Pukekohe Teachers

Our owners Maree and Alison both taught and held management positions in local primary schools for many years before opening and operating our centres. High quality care and education has always been their top priority. Several of their children now work in the management and administration of our centres. They have owned our centres for over fifteen years now and began operating under the Lollipops Educare franchise until 2018. 

I have had the pleasure of being a part of the Treetops Whānau for over sixteen years, having worked across our centres. I work closely with our kaiako and tamariki and enjoy spending time seeing tamariki grow from strength to strength. 

My teaching practice is inspired by the Reggio Emilia philosophy, RIE and a number of inspirational professionals throughout Aotearoa, New Zealand. 

I live on the beautiful Pohutukawa Coast in Beachlands with my husband David and our five children - Alyssa, Grayson, Jayden, Carleigh and Kyrie, along with our many pets who share our home. 

As a Mum of five, I fully appreciate the many pressures placed on families. Come and visit us to see how we can become part of your extended family! 

I have worked for Treetops for 3 and a half years.  

Sixteen years ago I started working in the Ece sector. I enjoyed it so much that I pursued my teacher training. This turned into a full time career and I haven’t looked back since. I hold a Bachelor in Teaching Early Childhood. 

My children have been my passion. Bringing them up led me to work in the early years sector. As a parent of three grown up children I have many life experiences that have shaped, inspired, challenged and rewarded me along the way.

I am passionate about children learning through play. The Reggio and Pikler philosophies have been an inspiration to me. It gives me much joy working with children and an incredible sense of purpose in doing so. I view children as capable, confident and full of potential. In my role as a kaitiaki I love to provide a learning environment in which all children can thrive, learn, build friendships and most of all enjoy their learning journey! 

Our philosophy at Treetops says RELATIONSHIP IS ALL and that is always at the heart of my teaching practice! 

Arohanui ❤️

Shereen  

Kia Ora

My name is Sunette and I am the administrator at Treetops Pukekohe! I have 3 kids of my own and I can honestly say I enjoy most parts of being a parent. Before I started as the administrator I had the amazing opportunity to work in all the rooms for a couple of months and get to know all the children in the centre.

Being part of the Treetops family is a big privilege for me because  we've got the best children, parents and staff. Seeing how the children grow and being a part of their journey is really a special experience for me.

Hi my name is Gina and I have recently taken on the Kaitiaki role in the Tui Room. I have worked in the ECE sector for over 20 years firstly in a home-based setting then moving to centre based in 2018, qualifying as a register teacher in 2021.

I am born and bred in Pukekohe, sharing my life with my husband Paul and my five children. For many years we opened our home to fostering children whom needed extra support. I have facilitated antenatal classes, volunteered with Plunket by representing Franklin and Counties Manukau. 

I believe it takes a village to raise a child, and feel that all tamariki deserve love and respect. I am in awe of Emmi Pikler and her philosophy and feel that this is best practice as this aligns with my beliefs.

My name is Tracey Nazareth, Kaitiaki of the wonderful Kea room here at Treetops Pukekohe.

A little about me:

As an experienced special needs and ECE educator with 14 years of working with Tamariki, I am dedicated to providing a nurturing and inclusive learning environment that empowers children to lead their own learning.

Inspired by the Reggio Emilia and Piker philosophies, my approach in our room is one that values mindfulness, creativity, and play‐based learning, implementing rituals and rhythms of the day to further cement that sense of belonging and Nurturing.

I feel it that is important to provide an environment where children have the opportunity to explore through all their senses and where the environment is their third teacher.

“…The child is made of a hundred words to discover, a hundred words to invent, and a hundred words to dream.

The child has a hundred languages (and a hundred, hundred, hundred more)….”

*The hundred languages of children by Loriz Malaguzzi.

Originally from England, I emigrated to New Zealand in 2018 with my husband and our 3 children Holly (16), Nathan (13) and Noah Bear (4), As a mother of three, I understand the importance of building strong bonds with both the children and their whanau, and I believe that every child deserves the best quality of care in an environment where they feel heard, loved, respected, and empowered.

I love seeing the developing personalities and uniqueness of every child and engaging in positive partnerships with Whanau as I believe that Whanau are our children’s first teachers.

I consider myself to be a heart teacher and believe it is important to nurture and support our tamariki to reach their fullest potential.

I look forward to meeting you and your beautiful tamariki and supporting their learning journey within our Treetops whanau.

Warm greetings to all the Treetops Pukekohe families. 

My name is Navneet Kaur. I joined Treetops Pukekohe in September 2021 and have worked as a fully qualified teacher in Kea room. I recently came back from maternity leave and got the opportunity to work in Moreporks as a kaitiaki. I am so glad that I got to work alongside my wonderful tamariki whom I already know and have an amazing relationship with. I believe in team work, positive communication and relationships and creating a cheerful environment for teachers as well as children so that we can learn through play and sharing laughs. 

I look forward to building respectful and reciprocal relationships with Treetops whānau, and supporting tamariki to grow holistically.