q&a with felecia tomich

Q&A with Felecia Tomich from the Pōhutukawa Learning Centre

Two budding writers, Ines Grayston and Maddie Milne, from Year 8 joined us to interview Ms Tomich. Read on below to enjoy their questions.

You are now called the Pōhutukawa Learning Centre, can you tell us what that means for you and the girls who come here?

We thought the new name, Pōhutukawa Learning Centre, was a really special link to make between what we do and the beautiful symbol of that majestic tree. It really reflects what we are aiming to do with girls in terms of nurturing and nourishing their own growth and belief in their ability to grow and blossom as individuals. We love the way that everything we do is anchored in the school’s philosophy of ‘By Love Serve’ and of always striving to be the best that each of us can be. So, the symbol of the Pōhutukawa tree has become very special for all of us who teach and learn here.

What is it like to be the head of the Pōhutukawa Learning Centre for Years 0–9?

This is the best job in the world because I get to do what I love every day, all day, which is very unusual as normally teachers who are passionate about diverse learners don’t get to be with them for all of their day. I have the most outstanding team of teachers that I work with, and I learn from them every day. I also have the most beautiful girls who come to the PLC every day and I learn from them as they bring so much to our classes.

What is the craziest job you’ve ever had?

The craziest job I’ve ever had was scooping ice creams at the Historic Village in Tauranga on a summer's day when they were having a fair. The line was queued all the way from the ice cream stand back through all of the pathways out of the backdoor and I was a little bit stressed up to my elbows in ice cream. When I went home, I swore I would never eat ice cream again….but of course I did!

How much do you think St Cuthbert’s has improved since the Pōhutukawa Learning Centre started?

I think that what has improved is the way that we operate and work with each other, we are one cog in a very beautiful machine that is St Cuthbert’s and we continue to work together to be the best we can be so that we can support teachers and students in their learning. We will all keep trying. This is the wonderful thing about being a teacher, you never stop learning!

Do you enjoy meeting the different types of girls who come to the Pōhutukawa Learning Centre?

Yes definitely, I love getting to know new students and I meet new students every week. For example, a group of students have just been with me working on a programme that helps build spelling skills.

You’re also a parent of a child in the Junior School, what do you like about it?

I love that every day I get in the car and that my daughter and I get to chat about what our days are going to be like. I feel so blessed that she gets to be part of this wonderful school and that we are both able to experience all the wonderful things that St Cuthbert’s has to offer. I’m very fortunate that I sometimes get to see and wave to her out in the playground and it's just a lovely feeling knowing that your child is a part of a place that I also feel very proud to be a part of. St Cuthbert’s is a family school and I feel very lucky to have the most precious part of my own family here with me.

Do you feel it’s an achievement when a girl graduates from the Pōhutukawa Learning Centre?

Absolutely, I think that we all have to celebrate our successes in life, that’s one of the most important things we can do. Everyone is on a learning journey, we don’t celebrate milestones enough, be they little goals or big ones. The wonderful thing about learning is that we can celebrate growing!

Is there anything that you’ve learnt from the girls you’ve taught?

I wouldn’t be able to count how many things I’ve been able to learn as there are more things than there are stars in the sky! I’ve been teaching a long time. I started as a student teacher at St Cuthbert’s and from classroom teaching to what I do now I learnt everyday. Everyone brings their own wisdom to what they do and this is one of the best gifts about being a teacher. You learn every day from the students you teach.

Do you enjoy teaching and encouraging the girls in the Pōhutukawa Learning Centre?

I do! I think when you are positive then you receive positivity back from others. I really believe that what you put out in life you will get back, and I’m very lucky that I’m in a situation where it's important that we all grow in confidence and self-efficacy. That’s one of our main aims here — to help encourage girls to believe in their ability to achieve. We do that by acknowledging how far they’ve already come, setting goals and tracking against them. At the Pōhutukawa Learning Centre we have girls coming from Year 1 through to Year 13. We support students all the way through. We don’t support every student in the same way as each girl has very unique needs, and that’s why it’s called Diverse Learning Needs. There is no silver bullet or cookie cutter, some students need small group targeted support whereas others need one-on-one time to hone a skill. We support students with reading, spelling, maths, their memory, their organisation – there are so many different ways we help our girls with that little bit of “extra”. For each girl who attends the Pōhutukawa Learning Centre as a team we work really hard with the student to ascertain what each girl’s specific learning need or barriers are and we make it a lot of fun for them!