Our Team

Kia Ora.  My name is Neelika, I am the supervisor and am very proud to be part of the team at AppleSeed. I have a Bachelor of Early Childhood Education in New Zealand and hold a Bachelor of Commerce degree and Post Graduate Diploma in Education in Sri Lanka. I am a fully registered teacher and have been teaching in the early childhood sector in New Zealand since 2007.

I am a mother of one son who recently graduated as a registered medical doctor. I live in Remuera, Auckland with my husband and my son. Collecting elephants’ ornaments is one of my interests; wherever I go I look for some ‘elephants’ to increase my collection. I enjoy decorating cakes and playing with our dog ‘Marley’ in my spare time. I also find some time to do meditating.

I have developed a strong passion for teaching young children, and have experience working with all age groups. I strongly believe that children are confident and competent learners, each child is unique and special, and they grow up and develop at their own pace.

Kia Ora. My name is Annika, I am the Assistant Head Teacher and originally from Tauranga. I moved to Auckland when I graduated from the University of Waikato to find the perfect teaching position. I’m a fully registered teacher and love the diversity Auckland has to offer.

I have a passion for travel and enjoy taking a trip somewhere warm each year as well as trips back to Tauranga to spend time with family and friends.

I have always had a passion for teaching since I was at school and loved caring for children of family friends. I enjoy working in our centre as we have smaller numbers of children and families which means we can work together more effectively to help grow confident and competent learners. I have a particular passion for working with children under two.

Kia Ora. My name is Jinah and I am originally from South Korea. I completed my Bachelor of Arts (Major in Education) at University of Auckland, and studied Graduate Diploma in Teaching (Early Childhood Education) at New Zealand Tertiary College. I am a fully registered teacher.

I am an open-minded person who loves travelling, trying new things, and meeting new people from all over the world. One of the most exciting things in my life is getting to know people from various cultural backgrounds.

I have a passion for supporting and helping children to grow and learn for their future. What I value the most in teaching and learning as an early childhood teacher, are the relationships that develop. I believe that relationships are fundamental to a child’s life.

I am so excited and proud of myself being a member of the AppleSeed family and working alongside the people here (teachers, children, family and whanau).

Kia Ora! My name is Ding and I am originally from mainland China. I am a provisionally registered teacher and have a Graduate Diploma in Teaching (Early Childhood Education) from New Zealand Tertiary College. I completed my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in China and started my teaching career in 2004. I have taught all age groups from primary to adult in China, Cambodia and the US.

您好！ 我叫丁春雪，来自中国。我毕业于New Zealand Tertiary College，拥有幼儿教育专业毕业证书，是一名在职注册教师。我在中国学习工作期间获得了学士学位和硕士学位，并与2004年获得高校教师资格证，开始从事教育事业。 我曾经在中国、美国、柬埔寨教授过从小学生到成人的各个年龄段的学生，具有丰富的教学经验。

I love the experience of embracing the wonder and joy of different cultures, and meeting people and making friends. I am calm and patient, reliable and communicate well, and have a genuine love for children. I believe being a teacher is a reciprocal learning journey. And I believe, as Malala Youfsazai said, that “One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world.”

我热爱不同文化带给我的多姿多彩的美妙体验，也喜欢与不同文化背景的人结识或相知。我性情平和镇定，做事耐心不急躁，具有良好的沟通协作能力。最重要的是，我对于孩子们具有真挚的爱心。在教学过程中与学生共同成长，我相信，正如 Malala Youfsazai 所言：“一个孩子，一位老师，一本书和一支笔可以改变世界。”

I live in Epsom with my two children. My husband is currently working in Cambodia and we are looking forward to a family reunion in the following year.

我和我的两个孩子居住在Epsom。我的丈夫目前在柬埔寨工作，我们期待能在不久的将来实现家庭团聚。

I have loved AppleSeed since I was a student teacher here and I appreciate being a part of AppleSeed as we all flourish and grow.

从我在AppleSeed幼儿园做实习老师开始，我就一直喜爱这个幼儿园。我很庆幸能够成为其中的一员，并且与老师孩子们共同成长进步。

Kia Ora. My name is Tahnia. I am originally from Bangladesh. I completed my Bachelor of Computer Science and Engineering from Sylhet International University, Bangladesh. Currently I hold an
Early Childhood Education and Care level 4 certificate and I will continue my further Early Childhood Education study from early next year. I have been working in the early childhood sector for around 5 years.
I am really passionate about my teaching career and enjoy working around children as they always surprise me with the things they can say, do or
create and how fast their knowledge and skills can grow. I always like to support our tamariki on their learning journey.
I am a mother of two children (10-year-old boy and 7-year-old girl) and live in Mount Albert, Auckland with my husband and children. I love to spend time with my family and friends, and my weekend
travelling and exploring new places with my family. Every two years I visit my home country to see my parents and relatives.
I feel so proud to be a part of the AppleSeed family. I love to work alongside our beautiful tamariki and their whanau and our wonderful
AppleSeed team.

Kia Ora. Mike and Monique Hollows are the proud owners of AppleSeed Educare, Early Learning Centre and you’ll see us regularly at the Centre. Mike comes from a financial markets background, specializing in Treasury but these days is multitasking as the CEO & maintenance man at AppleSeed and Monique is from an administration and sports education background and is the centre manager.

Born and raised in Auckland we live locally and have been married for 32 years. We have two children, Grace 28, Lewis 27, a dog – Cookie Monster and a cat –  Pretty.

Mike is a keen fisherman, loves most sports and has a passion for live music, Monique loves all sports and has coached school netball at all age group levels for many years.

We are very proud of the AppleSeed Team and are passionate about our community. We are excited to watch your children grow and learn in our nurturing, happy environment.

Hello everyone, my name is Diane (Di) and I am the centre’s in house cook. Early in my career I spent over 12 years in the kitchen professionally so I am very experienced and passionate about all aspects about food and nutrition. My creativity then lead me into the world of interior design where I spent eight years designing and fitting out both commercial and residential spaces.

More recently, though I have been working in retail, specialising in fitting children’s shoes; general foot health from babies through to teen agers.

I am married and have one son who is in year 9 at Mt Albert Grammar. My husband and I have lived locally for 20 years and love Sandringham and the surrounding neighborhoods.

My family and I are passionate about music, travel and other cultures.