Bula Vinaka, Ramram and Kia Ora,

My name is Cathrine Kaur, and I began teaching at Marian Catholic School in 2021.

I started my teaching career in Fiji in 2012. In 2016, I put my teaching career on hold and went back to University to do a Masters in Business at the University of Waikato. But, as they say, true passion never dies. I found my way back into teaching, and I am now blessed to be part of the Marian family. Being Catholic is an incredible part of my identity and at Marian I get to be Catholic.

As a Kaiako, I have high expectations of my students. Supporting my students to reach their full potential is at the core of my teaching practice. I find great joy in helping students discover something new everyday.

When I’m not in the classroom, you will find me at the beach with a good book in summer and on a mountain in winter. Luckily, New Zealand is well known for its pristine beaches and stunning mountains.

Talofa lava to all,

I am a mother of 4 beautiful children and my husband and I relocated our family to Hamilton at the start of 2021. I am a passionate Catholic teacher and I really enjoy what I do. Teaching is my vocation, so I bring to it all the important values of being an effective practitioner and a compassionate servant of God. I began teaching in 2007 and I have a range of experience in teaching, as well as in leadership roles such as DRS, MLE Team Leader, Mentor Teacher and Within School Teacher for Kahui Ako in both Auckland and Hamilton.

As a NZ born Samoan, my culture and heritage is key to what makes me unique and I am passionate about growing all learners, especially our Māori and Pasifika learners. I am an active participant in the community with strengths in Connected Learning, Religious Education, Special Character, Performing Arts and a growing love of Sports. I teach using pedagogies that implement personalised learning, collaboration and digital technologies. I know I am an effective practitioner and my learning culture is built amongst strong catholic and family values.

"Through Christ, we can do all things" Philippians 4:13

Kia Ora,

My name is Crystal Withey, and I began my teaching career at Marian Catholic School in 2023.

I value having strong relationships with my students. As a teacher within the intermediate school, my passion is to support them in being curious lifelong learners as well as to guide them through this stage of their life. Our classroom is an inviting and colourful place, the students are often excited and show a readiness to learn.

When I am not in the classroom I enjoy being at the beach and spending time with family and friends. I am a very creative person, so some of my hobbies include painting, photography and scrapbooking all of life's moments.

I feel blessed to have joined the staff at Marian Catholic School in 2020.

My teaching career began in Tauranga where I spent 28 years. I moved to the Waikato region in 2013 to continue my professional journey.

All throughout my teaching career I have been very mindful that the students I have the privilege of working alongside are the future of our world. As a teacher I aim to support the students by nurturing their development of a positive sense of self worth and by assisting them as they continue to grow as confident, self-directed, creative & critical thinkers on their journey towards becoming life-long learners.

Outside of work, I enjoy relaxing by reading, watching my favourite television programmes, going to the movies or theatre and exploring Hamilton - having recently moved here. I also love travelling and cannot wait until life is such that I can safely do so again. My trips to Europe included three visits to France which is why I love taking the C3 French language option in LC5... and getting the students to try escargot as a treat.

I began working at Marian Catholic School in January, 2012 after teaching at St Pius X, St Joseph's Fairfield and Te Pahu schools. I love teaching in Room 20 and Leading our LC5 team for many reasons. I love working with students, and learning alongside them and other adults. I have a great team of teachers around me that I really enjoy working with.

My many passions and interests in LC5 include sport, (I lead the LC5 sports programme, support the Student House Leaders and Sports Council, and coach netball) math, literacy and art. I enjoy developing students’ confidence and self expression skills through writing, and completed my master’s degree on motivating boys’ in writing. In maths I really enjoy extending children’s thinking around the ‘why’. There’s nothing like building growth mindsets and a love of a challenge! I have lead ALIM Maths programmes and enjoy engaging students in Messy Math sessions.

My strengths and passions in the classroom involve building meaningful teaching and learning relationships, while creating interesting hands on learning experiences. I thrive on variety and creativity, and believe every child has something to offer to our classroom, LC5, our school, and our changing world. I find that learning in a catholic school inspires children to develop their spirituality and hauora like no other environment can. Our te reo confidence and learning is growing as we support each other to learn more about Māori culture every year.

Outside work, I enjoy spending time at home, the beach, or in the bush with my friends and family (we have four adult children) working in the garden, playing sport, or walking/running with Bailey.