About Us

Vivien – Manager

Nihao，Huan ying ni men.

Welcome to join us in Fun N Play.

My name is Vivien and I come from Guangzhou China with more than 10 years experience in project management in a prestige multinational company. I respect diversity and like collaborating with people from different backgrounds . It is my pleasure and honor to join in ECE sector.

I value the importance of teaching and nurturing our young kids from the very beginning so that it will leave meaningful and inspirational marks for their future.

Geeta – Head Teacher

Namaste everyone.

My name is Geeta. Geeta name meaning is Holy Book of the Hindus. I am from India. Here, I am living with my husband. I am very friendly, adjustable, supportive and jolly person. You always see a smile on my face. I love children that’s why I opted teaching as my profession. I love to try different art and craft activities and fun activities with children

Urmila Prasad – TEACHER

My name is Urmila Prasad, I am originally from Fiji

I am self-starter and well presented, well organized and motivated person. I am hard working and good at planning. I am always keen to learn new skills and try new ideas to extend children’s learning through their interests.

I am a good team player and I have ability to communicate with kids of all ages. I have strong play skills engaging with children. I am dedicated to uphold a professional standard of work.

Sophie Wang -Registered Teacher

My name is Yan but I go by Sophie.

I am a positive, easy-going, open-mind and good time management person. I am also passionate, patient as well as responsible when working with children. I believe every child is different and unique. If working with children, I should get down on the children’s level and offer choices for them. I should value and develop each child’s strengths, interests, skills, abilities and knowledge to extend their learning. The children at the Centre come from many different cultural backgrounds. I respect culture diversity, I am able to celebrate the benefits of diversity with each individual child and enable them to understand and acknowledge differences.

The early years of a child’s life are busy. I believe learning is happening all the time and is interwoven through all developmental domains. Therefore, the goal of my program is to make their ongoing learning experiences safe, positive, and fun, nurturing the whole child as I strive to guide them into the next stage of development with confidence in themselves and an excitement for continued learning.

Honeylyn Galon – Centre Cook

Magandang araw sa inyong lahat

I’m Honeylyn Galon, I came from Philippines.

I’m a married and have 2 kids (1 boy and 1 girl).

I chose to work here because I love being around children. I like to build relationships with children, their families and getting to know them on a more personal level and especially for all the teachers.

This is my first job here in NEW ZEALAND.

To my family FUN N PLAY thank you so much for this opportunity.

Gizalyn Asis Gelbolingo – Registered Teacher

Hello there!

I am Gizalyn (Giza) Asis Gelbolingo, with the degree of Bachelor in Elementary Education (Level 7).
I’ve been teaching for more than 10 years in the Philippines.
I am grateful to be part of FUN N PLAY center which nurtures diverse learners and commitment is invaluable.
I am passionate about working with children because they are so full of potential, watching them explore, learn, and grow is incredible.
I look forward to a wonderful time of learning together.

Tuimala Fevaleak – Teacher Aid

My name is Tuimala Fevaleaki, and I am delighted to share that I am joining the Fun N Play Childcare Centre. I bring years of experience working in the early childcare sector in Sydney, Australia where I will continue to grow my skills as a casual educator your centre.

I enjoy arts and crafts, listening to music, and spending time with my family. I am also a second-year student studying to gain my Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood Teaching) at Auckland University of Technology (AUT) on the south campus (Manukau).

I grew to love the educator role since it has taught me to learn from children’s funds of knowledge and how the world is seen from their perspective. I look forward to working alongside you all for the betterment of the children as the African proverbs say, “It takes a village to raise a child”. Thank you for giving me this opportunity.

NINI – Teacher Aid

Kia ora, everyone. My name is Xinyi Xu(NINI),Iam from Nanjing, China. I graduated from AUT University’s Early Childhood Education program in 2024. I am good at music and I can play the piano, ukulele, and guitar.
I look forward to growing with you at Fun n play!

My philosophy

My educational philosophy is aligned with Vygotsky’s socio-cultural learning theory, Dr.Emmi Pickler’s and Magda Gerber’s learning theories. Both theories focus on aspects including cultural, social, free development and emotional development.

I am committed to creating inclusive and equitable learning environments for every tamariki. I believe that every child is an individual who exists uniquely, so I advocate tailoring instruction to the child’s needs, creating tamariki familiar learning environments and more choices through the child’s social and cultural background, which is more conducive to the child’s learning and psychological development. Bringing the culture behind the child into the center, also helps the child to accept other cultures as early as possible.

As a ECE Kaiako, I should share information about different aspects of children, gather and integrate resources, and through this we can better understand children’s needs I advocate more letting children off the leash while ensuring that they are given the respect and opportunity to learn. As an ECE teacher, I will strive to incorporate different cultures and backgrounds into our classroom so that each child feels relaxed and accepted. This will support children to learn through their immediate environment, culture and the people around them, whilst ensuring their personal development is respected and nurtured. Since Te Whariki promotes bilingual education, I will try to incorporate te reo and tikanga into my daily teaching in different ways to show the parents that the child is constantly developing, which is in line with Te Whariki’s philosophy that when the child, the educator, and the parents are working towards the same goal, it will be accomplished more quickly.