Belinda (Bee) Nicholls
Hi my name is Belinda Nicholls, but everyone knows me as Bee.
I have 3 children: Noah in HB3, Phoenix in HB5 and Madison in HB5 who all started D1 as new entrants. Our whanau fell in love with Discovery 1 on the very first visit, the environment was inspiring, there was a strong presence of whanau and an obvious rich community - the school, its environment and its values based philosophy just sung out to us and we have never looked back.
Coming from a playcentre background which passionately believes “children are competent and capable learners” and “parents are their child’s best teacher” made Discovery’s philosophy the perfect transition into the primary years of education for our whanau.
I am passionate about natural health & healing, nature, tramping, gardening, Te Ao Maori, community and lifelong learning.
I am a trained Massage Therapist and Aromatherapist, I have worked as commercial photographer many years ago; and together with my partner Phil ran a photographic studio and art gallery for over 6 years.
I have experience in café management, shoe repair, book keeping, self-employment, dairy farming and for the past 10 years have worked in early childhood education - an eclectic range of life skills!
Much of my early childhood career has been as a Playcentre cocoordinator, working with 0-6 year olds. I have held many roles within this organisation including treasurer, president, property/maintenance, project management and grant sourcing to name a few.
I want our D1 kids to be energised and excited about learning, to be strong in themselves and have a world view that inspires them to be all that they want to be as they move forward in their lives.
I love the respect our school shows our tamariki, parents and community, our LA’s are empowering, inclusive and nurturing; their interactions show great respect to everyone as individual and powerful learners.
I strongly believe in our school’s special character and want to see it flourish. I am in awe of the strength and energy that our community has built and functions within. I want to see our community grow and participate fully in the wider Christchurch community.
I believe I have the skills, passion and energy to be an effective and enthusiastic member of the BOT.
