schools. She is the fount of commonsense in the Ng膩 Haut奴. Glenda and her husband breed Murray Grey cattle and have been Ambassadors for the Canterbury A&P Association.
Anne Ditcher
BSc(Hons) (Herts), BA(Hons) (Cant), PhD (Bristol), GradCertTEAL (Massey), DipT (NZGSE)
Tutor
Anne鈥檚 first career was in engineering and she began as an engineering apprentice at Hawker Siddely Aviation in the UK. Anne then moved down an academic pathway and completed a PhD in Engineering at the University of Bristol. From 1981 to 2002 Anne lectured in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Canterbury, and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2000. Having achieved her goals in engineering she trained as a primary teaching at NZGSE and then taught at Riccarton Primary School. As well as teaching a Year 7/8 class, her responsibilities included being curriculum leader in Mathematics and Technology, and teacher in charge of ICT. Anne has been on NZGSE鈥檚 staff since 2015, and has been the Primary Programme Leader.
Paula Dor茅
TTC (NZDE)
Adjunct Tutor
Paula is a highly experienced primary teacher who is currently the Learning Support Coordinator at Heaton Normal Intermediate School. Paula was a tutor at NZGSE in the organisation鈥檚 early days of operation. She now contributes to the teaching for NZGSE鈥檚 learning support practicum.
Madeleine Gillman
BSc (Cant), GradDipTchLn (CCE)
Adjunct Tutor
Madeleine has always enjoyed integrating music into her primary classroom pedagogy while teaching. She has taught in several Christchurch schools over the last 20 years. After returning from maternity leave in 2019, she has worked as a Performing Arts teacher, specialising in the delivery of the Sound Arts Curriculum for Years 0-8. Madeleine is currently the Director of Music at Westburn Te Kura O Hereora. At NZGSE, she teaches primary interns about the teaching of the Sound Arts strand of the Arts Curriculum.
Jude Gray
BEd, DipT (Otago)
Adjunct Tutor
Jude is NZGSE鈥檚 primary Art tutor. She is Head of Visual Art at The Cathedral Grammar School. Away from teaching, Jude is an outdoors enthusiast.
Suzi Hansen
Administration Assistant
Suzi is often the first person visitors meet at NZGSE. She is responsible for our reception and assists Glenda Climo 鈥 the Office Manager. She has worked in many administrative roles in the commercial world and community organisations. In her spare time Suzi is an enthusiastic quilter.
Jodine Hardwicke
BA (Cant), MSSL (VUW), PGDipEd, (Massey), GDipT (NZGSE)
Kaiarataki
Jodine joined the NZGSE team at the start of 2024 after a diverse and successful teaching career in New Zealand and Australia. She began teaching in 2007. Jodine has taught in six different secondary schools, and held leadership roles in four of them. Her two most recent teaching positions were in Christchurch. She was Head of Senior School at Haeata Community Campus. She then moved to Te Aratai College, where she was Head of the Learning Area English, and the Leader of M膩ori Achievement. Jodine is committed to social justice in education and to closing the gaps of inequity that can exist in schools.
Rosey Hart
BA (VUW), GDipT (NZGSE)
Adjunct Tutor
Rosey was teacher at New Brighton Catholic School until 2023, and was the bicultural leader there. She has been a supervising teacher many times for NZGSE鈥檚 interns completing teaching practice. Rosey is a trained Reading Recovery teacher. She is currently studying at Te W膩nanga o Aotearoa while working as a release teacher. At NZGSE, she teaches primary interns about the teaching of Social Sciences.
Rachael Hawkey
MusB(Hons), PhD (Cant), ATCL, DipT (NZGSE)
碍补颈丑补耻迟奴
Rachael trained as a teacher at NZGSE in 1997 in the inaugural group of secondary interns. After a short time teaching music at Ashburton College, she was appointed to the staff of St Bede鈥檚 College where she taught until May 2018. For most of this time, she held the senior position of Head of Faculty Arts. Through such long service at the College, she has had a deep impact on the musical and cultural lives of many boys. Rachael is an enthusiastic musician and a member of the Jubilate Singers. Before her appointment as 碍补颈丑补耻迟奴, she had been NZGSE鈥檚 Secondary Programme Leader and also shared the role of Manager of Initial Teacher Education.
Melissa Himin
BSc(Hons) (Lincoln), GDipT
Relief Tutor
Mel is an NZGSE graduate who started her teaching career at Shirley Boys鈥 High School in 2009. She taught mathematics in her first year and then swapped to science subjects, achieving rapid promotion to the position of Head of the Science Department with a staff of 15 teachers. Mel joined the NZGSE staff at the start of 2013, and was first promoted to Secondary Programme Leader, and then to Manager of Initial Teacher Education. She later stepped away from NZGSE to raise her family.
