Te Kete Hono Team
Judy Newcombe - CEO
Judy Newcombe is working with us in an advisory role. Judy has worked in a range of roles as a university lecturer and sociology researcher, management consultant, senior manager in Tower NZ, Telecom (now Spark) and Fonterra as well as in leadership roles in the education not for profit sector. She has served on the Boards of Competenz and Stonefields Collaborative Trust. Judy is driven by the aspiration for children to flourish in an equitable society and by the opportunity to support the growth of Te Kete Hono as a sustainable social enterprise contributing to improvements in learning outcomes for all of our students.
Dr Jana Benson - Professional Learning and Development Lead
As our Professional Learning and Development lead, Jana works with teachers and schools to establish and develop a shared language of learning and believes this is fundamental for learners’ agency and their assessment capability.
Jana has extensive experience of working with schools in areas of learner agency, local curriculum development, writing graduate profiles, evaluation of teacher impact, digital learning, AfL, and leading/coaching collaborative inquiries. She is passionate about learner agency, and has actively pursued this in leading a Kahui Ako Achievement Challenge, leading a TLIF project, and in her doctoral study.
Ilya Federov - SAAS Lead
Ilya is our Head of Technology and one of the original co-founders of SchoolTalk. He has over 20 years experience in software development and team management in various industries. He is passionate about education, product development, and creating efficient teams.
Ilya makes sure the Te Kete Hono team has all the technology support they need, and the relevant processes and tools in place to achieve excellence.
Bob Miller - Product Owner and Data Analytics Lead
Bob supports a variety of kaiako, kura and kāhui ako to analyse their impact on values and capabilities that have not traditionally been quantified such as agency, hauora and engagement. He is passionate about the power and potential of data to inform and drive change in education, and also supports educators to make greater use of their traditional data sets.
Bob also has extensive experience in leading and developing rich learning design and the creative use of digital technology. He supports a number of teams to develop pedagogy that is purposeful, holistic and inclusive.
Jason Colman - Lead Technical Support
The go-to guy for all things tech; Jason is a pivotal member of the Te Kete Hono technology team.
Jason draws on his experience as a Teacher Aide to support users and work on the development of new technology. Through teaching, Jason used SchoolTalk every day as a user and he says he saw first-hand how it empowered teachers in their day to day practice.
Natasha Shumilova - Support Developer
Natasha is a former student of Stonefields School and now works as our Support Developer. She knows first hand how a great school environment makes the difference for learner experiences and progress. She looks after support queries and develops improvements to our systems.
Natasha is passionate about pair programming and mobbing, and is determined to get results so our systems run at their best.
Mel Prasad - SchoolTalk Facilitator
Mel Prasad is passionate about closing the equity divide, and getting the best possible outcomes for all learners, regardless of their age, stage or capabilities. I believe that it is crucial to have learners at the center of teaching and learning, allowing them to take ownership and be a full participant in their learning journey.
As a teacher of 13 years, I understand the struggles and demands placed upon teachers in today’s climate. I aim to work alongside kaiako to ease their load and save them time, all whilst enhancing teacher effectiveness. I am so excited to be part of this team and to continue to support teachers to unlock their full potential.
Samantha Craig - SchoolTalk Facilitator
My name is Samantha and I am one of the facilitators of Te Kete Hono and I am here to set you up for success on SchoolTalk. I have been with Te Kete Hono since January 2022 and I bring with me a wealth of knowledge around learning in the digital space. My teaching career began in 2013. Since then I taught in a variety of different contexts including a range of deciles, countries and learning environments. I know first hand the challenges of educating learners in the 21st century.
During my time as an educator I discovered a passion for using digital tools to enhance the teaching and learning experience, not only for the learners, but teachers as well. As a result I went on to lead my school in IT. During that time I set up a robotics lab and led my fellow teachers in implementing a variety of digital platforms to enhance their efficiency and effectiveness. Shortly after, I took on a role as an Across School Leader for my local Kahui Ako. I was able to take these skills and help teachers across other schools. It was this role that lead me to Te Kete Hono - SchoolTalk.
I always say that SchoolTalk was the app I wish I had during my time as a teacher. I love the way it takes the teaching, learning and assessing process and codifies it all within one app. I appreciate how time poor teachers are today, and SchoolTalk can speed up the processes that can take up a lot of time and brain power. I can see the value that learners and their whanau can get from having access to their personalised learning and progress, any time, anywhere. SchoolTalk is the future of learning management systems and I am so excited to be part of something so innovative.
Louise Mitchell - Administration
Louise joined Te Kete Hono as administrator in July 2022. With a background in travel and also in the charity space, she brings her exceptional organisational and administration skills to the team, assists with arranging professional development workshops, and helps with the growth of the SchoolTalk client base around New Zealand and further afield. She says she is excited to be part of the growing TKH team and is enjoying learning so much about the education sector.