Waitākere College
Mrs Arifah Wright
Student well being, as well as their personal and academic success, is paramount to Arifah. She encourages students to be the best version of themselves by helping and supporting them so that they have a positive experience while studying abroad.
Arifah has worked for over 10 years with tertiary and secondary international students. She has had experience working as an international student administrator, international homestay coordinator, international director as well as attendance and welfare advisor.
Having lived overseas for her entire childhood, and only coming to New Zealand for tertiary study, Arifah has a strong understanding of the challenges people face when coming to a new country alone and is here to support the students.
Knowing students on a personal level is important to Arifah. Agents, parents and students are welcome to visit any time and our door is always open to our international students.
Mrs Tomoko Dinnis
Tomoko has over 20 years of work experience in the NZ Education sector. She has previously worked as the marketing manager, student administrator, homestay coordinator, and director of international students.
She was also once an international student studying in New Zealand and the UK. Therefore, she can relate to the challenges and difficulties international students and their families may face and can provide them with first-hand solutions and suggestions.
Throughout her career, providing excellent student support with compassion and empathy has always been of paramount importance in delivering her professional duties. She loves seeing students blossom as they navigate their educational journey in New Zealand.
She is passionate about supporting people from various cultural backgrounds as she strongly believes learning about other cultures promotes respect, transforming people into empathetic and open-minded individuals.
Principal
Mr Shanahan has been the Principal at Waitākere College since 2007. In 2012 he was awarded the NEITA Excellence in Education Principal's Award.
Auckland-born and bred, Mark was educated at St Paul's College in Ponsonby, the University of Auckland and UNITEC.
Before arriving at Waitākere College, Mark was the Deputy Principal at Kelston Boys High School and Assistant Principal at Northcote College.
Head of Department ESOL
International Students’ Academic Advisor
Sally is an EAL specialist who has taught in New Zealand for over 17 years after a brief stint in the UK and Japan. Born and raised in Auckland, most of her teaching experience has been in secondary schools in New Zealand with large migrant populations, where she has been responsible for the ESOL department and coordinating programmes for and supporting students from refugee backgrounds. She has a postgraduate Diploma in Language Teaching and an MA in Applied Linguistics (First Class Honours) from the University of Auckland, which included a dissertation on extensive reading, notably the motivation of Pasifika students to read extensively in high school.
42 Rathgar Rd
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