Our staff
At the heart of our centre is a dedicated team of nine qualified teachers committed to the development and well-being of our children and their whānau. This includes two Service Leaders who manage our daily operations and business administration, ensuring the centre runs seamlessly and provides leadership to the teaching team . Supporting our core team is a regular reliever, our Kai Creator, and our Finance Administrator.
We believe in the power of community. Our Parent Committee—comprising parents, our service leaders, and a staff representative—acts as our governing body. Meeting every six weeks, the committee ensures the centre remains sustainable and continues to meet the needs of our local community by reviewing financials, health and safety, and management reports.
Our centre prides itself on fostering quality interactions that exceed Ministry of Education requirements. To ensure the highest standard of care, all teachers hold current first-aid certificates, and our entire staff is committed to ongoing professional development.
Anna Lewis, Service Leader– Bachelor of Education (Teaching) – Early Childhood
Kia Ora! I have been a proud member of the Bowen community since July 2010. Growing up on farms and starting my working life in shearing sheds taught me the value of hard work and community. I made the big move to Wellington in 2007 after discovering my passion for childcare as a live-in nanny.
I currently balance my week by spending four days at Bowen, leading the team alongside Shelley and working within the learning environment, and one day within a local school. This dual role gives me a unique, front-row seat to recognising the links between Te Whāriki and New Zealand school curriculum. I am dedicated to identifying and nurturing the social, emotional, and cognitive skills children need to feel confident beyond Bowen and the classroom.
Establishing and maintaining warm, respectful, trusting, and reciprocal relationships with children, their families, colleagues, parents, and the wider community is at the core of my teaching philosophy. I strive to create an environment where curiosity is celebrated, ensuring children leave eager to discover and learn.
I believe we are all lifelong learners. As a leader, I am committed to inspiring my team to be their best and cultivating a shared vision for our centre. By supporting my colleagues to take on challenges and feel valued, we ensure that Bowen remains a high-quality, supportive, and passionate community-based centre for all.
“He taonga te mokopuna, kia whāngaia, kia tipu, kia rea.“ (A child is a treasure, to be nurtured, to grow, to flourish.)
Shelley Gainsford – Service Leader- Graduate Diploma in Teaching (Early Childhood Education)
Hi my name is Shelley and I have been working at Bowen ECE Centre since May 2010.
Wellington has always been home, and I’ve lived in the Northern Suburbs my whole life. I’m based in Johnsonville with my husband and our two much‑loved cats.
I completed my Graduate Diploma in Teaching (Early Childhood Education) in 2014 and gained full teacher registration in 2017. Before moving into early childhood education, I completed a Bachelor of Nursing in 2009. My background across both fields has shaped my commitment to nurturing, responsive, and relationship‑based care.
My role as Co service leader working alongside Anna enables me to guide and support Bowen with a strong focus on high quality practice, teamwork and the well being a tamariki, whānau, and kaiako
I have a genuine passion for working with children of all ages, and I love that Bowen offers a mixed‑age environment where tamariki and kaiako learn alongside and from one another. I’m dedicated to creating a warm, caring space where tamariki and their whānau feel welcomed, supported, and free to explore. Helping children grow their confidence, independence, and sense of self—while building strong, meaningful relationships—is at the heart of my practice.
When I am not working, I enjoy going for walks, travelling, shopping, watching and coaching sport, going to the gym and spending time with my family and friends.
Anneke Bhat – Operational support lead- Bachelor of Education (Teaching) Early Childhood
My name is Anneke Bhat, and I started at Bowen in August 2018. I am originally from Dunedin and I am also very proud of my Dutch heritage. I now live in Tawa with my husband Navin and our two children, Aari and Nyah. My Husband is from India and it is important to us that our children grow up with a strong knowledge and appreciation for their multicultural heritage. As a family we love Lego, Formula1 racing and getting out and about around Wellington and exploring this awesome city.
I completed my Bachelor of Education ECE at Victoria University and have been working in Early Childhood Education since 2003. Working at Bowen has been my first time working in a community childcare centre and I am loving being a part of a team that values children’s learning and builds strong partnerships between the centre and home.
I believe all children develop in their own time, and it is up to us as educators to support and encourage that development at every stage of a child’s learning journey. I value input from all members of a child’s extended family as we all have the child’s best interests at the heart of everything we do.
