Our People
Lois Chick
MNZM, MEd (Cant), ADipT (NZDE)
Adjunct Tutor
Member of NZGSE’s Board of Directors
Member of NZGSE’s 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’s Birthday Honours. Lois is now heavily involved in the activities of the New Zealand Choral Federation.
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 Ngā Hautū. 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’s 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’s staff since 2015, and has been the Primary Programme Leader..
Jude Gray
BEd, DipT (Otago)
Adjunct Tutor
Jude is NZGSE’s 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 – 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.
Rachael Hawkey
MusB(Hons), PhD (Cant), ATCL, DipT (NZGSE)
Kaihautū
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’s 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 Kaihautū, she had been NZGSE’s Secondary Programme Leader and also shared the role of Manager of Initial Teacher Education.
Josh Haythornthwaite
BSc (Cant), DipTeRōnakitanga (TWoA), GDipT (NZGSE)
Secondary Programme Leader
Josh joined the secondary team of tutors at NZGSE at the start of 2016 after a successful period of teaching at his old school – Mairehau High School. He was quickly promoted there, first as teaching practice coordinator, and then as a dean to a curriculum leadership role in social sciences. Josh’s strong classroom practice has allowed him to be role model while acting as a supervising teacher for many NZGSE interns teaching Biology, Geography and Social Studies. Josh is currently advancing his own skills in te reo Māori at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.
Kevin Knight
MNZM, JP, BSc, DipEd (Cant), MEd, PGDipEdPs (Otago), PhD (Monash), DipTchg (NZDE)
Manahautū
Member of NZGSE’s Board of Directors
Member of NZGSE’s 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’s Birthday Honours.
Helena McAlister
BA, MEd (Cant), DipTePīnakitanga (TWoA), GDipT (NZGSE)
Kaihautū
Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Awa and Ngai Tai. With Māori, Samoan and European ancestry, Helena embodies the diversity that is modern New Zealand. Her strong knowledge of te reo Māori enhanced her teaching at Elmwood Normal School and Te Waka Unua School, where she was the senior teacher of the bilingual class. Helena’s Master of Education degree is in Māori immersion and bilingual teaching. In addition to her work with interns, she is conducting doctoral research on te reo Māori acquisition. She joined the primary team of tutors at NZGSE at the start of 2018, and was promoted to Kaihautū from the start of 2022.
Rachel Morrall
BA, GDipT (NZGSE)
Tutor
After a short period in 2021 working as an NZGSE Tutor during a period of teaching practice, Rachel joined the NZGSE tutor team at the start of 2022. After her teacher training, she began teaching at Prebbleton School, and then moved to Australia where she taught at Donburn Primary School in Melbourne. Returning to Christchurch in 2011 saw her start her long period of teaching at Belfast School. Focusing on junior classes, Rachel became the literacy lead teacher, Reading Recovery and ORS teacher, and finally the school’s Literacy Specialist.
Richard Oswin
MA (Auck), ATCL, LRSM, DipTchg (NZDE)
Adjunct Tutor
Richard closed a long chapter of his distinguished education career in 2015 when he finished in his position as Deputy Principal at Elmwood Normal School. For many years, he has had a leading role in supporting teachers-in-training, and developing the professional skills of qualified teachers. But it is as a musician that Richard is best known in Christchurch. Thousands of primary-aged children, over the years, have delighted in Richard’s musicianship and wit as music director, pianist and composer at the Christchurch Schools Music Festival.
Lee Parkinson
HND (SEME)
Chair of NZGSE’s Advisory Board
Lee first became involved with NZGSE in 2020 through his role as a Strategic Partner at Strategy Creative. He now chairs NZGSE’s 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’s Science and Society Project, Board Member of the Wellington Zoo Trust, and leadership roles in several other strategic agencies.
Yolanda Soryl
MA (Cant), PGCE (Lond), DipT (CCE)
Adjunct Tutor
Yolanda achieved ‘Advanced Skills Teacher’ status for excellence in teaching for her work with new entrants in London’s East End. Much of her experience has been in lower socioeconomic schools, and working with children who have English as an additional language or have learning difficulties. Yolanda now operates her own consultancy called Yolanda Soryl Literacy, where she focuses on phonics, word recognition, and early literacy teaching. She also teaches at Ao Tawhiti School. Yolanda does phonics training for NZGSE’s primary interns.
Regan Stokes
BA, MMIL (Cant), MMLE (TWoA), GDipT (NZGSE)
Adjunct Tutor
Ngāi Te Rangi. Regan was formerly Head of Te Reo Māori at Hagley College, and now works as a consultant in te reo Māori me ōna tikanga. He is a Registered Professional Translator and Interpreter of Te Reo Māori. Regan teaches te reo Māori to both primary and secondary interns at NZGSE. He is also a member of NZGSE’s Wānanga, formed to debate and develop the expression of tikanga Māori and te reo Māori at NZGSE.
Ginnie Thorner
BEd, DipT (Massey), MDramaEd (Griffith)
Adjunct Tutor
Ginnie is NZGSE’s 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’s College, and has produced and directed many Middle School and Preparatory School productions there.
Terms
The Manahautū is the chief executive for NZGSE.
The Kaihautū are both deputy chief executives for NZGSE.
Adjunct tutors are tutors who are engaged on a part-time basis to contribute to the teaching at NZGSE – especially in curriculum areas. Adjunct tutors are usually employed at schools or other organisations.
Adjunct researchers contribute to NZGSE’s research projects.
Relief tutors are tutors who contribute to teaching at NZGSE on an occasional basis.