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Meet the Team
Owned by a family, not a big corporate, we pride ourselves in our high quality centre.
Amanda & Justin Pipe, with their two young children, are the proud owners of The Junction. Amanda comes from a long history of early childhood education with her mother Maggie-Anne being an early childhood teacher herself.
Amanda originally trained in Accounting & Finance but when she was on maternity leave and looking for a centre for her own children, she realised that there was a real lack of good quality childcare centres in Auckland. Many centres were still stuck in a prescriptive Victorian way of teaching and were not keeping up with our modern understanding of brain science and how children learn. Some centres were huge, chaotic and overwhelming and were focused on crowd control rather than high quality education.
Amanda then decided to follow in her mother's footsteps and make a career in childcare. She bought two childcare centres, staffed them with top quality teachers and focused on providing the best education and care possible based on up-to-date research and a modern understanding of how children grow, develop and learn.
Our teaching team are passionate about nurturing children and are dedicated to putting your child's well-being and learning outcomes at the forefront of everything we do.
Preschool Team Leader
Jessica Tucker
My name is Jessie and I am the Centre Manager at The Junction. I count myself very fortunate to be in a position where I love coming to work each day. The Junction has been a unique experience for me, acting not only as an early childhood centre, but as a community hub where family, children and teachers connect in a home away from home setting. I enjoy fostering connections between home, culture and centre for our precious tamariki, nurturing their belief in themselves, upholding their mana and promoting a sense of kotahitanga/togetherness amongst our group. A happy, secure and cherished child is one who can explore, discover and flourish!
Besides my role here, I am lucky to call myself Mum to my beloved son, Isaac and wife to my husband, Jason. We enjoy living up on the Hibiscus Coast, with our two dogs, Archie and Milo. As a family we love visiting our local beaches, trying new foods and challenging each other at board games. We are also very involved with the local Scouts. On the occasions where I do get a quiet moment to myself, you will probably find me buried in a good book, attempting a puzzle or perhaps painting!
Infants Team Leader
Ayu Romero
I am Ayu and I am the Team Leader in our Infants Room. I am originally from Jakarta, Indonesia. I was awed by the beauty of Aotearoa and decided to make it my second home, where I met my husband, Facundo. We moved in to our first house, here in the North Shore and we have been loving the vibe of living in the suburbs.
I gained my Bachelor of Education in Indonesia with a specific major in Visual Arts. As a part-time artist and full-time teacher, arts and teaching have become my passions in life. I strongly believe in creativity and imagination, and how they are foundations of everything that makes us unique as individuals. RIE philosophies have become the core of my teaching values. I believe the relationship is the heart of everything and supported by these relationships, emotionally satisfied children are then able to participate in quality play and own their learning.
It has been such a privilege to be part of The Junction whaanau, from my 12 years of experience as kaiako, it's one of the places that's special in my heart.