Educational Psychologist

Hineuru is based in Hamilton but travels to children throughout the southern Tainui rohe. Hineuru's whakapapa links her to Te Ati Awa and Tuhoe. She is one of the few Māori in the entire country who is a registered educational psychologist.

Hineuru is part of an early intervention team, so all her tamariki are preschoolers. In her mahi, Hineuru helps families and early childhood education staff make the best decisions they can to support their tamariki's learning.

As a first step, she'll talk to a tamaiti's family and early childhood educators, identifying their concerns and hopes for a child. She'll also talk with them about possible learning goals before carrying out a formal assessment.

If a child's whānau and educators are mostly concerned about the tamaiti's social skills, Hineuru's assessment will involve watching how the child plays and interacts with others and playing and interacting with the tamaiti herself. She might also consider the child's communication, motor development and approach to learning. Parents and educators are often asked to observe the child's behaviour in their own time, collecting specific information for Hineuru.

Hineuru says the early intervention approach is wide ranging. She liaises with the specialists and therapists in her team and from local hospitals, and she works with people from community agencies who support a tamaiti. Hineuru shares the information she gathers with parents and educators, surrounding a child with a team of supporters.

"I believe that we all have expertise and knowledge to share with one another - that, together, we are a team. The family is part of the team, alongside those of us from Group Special Education and other agencies. Our perspectives are different but our interest is shared. We are all there for the child."

As part of Hineuru's assessment, she works with a child to trial different strategies that will best help them learn. She shares her findings with whānau and educators so they too can learn more about the child's behaviour and feel more confident supporting them at home and at the early childhood education centre. Together, they'll develop a learning plan for the tamaiti that includes all the successfully trialled strategies.

Hineuru says: "Most of the children I see are referred to me because mums and teachers are finding their behaviour difficult. But their behaviour is often just the tip of the iceberg and so I explore aspects of their child's learning that may be bringing about the concern. It's like unravelling a mystery and I like to take the lead from those who know the child best."

Finally, it's Hineuru's job to work with a tamaiti's whānau and educators to make sure the physical environments of a tamaiti's home and centre are set up to support that child's learning, skills and interests.