Our Team
Who We Are
Debra
Head Teacher
Kia ora koutou; ko Debra tōku ingoa. Hi I'm Debra! I am of mixed Māori/Chinese and Pākehā heritage - my iwi are Ngāti Toa/Ngāti Raukawa and Ngāi Tahu.
I was born and raised in South Auckland, and although my career started in an office environment; my pathway veered into ECE and I have now been working across the sector for over 25 years. I have since had varying teaching experiences in ECE centres across Tāmaki Makaurau - from Central Auckland centres to Waiheke Island, before relocating to the North Shore in 2019.
I have enjoyed being immersed in roles as a kaiako and kaihautu (teacher and leader) in both smaller and larger centres - for community based non-profit boards; as well as privately owned ECE centres.
I believe learning is an endless journey; and my philosophy includes tuakana/teina, te reo me ōna tikanga, and providing an inclusive environment where the multicultural ethnicities of Aotearoa, as well as individual learning differences, are respected, valued, and celebrated.
I am so excited to be working with your tamariki at Aranui Montessori, and I look forward to facilitating their learning through Montessori methodology. My passion is to make a difference in their lives by providing quality learning experiences, and through forming integral relationships alongside whānau and kaiako to achieve excellent learning outcomes.
Rania
Montessori Curriculum Leader
Kia Ora and Salam. my name is Rania. I am a qualified Montessori teacher, and I have been teaching Montessori for the last ten years. I achieved my Bachelor of Education (Montessori) at AUT, and I completed the Incredible Years course, which helped me gain more knowledge about working with children with special needs. I lived in South Auckland for over ten years and I have worked in different Montessori centres in Weymouth and Flatbush. I have enjoyed seeing how different centres run regarding the number of children. My philosophy is to give children the freedom to explore and express their ideas by providing them with opportunities and letting them take risks. Being a committed teacher to create and prepare the classroom environment to inspire children and foster a love of learning. I love seeing the smiles on children’s faces when they accomplish tasks and learn by doing various activities. As for my background, I immigrated here with my family from Jordan when I was seven years old, and love my life here. This question of immigration and coming into a new environment, new language, new everything is something that always attracts my attention, probably because I have personally experienced it. I have come to find that Montessori environments assists and aid a lot with this transition as the environments end up being almost identical, giving children support to fit in more easily as it would be familiar. I am married and blessed with 3 girls and 1 little boy.
Ina
Montessori ECE Teacher
你好! Kia Ora everyone. My name is Ina. I am a Montessori follower, a mom of a lovely preschooler, a foodie and a traveller. I am also a qualified, fully registered teacher with over 10 years of experience working with students of different age groups, from babies to adults in different educational services, including Montessori preschools, in New Zealand, China and the United States. I’m originally from China, and I have been living in NZ since 2013. I completed my Bachelor of Early Childhood Education with Montessori speciality at AUT, then achieved my 1 st class Honors in Teaching at the UoA. I did my 0- 3yr Montessori training in the USA after I gave birth to my son. During studies, I found my passion for teaching and I’m fascinated by the Montessori approach of education. In all honesty, I must be amazed a million times by the great capabilities children have, and I also got to see how the well-prepared classroom environment can positively impact on children’s learning and development. That’s when I truly believe that Montessori theory is still a living theory. I’m glad to be part of the Aranui family and to have a chance to work closely with our children and families. I hope that we could learn and grow together!