Kia Ora,
I’m Caron Ace . I have been a teacher for the past 20 years and I have taught every year level from Year 0 to Year 6 but Juniors is where my heart lies.
I have been teaching at Te Totara Primary for a number of years now and it has been a privilege to be the Team Leader for the Orion team for the past 6 years.
Teaching is my passion and I love the way the children are so excited to come to school and learn. I love the wonder in their eyes and the excitement they have when learning new things.
I am married to Shaun and we have two awesome children; Maddie, who is beginning year 10 this year, and Jayden who is Year 11.
Outside of school, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, gardening, reading and tiki touring in our Chevy.
My door is always open so feel free to pop in anytime and say hello!

My family and I have been part of the Te Totara School community for 6 years, and our 3 children are either past or current pupils. We immigrated from South Africa in 2009, and made New Zealand our new home. We lived on the West Coast of the South Island for 9 years working as Dairy farmers and moved up to Hamilton in 2016, where I returned to full time teaching. I am passionate about teaching and watching children grow in their best self, in partnership with their whanau. My motto: "A teacher, takes a hand, opens a mind, and touches a heart."

Kia Ora,
My name is Shontae Black. I graduated from the University of Waikato with a Graduate Diploma in Teaching and a Bachelors of Social Work.

A child’s well-being is very important to me as well as creating a safe and welcoming environment for our tamariki and their Whanau.

In my spare time I love spending time with my family and attending the copious amount of sports games for my nephews and niece. I have a passion for creating embroidery pieces and trialing new cross stitching designs. I love adopting new forms of arts and crafts in a class, as I believe that children can express themselves in their own creative ways.

I am excited to meet you all, please feel free to come and have a chat.

Kia ora, my name is Sarah Gill. I am part of the Orion Team at Te Totara Primary School teaching in Room 9.

I am looking forward to meeting all the children and their families who are starting in this class. I come from both an Early Childhood and Primary Education background having taught in both sectors for a number of years now.

I bring with me a passion for teaching, lots of enthusiasm and knowledge about how young children learn and develop. I am excited to make the children's early school experience one that is positive and enjoyable.

My partner is Gareth and we have two children Riley, Mila and our large German Shepherd Zeus. I love spending time with my family at the beach fishing or hunting and exploring together.

My door is always open so feel free to pop in anytime and say hello!

Kia ora, my name is Julia May.I have been lucky enough to spend the past 2 years at home with my daughter, Sophie. My husband is the principal of Tauwhare School on Scotsman Valley Road, so we love spending the school holidays together as a family.

I have been teaching new entrant / Year 1 students for the past 10+ years. My hope is to help you and your child/ren transition as smoothly as possible into school life at Te Totara. I like to nurture and encourage children through their learning journey and help them develop the social skills they need to be happy at school. Please come and talk with me about how best to settle your child into school.

Kia Ora.
My name is Mary Silverton (many of the children know me simply as Mrs.S). I have spent my entire teaching career working in Hamilton schools, most recently at Knighton School. I have previously been a Resource Teacher Special Needs (now known as Resource Teacher Learning and Behaviour), and especially love working with Junior School children - they are naturally intrigued about the world around them and are such excited learners. While working for many years across the curriculum at this level, I have a particular strength in developing children's early literacy skills. I am also very focused on growing their self-awareness and levels of independance, helping them on their journey to become Te Totara STARS.