“I am not a teacher but an awakener” Robert Frost
Tegyn Duley – Curriculum support lead – Graduate Diploma in Teaching (Early Childhood Education)
Kia Ora, my name is Tegyn Duley and I joined the team here at Bowen in May 2015. I grew up in Te Puke in the Bay of Plenty, but I have lived in Wellington since 2011, after moving here for university and falling in love with the culture and community that this windy city has to offer. I now live in Woodridge with my fiancé Brett, our daughters Tahlia and Mackenzie, and our 2 cats.
I studied at Victoria University of Wellington, graduating in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts majoring in English Literature. I have always had a passion for working with tamariki and whanau and have aspired to be in a career where I could work within the community to support tamariki and their whanau. Bowen has given me the opportunity to do just that. I completed my Graduate Diploma in Teaching (Early Childhood Education) in October 2017 and gained my full registration in November 2020.
I am a strong believer in nurturing tamariki’s emotional wellbeing, creating a strong sense of belonging, building trusting and reciprocal relationships in order for tamariki to thrive, learn and develop. I am guided by qualities such as love, honesty, respect and communication, nurturing care, trust and patience. I whole-heartedly believe that tamariki need to feel these things to feel and grow a sense of belonging and sense of self-worth. Tamariki will thrive with a ‘full-bubble’ made of aroha, care and respect. I believe that to be a kaiako is to make an important investment in the future, and that it is a privilege to be able to do so.
“Let them be little, fill their hearts with laughter, help them grow wings, nurture their sense of wonder, inspire them to believe and love them like there is no tomorrow”
Sage Waerea-Adams – Bachelor of Education (Teaching) Early Childhood
Kia ora, My name is Sage I have lived and grown up in the Windy Wellington since I was tiny, in fact I use to live just around the corner in Karori. I have since moved to Churton park where I live with my dad and on the weekends, I typically mind my younger siblings, nieces, and nephews too.
I completed my Bachelor of Education ECE in 2020 at Victoria University, I fell in love with teaching approximately 5 years ago and decided to pursue teaching as a career and I truly couldn’t picture myself doing anything else. I couldn’t be any more excited to finally get my registration underway as a part of my growth as a kaiako. My personal teaching philosophy is one inspired by aspects of Reggio Emilia, Montessori and RIE. I value environments and teaching strategies that allow children to be respected and unrushed, where they are granted freedom of movement, have access to loose parts and opportunities to create a circle of security within the centre environment.
I view learning through a holistic lens, a lens that views and considers the various aspects that make up each individual child. I believe looking through such a lens supports developing strong and healthy connections with tamariki and whānau, fostering relationships and communication. In my spare time when I’m not minding children, I enjoy opportunities to go to the beach, cook, bake, watch a good movie or series and just anything creative really.
“A kind of magic happens when you trust, respect, and honour the ideas of children” ~Kellee Nelson
Noe Soames – Bachelor of Teaching (Early Childhood Education)
Kia ora! Ko Noe Kukupa Kamira Soames ahau, kua tino hiamo mahi Bowen ahau! Hi, my name is Noe, and I am thrilled and excited to be teaching and learning here at Bowen. I have been teaching since 2016 and have just recently graduated in 2023.
My personal teaching philosophy envelops the relationships and respect. Building both from experience, and taught learning development through study. I am an enthusiastic person, who is a huge fan of supervised risky play, self-identity, self-efficacy, nature, open ended questions and responses, and all about utilising the spaces we have available. My favourite resource is time. My Love is food. My passion is music. My whanau is first.
Grace Ohlsson – Bachelor of Education (Teaching) – Early Childhood
Kia ora, ko Grace toko ingoa. My name is Grace and I am a qualified ECE Kaiako. I have been working at Bowen since June 2021. I completed my Bachelor of Education Teaching ECE at the end of 2023 through Victoria University.
I have grown up running on the hills of Wellington and lived at the bottom of Mt Kaukau my entire life. I am currently living at home in Johnsonville with my mum, dad, and twin sister. I come from a large catholic family, which has taught me the importance of our connections to our mind, body, and spirit.
I am passionate about working with children and providing a caring, warm, and safe environment where children have the autonomy and support to grow, learn and become confident and competent individuals. I strongly believe in the importance of embracing each child and their family, respecting and valuing their beliefs, cultures, traditions, and routines and implementing them in our practices and daily lives at the centre. I am very much an outdoor person and love to get out on a classic windy, wet Wellington day. We can learn so much from our amazing backyard and the learning opportunities are endless. The outdoors is a unique, challenging, and beautiful environment, which I love to incorporate into my teaching practice. When I am not working or studying, I enjoy spending time with my family, playing sports, cooking, baking, and going for runs with my mum and sister.
