Our Team
Lesley Murrihy - Principal. Lesley is an experienced leader of teaching and learning, with a Doctorate in Education. She was formerly Principal of Manunui School in Taumarunui and has a wealth of experience in developing 21st Century learning environments with flexible structures that enable personalised learning programmes to meet the needs of students.
Although she has been living in Taumarunui for many years Lesley is no stranger to Wellington, having graduated with Bachelors and Masters degrees from Victoria University. She also completed her teacher training at Wellington Teachers College.
Angela Johnston - Associate Principal
Angela has been the Assistant Principal at Bellevue School in Newlands for the last seven years. She led Literacy and Numeracy in the Junior area of the school, and brings effective and current methods of developing authentic integration of ICT in classroom programmes and helping others to do the same. Angela is passionate about Literacy, in particular reading, and is skilled with collecting, collating, analysing and interpreting data to diagnose next learning steps for students.
Ursula Cunningham - Associate Principal
Urs has been an Associate Principal in a large Wellington School for the last five years. Like Angela, Urs has a personal passion for Literacy and is particularly skilled at teaching the building blocks of reading and writing. She has had significant experience in team teaching approaches and personalising learning.
Gail Greenslade - Office Administrator: Gail has 8 years administration experience in the education sector, and a further 20 years administrative experience in the corporate sector in England, France and Belgium. She moved to New Zealand three years ago with her husband and two daughters, and loves working in the primary school environment and being a part of the school community.
Michael Young: Michael comes to us with experience in early childhood. He will be working in our junior area. As an artist, Michael brings a strong creative background and a strong interest in developing children’s creativity. Michael has worked for a
number of years painting sets for TV and film in both Auckland and Wellington. We are looking forward to his input in developing
a learning environment which encourages the development of children’s creativity.
Matt Ives: Matt is a newly trained primary teacher from Palmerston North, though he has taught English as a second language for a number of years in Taiwan and South Korea. Matt received the strongest possible recommendations from his College Appraisers and his associate teachers. He has a strong background in drama and languages, is able to speak basic Mandarin, plays the guitar and is a keen sportsperson. He will work in our year 4 – 6 hub.
Lisa Bengtsson: Lisa is a highly respected local teacher who knows the Churton Park community. She is the ICT lead in her school and this year has been involved in implementing significant changes to the delivery of ICT in her current school. She is strong
in personalizing learning and providing differentiated teaching and learning programmes. She is passionate about giving students “voice” in their learning and allowing them to drive learning activities. She effectively shifts achievement in maths and literacy.
Demelza Topp: Demelza brings strong experience in working in a 21st Century Learning environment. She is experienced in organizing learning in a variety of ways and using flexible learning spaces, as well as planning and teaching collaboratively. She is
currently the Numeracy Lead in her school and provides leadership in ICT. She has high levels of curriculum knowledge and
uses this effectively to shift learning – particularly in maths. Demelza is an experienced athlete, having represented NZ at
world championship level on a number of occasions. She also has an interest in soccer.
Fiona White: Fiona is a very experienced teacher and has been an Associate Principal at Hataitai School in Wellington for the past five years. Fiona has taught across a range of year levels, with much of her experience being in the senior (Years 5-8) area of the school. She has a personal passion for literacy and has considerable experience with team teaching. Fiona will begin the year working in the library, focusing on cataloging and processing all our resources.
Amaria Picard: Amaria has been a teacher at a primary school in Newlands for a number of years, and is also a member of the local Churton Park community. Amaria will be teaching at Amesbury School two days a week, working in both Koru and Harakeke hubs. She will be providing release for both of our beginning teachers.