The counselling cottage welcomed a new receptionist at the beginning of this year. Natalie Ogden-Bell joined the team at Nayland from the early childhood sector where she ran the office for two Nelson Tasman Kindergarten Association centres.

Her job here at Nayland is busy. She’s responsible for scheduling appointments for students with counsellors and runs the booking system for clinics and visiting agencies.

Ms Ogden-Bell says that despite working at two opposite ends of the education sector, there are some parallels between her former and current roles. “This is quite similar but they are a bit older,” she said. “It’s still kind of like ‘what do you need? Shall we bandaid this or do you need someone else to help you?’”

When Natalie Ogden-Bell is not at work she’s got plenty to do at home looking after her two girls and beloved white labrador Lucy. “She’s a bit beautiful,” she said. “She loves to be walked and taken to the beach and taken to Animates for a nice dog shower. We call her the hairiest child.”

While Ms Ogden-Bell may be a fresh face on Nayland’s staff, she’s no stranger to the college. She and her family have hosted Nayland international students for the last 10 years. In that time she has been homestay mum to students from Germany, Thailand and Japan.

A few months in and Natalie Ogden-Bell is starting to feel as if she’s getting into the swing of things in her new role and she’s full of praise for her new workplace. “The staff here are great, the deans are great. Any interactions I’ve had with anybody have been lovely and it does seem like everybody is truly here for the kids, like everywhere. That’s from the deans to the cafeteria.”

“I feel like this is exactly where I’m meant to be. It’s perfect!”