Introducing our new boarding staff

Tēnā koutou katoa. I te taha o toku matua tāne Ko Te Aitanga a Hauiti me Ngāti Ruapani mai i a Waikaremoana ngā iwi. I te taha o toku whaea Ko Te Whānau a Apanui te iwi.

Kia ora koutou my name is Alverta Le'au'anae. I was born in Wellington and grew up in Wainuiomata surrounded by extended whānau, my grandparents, parents and six siblings. I am the oldest of seven. I have lived in many places, and eventually, I returned to Kirikiriroa 25 years ago after living here during my secondary schooling years as a boarding student. My husband is Tuana’i (Naí) Le’au’anae and we have seven tamariki and 13 mokopuna. I love spending time with my whānau, especially my mokopuna. I enjoy the outdoors and love to do raranga (weaving with traditional resources – harakeke/muka and contemporary resources). I enjoy teaching, learning, and performing Kapa haka with my mokopuna, and I love sports and music (Jazz / RnB).

After 22 years working in various roles at the Ministry of Justice, I am excited to join the boarding staff as the senior house parent, and I look forward to connecting with and forming new relationships with staff, boarding students, and their families. I am reminded of the following whakatauki;

He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata! He tangata! He tangata!
What is the most important thing in the world? It is people! It is people! It is people!

This whakatauki reminds me of what is most important – it isn’t the money, nor success, nor a job but it is the people - creating and being a part of a community and enabling people to flourish. Tēnā koutou katoa.

Hi I’m Jaimee, I’m from Australia and a gap student this year.

I was in university to become a primary school teacher, hoping to work as a special needs teacher one day. I love travelling and plan to see the world;  New Zealand is my first stop. 

My name is Rachel Field-Kozak. I am 19 years old and am from Port Elizabeth, South Africa. I attended Collegiate Girls' Junior School and spent my last three years of high school at Kingswood College. I played waterpolo and hockey in school and enjoyed participating in a team sport. I am taking a gap year to determine what pathway I want to study at university next year. I come from a family who loves to travel, and it’s a great opportunity that I will get to experience this year in a new country. I’m looking forward to experiencing new things and forming great bonds! 

Hi, I am Nigel Gresson. I have long associated with Dio as my daughters attended from Years 7 to Year 13. The eldest one, Emma, was involved with the choir and the youngest, Rachael, was Deputy Head Girl in her last year. Both competed at the representative level, respectively, in rowing and basketball. Both have achieved Master's degress in their speciality area, Emma in fact went to the USA on a full scholarship with rowing. I also coached Basketball at Dio from 1999 to 2013, and I am keen to be once again associated with the school as the boarding van driver.