“Mā te huruhuru ka rere te manu – Adorn the bird with feathers and it will fly”
Lizzy Agnew – Bachelor of Education (Teaching) – Early Childhood
Kia ora, I started here at Bowen in May 2024 and completed my Bachelor of Education Teaching ECE through Victoria University graduating in 2023.I have grown up and lived in Wellington my entire life, spending most of my childhood nestled within the hills of Wadestown. From a young age I always wanted to be part of a profession where I could help others and give back to the community. This and my love towards being with children lead to my decision to pursue a career in childcare.
My approach to teaching is grounded in my deep understanding that every child has their own unique abilities, ideas and beliefs and believe these should be respected, fostered and enhanced within their learning environment and development. Building a strong sense of identity and belonging within the world is incredibly important to me and support this by creating an environment that encourages tamariki agency to pursue their own interests and ideas, building upon these at their own pace.
In my downtime, you can often find me exploring the many incredible nature trails that surround our city or getting creative with different art mediums. Spending time in nature, keeping active and exploring creative outlets have incredible benefits towards our mental and physical wellbeing and I encourage this within all aspects of my practice.
Jamie Alexander – Graduate Diploma of Teaching (Primary)
Kia ora, I began my Bowen journey in August 2024. I completed my graduate diploma in teaching (primary) in 2021 at Victoria University. I originally did my undergraduate bachelors degree in Sport and Exercise. After a few years of working with children in different formats, I realised younger tamariki was definitely where I saw the most benefit in working. With sports in mind, primary age was where I decided to do my study however shortly after graduating I ended up working with the toddler age group, I decided to make the change and broaden by teaching experience working with a wider range of young children which has led me to Bowen and I have found where I fit.
I always grew up wanting to help people and be in a position where I could change someone’s life for the better. This came down to two different career paths – teaching and the police. After doing a lot of work with children over the years I figured that teaching has an impact from the beginning and you can help to shape the path that person will end up on, rather than stopping them from going down a bad one later on. I believe that all children should be given the opportunities that allow them to start on an equal playing field.
I am a local, born and raised in Johnsonville Wellington having only left the area for study (Massey University in Palmerston North) and for an OE trip to the UK in 2019-2020. I am a true advocate for Wellington and always seem to come back.
Outside of being a teacher as I mentioned above, my passions mostly centre around sport and physical exercise. Netball is my main sport of choice but I also play several other sports, including Turbo touch, softball, and AFL. When not playing sport I am also quite involved in a coaching and officiating way which ranges from Und 7’s T-ball to East Netball Club Women’s teams. With any down time I do get in between all of this I will often be watching sport like cricket, netball, rugby or basketball.
“Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game” – Babe Ruth
Nicky Brabant – Unqualified Kaiako/Reliever
Hi my name is Nicky and I have been working in ECE for over 20 years.
I started working full time at Bowen in 2010, leaving in 2018 when my son turned 5 and we moved up to the Kapiti Coast. I came back to Bowen as a reliever later that year and have been relieving at Bowen ever since.
I love working at Bowen as I look forward to seeing familiar smiling faces when I am here.
Andrea McAndrew – Kai Creator (food Safety NZQA Unit 167)
Hi, my name is Andrea and I joined the Bowen team as their Kai Creator in 2019! I have been cooking for early childhood centres for over ten years. Food and children are a passion of mine, so putting them together works out great for me.
I love it when I get to see children enjoy delicious nutritious food. In my spare time I enjoy cooking, gardening and spending time with family, including my two children, Lauren and Sean, Husband Joe and Dog Chassis. I also have a large extended family that I spend lots of time with.
“The most indispensable ingredient of all good home cooking: love for those you are cooking for” – Sophia Loren
Suzanne Dawe – Financial/Office Administrator
Hello, my name is Suzanne. I started here at Bowen in May 2023 and am enjoying being amongst an amazing group of teachers, children and their families. I work Tuesdays and Thursday and am responsible for all things finance related. It is a challenging sector to be involved in financially and I have learnt a lot since starting at Bowen.
My partner and I have lived in Northland for the last 30 odd years, so I know what a great community it is to live in. We have three grown children, two in the UK (one being Joanna who was a teacher here at Bowen) and one in Wellington. The rest of the week I look after accounts and payroll for a primary school in Miramar and a hi-fi shop in Thorndon. I enjoy the variety and working with a cross-section of people.