Kevin Knight
MNZM, JP, BSc, DipEd (Cant), MEd, PGDipEdPs (Otago), PhD (Monash), DipTchg (NZDE)
惭补苍补丑补耻迟奴
Member of NZGSE鈥檚 Board of Directors
Member of NZGSE鈥檚 Advisory Board
Kevin is a founder of NZGSE and a highly experienced teacher educator. He entered the education service as a secondary mathematics teacher and taught in secondary schools in New Zealand and Australia. He has been a secondary school principal. Kevin is also an educational psychologist and practised in Gisborne and Christchurch before working as a college of education lecturer for five years. Kevin is the developer of the 8People model of teacher practice, and he is in high demand throughout New Zealand and Australia for his expertise in classroom behaviour management, mentoring and teacher appraisal. He was a member of the former New Zealand Teachers Council. He is co-author of Training Teachers Properly: a book ready for publication. Kevin was appointed as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to education, in the 2020 Queen鈥檚 Birthday Honours.
Helena McAlister
BA, MEd (Cant), DipTeP墨nakitanga (TWoA), GDipT (NZGSE)
碍补颈丑补耻迟奴
Ng膩ti T奴wharetoa, Ng膩ti Awa and Ngai Tai. With M膩ori, Samoan and European ancestry, Helena embodies the diversity that is modern New Zealand. Her strong knowledge of te reo M膩ori enhanced her teaching at Elmwood Normal School and Te Waka Unua School, where she was the senior teacher of the bilingual class. Helena鈥檚 Master of Education degree is in M膩ori immersion and bilingual teaching. In addition to her work with interns, she is conducting doctoral research on te reo M膩ori acquisition. She joined the primary team of tutors at NZGSE at the start of 2018, and was promoted to 碍补颈丑补耻迟奴 from the start of 2022.
Stephen McConnachie
BSc(Hons), MEd (Cant), GDipT (NZGSE)
Tutor
After very successful teaching in Christchurch at Linwood College and Middleton Grange School. Stephen made the move to educational consultancy. He is a Consultant and Facilitator at Leadership Lab NZ, and also a Director and Consultant at Think E-Learning. Stephen is a part-time tutor in the secondary team at NZGSE.
Lee Parkinson
HND (SEME)
Chair of NZGSE鈥檚 Advisory Board
Lee is Strategy Director at Plato Creative. He first became involved with NZGSE in 2020 through a former role and now chairs NZGSE鈥檚 Advisory Board. After 20 years in the British Army, Lee embarked on a career in sales and marketing on the client side, followed by a move to the agency side. His long and diverse career has included CEO of Hyperactive, Founder of TOUCHCAST / NEXT, Member of the Science and Society Reference Group for the NZ Government鈥檚 Science and Society Project, Board Member of the Wellington Zoo Trust, and leadership roles in several other strategic agencies. Lee is a professional member of the Association of Professional Futurists (APF) and a Professor of Practice at the University of Canterbury.
Caro Searell
BTchLn (CCE), MEd (Cant), TTC (NZDE)
Tutor
Caro鈥檚 extensive teaching career has spanned more than four decades. She has taught in eight different Canterbury schools, and is best known for her 17 years as Team Leader of the Senior School (Years 4, 5 &6) at Elmwood Normal School. Her passion for teaching, and her interest in research, shape the approach to her work with school children and in supporting teachers-in-training. She has been a frequent supervising teacher for NZGSE primary interns. Caro has a particular interest in the importance of leadership and in how relational trust is the key to its success.
Regan Stokes
BA, MMIL (Cant), MMLE (TWoA), GDipT (NZGSE)
Adjunct Tutor
Ng膩i Te Rangi. Regan 鈥 also known as Kupu 鈥 was formerly Head of Te Reo M膩ori at Hagley College, and now works as a consultant in te reo M膩ori me 艒na tikanga. He is a Registered Professional Translator and Interpreter of Te Reo M膩ori. Kupu teaches te reo M膩ori to both primary and secondary interns at NZGSE. He is also a member of NZGSE鈥檚 W膩nanga, formed to debate and develop the expression of tikanga M膩ori and te reo M膩ori at NZGSE.
Ginnie Thorner
BEd, DipT (Massey), MDramaEd (Griffith)
Adjunct Tutor
Ginnie is NZGSE鈥檚 longest-serving adjunct tutor and teaches primary interns about the teaching of Dance and Drama. She is a Dance and Drama teacher at St Andrew鈥檚 College, and has produced and directed many Middle School and Preparatory School productions there.
Elizabeth Wilson
BA(Hons) (Cant), MSpecTchg (Massey), CELTA, GDipT (NZGSE)
Adjunct Tutor
Lizzy began her teaching career as a teacher as teacher of English, and as teacher-in-charge of ESOL, at Shirley Boys鈥 High School. She added the role of Director of Gifted and Talented to her work, and since 2022 she has been the Learning Support Coordinator there. Lizzy has a special interest in educational equity for neurodiverse learners. She is also a Ministry of Education PLD Facilitiator. Lizzy has recently commenced doctoral studies at Massey University. She contributes to the teaching for NZGSE鈥檚 learning support practicum.
Terms
The 惭补苍补丑补耻迟奴 is the chief executive for NZGSE.
The 碍补颈丑补耻迟奴 are both deputy chief executives for NZGSE.
A Kaiarataki is a specialist teacher educator.
Adjunct tutors are tutors who are engaged on a part-time basis to contribute to the teaching at NZGSE 鈥 especially in curriculum areas. Adjunct tutors are usually employed at schools or other organisations.
Relief tutors are tutors who contribute to teaching at NZGSE on an occasional basis.