Justine Edwards
Hamilton
Summary
I am a positive bubbly person, who has a passion for creating inclusive environments for all children. I enjoy working within a team as well as independently. I am a fast learner, patient, kind caring and resilient. My life experience guides who I am as a teacher and shines a positive light on how I view others. I am confident in my ability and my strength is building and maintaining relationships. I am young at heart and enjoy connecting with children to make learning fun. I am assertive when I need to be and will delegate taskes when needed. Through my own journey I come with a kete full of tools and strategies to share, I believe that all students are capable and given the chance they are able to achieve whatever their heart desires. I have great communication and am open to any feedback, taking this on board to better my practice.
Overview
12
12
years of professional experience
Work History
Whanau Navigator
Matauranga Ake
09.2023 - Current
- Working within a team and independently.
- Building strong relationships with Kaiako, Whaanau, their children and community organisations
- Shared acting managers role (2-3 week period)
- Risk assessment and health and safety/trends emerging
- Supporting whaanau who have children with additional needs, sharing information so they are confident in advocating for their children
- Facilitating Ready to Rent programme and coffee group empowering maamaa.
- Connecting whaanau to services within their community
- Goal setting and Whaanau plans resulting in positive outcomes
- Strength base practice, empowering whaanau leaving them confident to move forward in life
- Guiding and mentoring kaimahi during their induction period, teaching them the role of Whaanau Navigator.
- Fostering a collaborative working environment for successful outcomes
Teacher
Avalon Childcare Centre
01.2023 - 01.2023
- Working alongside other Kaiako
- Building relationships with whaanau, staff and tamariki
- Being a leader in the infant room, delegating jobs to other Kaiako
- Creating a safe space and environment for tamariki
- Connecting with whaanau within the infant room to support their tamariki
- Supporting transitions into the infant room
- Communicating with other Kaiako with planning, reviews, learning stories and more
Teacher
Moko Club Ngāruawāhia
01.2021 - 01.2022
- Building relationships with new whaanau and Kaiako
- Supporting tamariki with challenging behaviour and using a range of strategies to engage them
- Creating an under twos environment and then having this open with new whānau and pepi
- Ability to adapt teaching practice to each infant, especially those with additional needs
- Maintained consistent routines for tamariki, so they were able to predict what was happening next
- Created and filled in documents daily, childrens journals, nappy and bottle charts. done daily regulation checks.
- Learning stories, IP's, room reviews, planning emergency drills.
- Worked collaboratively within an amazing team of kaiako
- Set up experiences and activitys that were safe and suitable for our pepi
- Open respectful conversations with whaanau about their tamariki
- Done the van drop off in the afternoon, and closed the centre at the end of the day
Teacher
Avalon Childcare Centre
10.2019 - 10.2021
- Working alongside other Kaiako
- Being a leader in the infant room, delegating jobs to other Kaiako
- Created a safe, nurturing environment where infants were able to feel a strong sense of belonging.
- Supporting transitions into the infant room
- Collaborated with Kaiako to do planning, reviews, learning stories and more
- Developed strong relationships with students, parents, and colleagues by maintaining open lines of communication and fostering a supportive learning environment.
- Sanitized toys and play equipment each day to maintain safety and cleanliness.
- Designed creative experiences that incorporated hands-on activities and interactive learning experiences to foster curiosity and engagement in young learners.
- Established positive communication with parents in daily conversation and formal conferences.
Teacher Aide
Hamilton North School
02.2019 - 07.2019
- Worked collaboratively within the teaching team
- Toileted students
- Worked in groups with the students during reading writing and maths
- Assisted students during excurisions such as: Shopping, swimming, horse riding, playground, to base school for Art and music
- Built strong relationships with all students and became attuned to their ways of communicating
- Learnt ways in which to communicate with all students whilst fostering their emotional and social skills
- Learnt the routine of the classroom and supported the teacher in upholding this
- Worked within satellite classes at 2 different schools.
Parent Support Worker
Parents of Vision Impaired (nz) inc
06.2013 - 01.2018
- Interacting and engaging with whaanau
- Organising coffee mornings and family camps.
- Ringing parents offering support or an ear to listen then guiding them towards the right support services and advocating for them when needed.
- Keeping parents in contact with our organisation letting them know they are not alone.
