Physical Education
Anna Nichol
Anna Nichol is the specialist physical education teacher at Rose Park Primary School. She has a Bachelor of Education from the University of South Australia in Junior Primary/Primary teaching, specialising in physical education. She has been a teacher for 17 years both as a classroom teacher and a PE specialist, predominantly in South Australian Independent Schools and more recently in the Education Department.
Anna enjoys working as a specialist teacher in the subject area that she is passionate about along with coordinating SAPSASA sports, swimming carnivals and sports days. Her teaching methodology promotes a happy and safe learning environment where students are encouraged to be individuals, to always try their best, and to have fun while learning. Her teaching includes an active approach, where learning occurs through hands-on practice, inquiry, cooperative learning, and reflection.
Science
Leah Rippin
Leah has been teaching at Rose Park Primary School for 10 years! She now works part-time and enjoys the balance between family and school. Leah has a great love for Rose Park Primary, and the wider school community. She has thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated her time here.
Leah has a young family and lives in the gorgeous Adelaide hills. Her family enjoy spending quality time together, making lasting memories in the great outdoors.
Leah is a passionate and nurturing early childhood educator, whose goal is to inspire a lifelong love of learning where children are intrinsically motivated to wonder, imagine, create and make new discoveries each and every day.
Leah looks forward to many more wonderful teaching and learning experiences with the beautiful students and families at Rose Park Primary School.
Abby Stevens
Abby has been a full-time classroom teacher for 7 years. Most recently, she taught at Loreto College and Mercedes College. There, she honed her skills and gained valuable experience, always striving to ignite curiosity and foster a love for learning in her students. She is very excited to work part-time as a Science Teacher at Rose Park Primary School this term. This change in her career was sparked by the arrival of her beautiful daughter, Mia. Embracing the joys of motherhood, she now balances her time as a teacher and a parent.
At Rose Park Primary School, Abby is excited to continue her mission of nurturing inquisitive minds. She is a firm believer in inquiry-based learning; a teaching approach that encourages students to think creatively, explore, and collaborate. Abby is devoted to creating an engaging and dynamic learning environment, where every child can thrive and develop a lifelong love for science.
Outside of school, Abby enjoys cooking, hiking, running and spending time with her young family.
Japanese
Niki Peak
Niki Peak has been teaching Japanese at Rose Park Primary School since 2008. She studied Japanese language and gained her Bachelor of Junior Primary and Primary Education at The University of South Australia. She has spent a considerable amount of time studying and sightseeing in Japan. As an Endeavour Language Teacher Fellowship awardee, in 2014, Niki took part in an intensive course of Japanese language and cultural immersion and gained much insight into the future direction of primary school language education.
Niki first travelled to Japan when she was in year 7 on a school exchange trip, and fell in love with the country. Her passion for Japan, its people, and its language and culture has led her to continue to share this with her students. When she started in her role as Japanese teacher at Rose Park, Niki worked to set up a sister school exchange programme. In 2014 Rose Park Primary School signed a sister school agreement with Jyosei Elementary School, Hikone, Japan.
Niki believes that learning a language should be fun, so endeavors for all of her lessons to be hands on and engaging for a wide variety of learners. Japan’s many wonderful cultural aspects, both traditional and modern, provide Niki’s lessons with many points of fascination for young learners. Niki hopes that through learning Japanese at Rose Park, students gain an appreciation of other cultures and languages, and are fostered to develop their international mindedness.
Performing Arts
Janet Parkinson
I am very pleased to be back at Rose Park having taught here in 2019 and 2020. This year I will again be working with the Festival Choir which will perform in the Festival Theatre in September and preparing the year 5 students to perform their Musical “Gladys Baker: Gladiator”.
My background in performing arts began when I started piano lessons in Reception which I continued until I studied Music as a subject in year 12. Since then I have joined a professional choir to sing at weddings, concerts and Carols by Candle light many times. I studied Music, Dance and Drama at University and started teaching in independent schools. Since then I have taught in Education Department schools in the city and country, preparing students to sing, dance and play in the Festival of Music, musicals, school concerts and End of Year concerts.
I enjoy living in the city to see friends, family and attend performances. I also like to stay in the country where we grow fruits, vegetables and go walking and water skiing.
Technologies
Sarah Howard
Sarah Howard loves to teach and learn. Recognised for her passion, professionalism and commitment to her students and colleagues, she is thrilled to be joining the team at Rose Park Primary School as Technologies Teacher.
Sarah empowers students to manage their learning and teaches the skills required to develop lifelong learners and problem solvers. She has worked as a classroom and specialist technology teacher, implementing 21st century learning design in her own classroom and conducting professional development sessions for teachers.
Over the last 20 years as an Educator, Sarah has worked in multiple roles and settings from preschool to Year 10, Leadership, Technologies, The Arts, Japanese and PE. During her undergraduate studies, Sarah was a founding teacher at Theatre Bugs performing arts school in Norwood and continued teaching there while working as an early career teacher in schools.
Notable areas of special interest and experience include teaching and coordination roles at UniSA Education programs, training teachers in 21st Century Learning Design, implementing the Kimochi Wellbeing program, facilitating educational and social skills programs for students requiring flexible learning options, and leading a diverse range of whole school events.
Sarah loves spending time with her family and friends. Weeknights you will find her walking along Torrens Linear Park with her fur baby, Max the spoodle. Weekends are spent with extended family in Paracombe and Central Market shopping. Holiday breaks are often spent caravaning, waterskiing and other travel adventures with her family.
EALD
Maria Miranda
Maria has been teaching for 14 years working predominantly within the Intensive English Language Program (IELP). She has taught in Northern Adelaide areas and has worked within mainstream settings to teach English to newly arrived refugees and migrants from a vast array of cultures at Salisbury North Primary.
She thoroughly enjoys teaching a range of positive English language strategies to support students to become confident in speaking, reading and writing the English language and to develop their sense of independence and resilience to learning.
This year she works collaboratively with the English as an additional language or dialect (EALD) teaching team and class teachers at Rose Park PS to provide intervention programs for our EALD students. She will support students and teachers in classroom and in small groups in literacy and writing for assessment and learning. She looks forward to working with students, families and the wider school community.
