Education Consultant
Qualifications
- BA Hons. Degree (Education)
- Registered teacher with the Education Council of Aotearoa, NZ (Exp 4.5.2025)
- MoE Accredited PLD Facilitator
- Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) Qualified to teach in England, UK
- Further & Adult Education Teacher Cert, UK
- HND Electro-mechanical B-Tec Engineering
Andria’s career path has not been a traditional one.
She started in engineering (Andria is a highly qualified electro-mechanical engineer), progressing to teaching adults in further education in 1996. Having qualified as a school teacher in England in 2002, Andria found her life-long passion.
Observed and described as an exemplary class teacher, Andria quickly excelled in the area of specific learning needs for individual students. She found her niche in meeting the needs of children with special educational needs. e.g. ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder), ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and other dys-orders.
As an outstanding teacher and part of a school’s leadership team, Andria has provided professional development and support to many colleagues and numerous families.
Working with students, teachers, professionals, parents, family and whānau in kura and schools in both rural and urban locations, Andria has spent the last 7 years actively researching and working in New Zealand.
Out of this, Andria has invented creative, innovative tips and tools to suit Kiwi kids and whānau. These empower people to harness their own gifts to effectively ‘find their own way in life’.
When Andria witnessed a 12-year-old ‘Hat’ talk a 10-year-old ‘Hoodie’ out of taking their life by suicide using a method she taught ‘Hat’ 5 years earlier, Andria founded Happy Talk Trust.
Described as an “inspirational speaker” by awarded principal Pem Bird,
Andria’s skills and experience include:
• Conference speaking – three Ngā Kura a Iwi o Aotearoa
• Teaching – MoE accredited PLD facilitator
• Parenting – Foster parent to 8 children
Andria owes her colossal success to the fact she has most of the dys-orders she
talks about, and is keen to share these solutions that shape dys-orders into a
gift, not a disadvantage.
My aim remains the same today… To empower people to be able to:
1. understand what we are signing
2. fill out forms
3. budget to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table
“My dream is to teach Playcentres, Kohanga Reo, ECC’s and educators of under 8’s how to routinely identify dyslexia etc and unlock children’s ability from them being able to read, write and count the letters and spaces in their name.” says Andria.