- Writing reports about each whaanau and the mahi I did each month
- Linking kapo/blind Whaanau with other kapo/blind whaanau who are on similar journeys
- Updating the database
- Working alongside BLENNZ and the Blind Foundation attending immersions, talking to whaanau about my own experience, also meeting whaanau kanohi ki te kanohi
Education
Postgrad diploma - infants and toddlers learning and wellbeing L8
Te Rito Maioha
03-2025
Bachelor of Teaching - early childhood education
Waikato Institute of Technology
01.2018
Tikanga Māori - L 3
Te Wānanga O Aotearoa
01.2017
Poupou Huia Te Reo - L 4
Te WānangaRaukawa
01.2017
National Certificate - Computing L3
Advanced Training Academy
01.2005
National Certificate - Hospitality L1 & L2
Step Ahead Training
01.2004
National certificate - Business and administration L1 & L2
Advanced Training Academy
01.2004
National Certificate - Employment Skills
Advanced Training Academy
01.2004
National Certificate - Computing L1 & L2
Advanced Training Academy
01.2004
Skills
- Teamwork
- Working together in a team alongside kaiako whaanau and their children, being reliable and taking on responsibilities Being trust worthy and having a willingness to learn from others and staying positive Working in partnership with whānau, tamariki, kaimahi and community networks to benefit the learning and development of tamariki in positive ways Working together within a team to uphold the mana and wairua of each tamaiti, as well as building strong relationships with tamariki and their whaanau to learn about them and who they are and where they come from Communicating within the team to make sure we are all on the same page and being able to delegate when needed
- Communication
- Communication is key Being able to communicate with tamariki and their whānau to build positive relationships through open communication and a positive attitude Communicating through verbal and non verbal ways which contribute to the teaching team, whānau and tamariki Communicating and passing on what needs to be passed on to other Kaiako in order to support tamariki Communication with Kaiako on the floor throughout the day as this supports the running of the centre and communicating about each tamaiti and their needs
- Leadership
- Being able to delegate where needed and use my initiative to support not only tamariki but also kaiako and kaimahi within the teaching team Taking on roles within the work place and completing the job to the best of my abilities I believe that leadership does not just mean doing one thing, one aspect, but being a leader happens within everything you do I believe that in order to be a good leader it is important for you to work alongside other Kaiako and also do the jobs that need doing as well, positively role modelling the behaviour that I would like to see from others as well as stepping up into positions or roles that need to be filled in times of need Acting manager, guiding kaimahi through a restructure, being a space for kaimahi to come to when they are needing someone to talk to and guiding them is a positive way
Accomplishments
- Class Rep
- 2016-2018
- Within my role as a 3rd year ECE student I offered support and guidance to those who were not so confident. On several occasions I was asked by lecturers to take on a tuakana role for peers who have been struggling to integrate te ao Māori and Te Tiriti ō Waitangi concepts and aspirations into their practice. I demonstrated whakawhānaungatanga and manaakitanga within my peer relationships and supported their individual journeys.
- Incredible Years 3-8 year olds
- 2015
- Completed the Incredible years programme at the Life community office in Hamilton. I had a 100% attendance. Always on time I learnt a lot of different strategies and ways to engage children to give them positive experiences, focusing on positive guidance and seeing the child holistically rather than being challenging.
- Outward Bound
- 2006
- I attended Outward Bound in 2006 in Anakiwa and learnt a lot of life skills. Learning through hands on experiences over-coming the adventure and challenges put before me. I learnt how to overcome challenges and how to push myself more than I thought possible. Learning that no matter what I do if I put my mind to it, I can achieve and overcome anything
Timeline
Whanau Navigator
Matauranga Ake
09.2023 - Current
Teacher
Avalon Childcare Centre
01.2023 - 01.2023
Teacher
Moko Club Ngāruawāhia
01.2021 - 01.2022
Teacher
Avalon Childcare Centre
10.2019 - 10.2021
Teacher Aide
Hamilton North School
02.2019 - 07.2019
Parent Support Worker
Parents of Vision Impaired (nz) inc
06.2013 - 01.2018
Tikanga Māori - L 3
Te Wānanga O Aotearoa
Poupou Huia Te Reo - L 4
Te WānangaRaukawa
National Certificate - Computing L3
Advanced Training Academy
National Certificate - Hospitality L1 & L2
Step Ahead Training
National certificate - Business and administration L1 & L2
Advanced Training Academy
National Certificate - Employment Skills
Advanced Training Academy
National Certificate - Computing L1 & L2
Advanced Training Academy
Postgrad diploma - infants and toddlers learning and wellbeing L8
Te Rito Maioha
Bachelor of Teaching - early childhood education
Waikato Institute of Technology
Community Service
Parents of Vision Impaired (nz) ltd, Tangata whenua representative board member, current presiding member., 2019, Present
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