Nicola Philip

Nic has been Principal at Karitāne School since 2009. She loves working for the children and community of Karitāne and highly values the pivotal role that the school has in bringing community together.

Nic believes that a small school education is something to be rightfully proud of and that children from small schools are great ‘all rounders’ who often model qualities and values associated with good citizenship. She sees her job as that of developing relationships – with her pupils, their whanau, the community and other staff members and believes that relationship lies at the heart of good teaching and learning.

Nic is a teaching Principal and this is the part of her job that she finds most exciting – getting into the classroom with children and watching them grow,learn and improve. Her classroom philosophy hinges on children becoming confident, capable and independent as they work on their learning. Nic has two children and a husband who test her to the limit.

Helen Carter

Helen is an inventive and creative teacher. She primarily teaches in the senior room – specializing in education for sustainability, the arts and gifted and talented education. She also delivers the school’s Reading Recovery programme.

Helen firmly believes that all children are unique individuals with their own talents, gifts and dispositions and she works hard to nurture these aspects of the students in her care. Helen has a fine Arts diploma from Otago School of Art and her love of the arts is reflected in her thoughtful and creative classroom programme and environment. Helen is the proud mother of two children – both of whom attended Karitāne school.

Jane Schofield

Jane is our passionate new junior teacher, working in the important role of welcoming five year olds to the school. Jane creates a classroom culture where all voices are heard and tamariki feel comfortable expressing ideas and taking risks in their learning.

Her favourite teaching whakataukī is:

'Ko te ahurei o te tamaiti arahia ō tatou māhi' (Let the uniqueness of the child guide our work).

Jane has coached a wide variety of sports, including miniball, football, touch rugby and waterpolo. She loves all water sports and enjoys being part of the Warrington Surf Lifesaving Club and running their pool session for the nippers (tamariki up to 14 years old). She is a qualified swim coach and she teaches water safety skills and swimming at the school. Outside of school, Jane can often be found at the beach attempting to surf or can be found at the skatepark trying to pluck up the courage to drop in on the quarter pipe.

Jane lives locally in the Karitāne community with her children Blake and Eden (both students of Karitāne School) and an assortment of animals.

Christine McFarland

Christine is our wonderful office administrator and she is also an experienced teacher aide. Christine has a great relationship with the children. She is calm and kind yet full of energy.

A self-confessed homebody Christine appreciates her quiet life in Waikouaiti with her husband John. She enjoys the creativity of patchwork and is an avid gardener.

Board of Trustees

Chair: Caroline Ryder
Phone 021 158 5763

Read the May 2019 chairperson’s report

Trustees: Emily Cooper, Sarah Vanderburg and Daniel Free