Aperfield Montessori Trust

Trust members

	Suzanne Drury-Turnbull (Chairman) Diploma of Teaching ECE Aperfield Diploma of Teaching in ECE Previously proprietor of Montessori Horizons Preschool, Riwaka Currently supervisor at Rainbow Preschool and Nursery
	Di Fenwick is one of the founding members of the Aperfield Montesssori Trust and was one of our first AST tutors at the Christchurch College of Education. Di was a teacher at the Courtyard Montessori preschool in the early 1990's before she and her family moved to Beijing, China. There she trained as an English as a Second Language teacher and spent five years teaching at the International School in Beijing. Returning to New Zealand in 2001 Di has continued to work in the ESOL area. She has renewed her interests in Montessori by becoming an Aperfield Trust Board member and is a distance tutor.
	Deborah Gath Registered Teacher Registered Nurse (Psychopaedic) Diploma of Teaching Early Childhood Education Certificate of Childcare Aperfield Montessori Diploma ECE Bachelor of Teaching & Learning (Christchurch College of Education) Lecturer Aperfield Montessori Diploma (Christchurch) Trustee of the Aperfield Trust
	Elaine Low trained as a Primary Teacher over 20 years ago. She completed her Early Childhood Training and operated a centre in Akaroa for 5 years - the 'Ngaio Akaroa Preschool'. When numbers dropped she closed the centre and opened Airdmhor Montessori in Christchurch. Over this year, she completed her early Childhood Diploma and the M.W.E.I Montessori Primary Diploma. Elaine completed the papers for her Bachelor of Teaching and Learning degree. She is a trustee of the Aperfield Montessori Trust.

Staff

	Mary Stephen (Executive Officer) Mary's role involves maintaining the smooth running of all aspects of the Day to Day business of the Trust, including liaison with the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA), Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) and the Ministry of Education (MOE). She was a member of the inaugural Aperfield Montessori Diploma class which first ran as an Advanced Studies for Teachers (AST) course at the Christchurch College of Education in July 1991 and has completed the Diploma. She also has another part time job tutoring students with specific learning disabilities. Her Montessori studies have complemented her teaching of students who require learning support.
	Vida Schurr (Educational Co-ordinator) Vida obtained a Diploma of Teaching (ECE) through New Zealand College of Early Childhood Education before managing an early childhood centre in Wellington. She returned to Christchurch to study for her Bachelor of Teaching and Learning from the Christchurch College of Education and was a lecturer at the New Zealand College of Early Childhood Education. After teaching overseas in Sweden, Vida returned to New Zealand to start a family and has since completed her Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching and Learning through the University of Canterbury. Her role as the Eductional Coordinator is to support both the tutors and students while working closely with the Executive Officer in maintaining the course at its NZQA approved level.
	Petra Marks (Administrator for Distance Learning Students)
	Bobbie Kempthorne (Publications) initially trained as a Registered Nurse in Christchurch. It was while she was "specialling" a small person in a Montessori preschool that she met up again with the Montessori philosophy her own children had been educated in as preschoolers in Australia. She decided to retrain as a preschool teacher, which she did at both Massey University and Rangi Ruru Early Childhood College and she is now employed by the Aperfield Trust. Initially she was involved in the creation of the module part of the course, in order to establish the Aperfield qualification as a diploma rather than certificate.
	Paul Rinsma (Treasurer)

Friends of the Trust

Dr Karyn Davis has a background in science, having worked in medical research for several years before completing a PhD in genetics in 1996. Since then she has worked in the field of freshwater fisheries management until returning to New Zealand in 1999 where she lives on a farm on Banks Peninsula with her husband and two young children. Her interest in Montessori Education began when her children started at a Montessori preschool in Christchurch. She completed the Aperfield Montessori Diploma in Early Childhood Education in 2005 and was a member of the Aperfield Montessori Trust Board.