OUR EDUCATORS

Ben 

Educator

Recently returning from four years in London, Ben is thrilled to be the part of the Life Education team in Counties Manukau. A southern man at heart, Ben grew up in Dunedin where he trained in Primary Education at the University of Otago. Since graduating he has taught in Dunedin, Wellington and London as a Primary School Teacher. 

Alongside teaching Ben has worked as an actor in Film, Television and Theatre. Predominantly working in Musical Theatre, he has performed in a variety of shows, concerts and events and has studied Musical Theatre in London.

Ben believes in the importance of the philosophy and work in which is delivered by Life Education. He finds it a true honour to work within local schools alongside Harold to teach the children of Counties Manukau skills to help them lead happy and healthy lives. 

A proud Canadian feeling very fortunate to live in New Zealand, I was presented with the awesome opportunity to work with Life Education Trust in October 2015. Having a huge personal interest in health and well-being, I thoroughly love the fact that this job allows us to work with schools to help deliver the Health part of the NZ Curriculum.

I feel extremely fortunate to be able to work with the schools in the Counties Manukau Trust.

Teacher and school support is an integral part of our success and I thank them all yet again for being so positively involved in the Life Education programme.

Pamela

Educator

Kat

Educator

Kia ora and g’day!

My name is Kat Greenham and I am excited to be part of the Life Education team. I became a
teacher in my hometown of Melbourne, Australia, in a low-decile school that had a high population of students who were refugees or living in and out of women’s shelters. I quickly realised how important it is to explicitly teach health and well-being to students – this pushed me to complete my research Masters in Education- Student Well-being. I have over twelve years’ experience as a teacher and in management as a Leading Teacher. I have travelled the world too, teaching in London, Paris, Borneo and outback Australia. I am now proud to call New Zealand home with my partner Jeremy and my ginger cat Remi.

I love Harold! I remember as a child when Life Education came to my school, I would look under the classroom to see if I could spot Harold’s legs. So I am excited to make some magic happen with the students in Counties Manukau. In my spare time I like to look after my veggie garden, play my double bass, read, bake, tap dance, attend my te reo classes, listen to music and I’ve just started boxing classes. But my favourite hobby is volunteering at Auckland Zoo, where I get to hang out with Harold’s cousins and my favourite New Zealand bird, the kereru.

Nat

Educator

Hi, my name is Natalie. I have three sons, Matt 18, Ben 15, and Dan 12. We have an International student for most of the year, often 6 months at a time. We have hosted students for the last 4 years and love getting to know the different cultures and customs of these lovely boys. We have had visitors from China, Japan, Korea, Brazil, Chile, Austria and France. It brings another dimension into our family unit. We also have 2 cats, Toffee and Maisie.

I am a photo-lithographer by trade which I was able to do here and in London. When I had my first child I retrained and did a Post Graduate Diploma of Teaching Primary and Intermediate. Most of my teaching career has been in Early Childhood which I found very rewarding. Since starting with Life Education in 2017 I have loved meeting and engaging with so many students and schools at so many different levels. I love the philosophy and wonderful messages that are woven through the fabric of our learning in the mobile classroom. Harold is a superstar that puts the sparkle in our day.

After working a few years in an office role while volunteering as a brownie leader Carleen
made the decision to make working with children her career instead of her hobby, and hasn't looked back since. She taught in South Auckland primary schools for 13 years and then joined Life Ed in May 2017. She has found working with Life Ed has enabled her to support and empower more tamariki than in her previous roles as a classroom teacher.
 

Seeing the joy on children's faces when they see Harold and when they make a connection
 o the content we are covering makes this job very fulfilling. When not hanging out with Harold in the mobile classroom, Carleen can be found hanging around the amateur theater circuit. Quite often it's doing the behind the scenes things that keep a show/theatre ticking, but every now and then you might actually catch her treading the boards.

Carleen

Educator