Adrienne Buckingham

Adrienne is passionate about the benefits of taking a psychological approach to enhancing student engagement and teacher/student wellbeing. An experienced teacher (with over 15 years working with adolescents and their families both here and internationally), she has a Diploma in Positive Psychology and Wellbeing from the Langley Group Institute in Australia and is the developer of MenFit, a classroom programme for 14-year-old boys, demonstrated to improve wellbeing.

Faced with the increasing challenge of helping young people navigate the 21st century, Adrienne found that best practice teaching needs to be complemented and enhanced by research-informed strategies for wellbeing to enable optimal performance.
A curriculum leader in two schools and, with the last 7 years spent in pastoral care focusing on behaviour management, student wellbeing and supporting staff, her deep knowledge of school context and the NZ curriculum, as well as wellbeing and resilience, are key assets for our team. Her zest for her subjects and students is palpable, and her empathy and relational skills fundamental to the work she does to support wellbeing teams in schools.

Adrienne graduated from Trent University (Canada) in 2003 with a BA (Hons) in Psychology and English Literature. She attended Christchurch College of Education (New Zealand) which led to her first teaching job at Otago Boys' High School.  Subsequently, Adrienne taught Psychology at Ravens Wood School (United Kingdom), Drama at The English Academy (Kuwait) and English at Kavanagh College (New Zealand) before returning to 'the castle on the hill' to learn about pastoral care and wellbeing.

Monday 6 April | 2.20pm
Choosing a wellbeing model for your school