about kerry
I began my formal learning journey at Waikanae Primary School on the Kapiti Coast, before moving on to Paraparaumu College. At college i discovered a love for science, specifically the working of the brain and how we interact with each other. This led me to Massey University where i enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, which I later completed alongside Business Studies - specifically Human Resources Management. After graduation i started working in a Wellington based HR company where i quickly realised that HR wasn't the 'people' job i thought it was. While doing my big OE, i spent some time in a primary school in Ontario, Canada to see if a wee niggle in the back of my mind was something to pursue and immediately knew i wanted to be a Primary School teacher.
After training on our return, I spent 17 wonderful years teaching mainly junior school children, becoming interested very early on in the teaching and learning of literacy. I trained as a Reading Recover Teacher to be able to support 'At Risk' readers, an intervention targeted at 6 year olds, and despite the controversy that surrounds this now, it grew my practice in many ways.
After some time out to raise my own children, i returned to teaching in a relief and part-time capacity which allowed me to see very quickly the literacy needs as i moved around schools and across classrooms and year levels. An acting position as a Deputy Principal then led me the lens to see literacy needs across a school at all levels, and start researching and implementing best practice for teachers and ways in which to support those that were falling behind.
A part of this role was to work closely with and support the work of the schools SENCO or Learning Support Coordinator, a role that holds the responsibility of supporting children and their families with diverse learning needs. This quickly helped me to see not only the range of learning needs but also the lack of support and guidance that was available to parents. Support agencies were working extremely hard but only able to support the most extreme cases, in not in a timely manner.
Kerry holds a Bachelor of Arts - Psychology and Business, Post Grad Diploma of Teaching, Post Graduate Certificate in Education, Reading Recovery Certificate, and SPELD Assessor Training ?.
After training on our return, I spent 17 wonderful years teaching mainly junior school children, becoming interested very early on in the teaching and learning of literacy. I trained as a Reading Recover Teacher to be able to support 'At Risk' readers, an intervention targeted at 6 year olds, and despite the controversy that surrounds this now, it grew my practice in many ways.
After some time out to raise my own children, i returned to teaching in a relief and part-time capacity which allowed me to see very quickly the literacy needs as i moved around schools and across classrooms and year levels. An acting position as a Deputy Principal then led me the lens to see literacy needs across a school at all levels, and start researching and implementing best practice for teachers and ways in which to support those that were falling behind.
A part of this role was to work closely with and support the work of the schools SENCO or Learning Support Coordinator, a role that holds the responsibility of supporting children and their families with diverse learning needs. This quickly helped me to see not only the range of learning needs but also the lack of support and guidance that was available to parents. Support agencies were working extremely hard but only able to support the most extreme cases, in not in a timely manner.
Kerry holds a Bachelor of Arts - Psychology and Business, Post Grad Diploma of Teaching, Post Graduate Certificate in Education, Reading Recovery Certificate, and SPELD Assessor Training ?.