St Paul's Anglican Kindergarten, CanterburyMeet our incredible team
When you walk through the doors at St Paul’s Kindergarten, you aren’t just walking into a classroom—you’re stepping into a community built on years of love, trust, and dedication.
Did you know that many of our educators have been part of the St Paul’s family for many years (and in some cases, decades!)? This long tenure means our team offers a rare level of stability and deep-rooted experience. They’ve watched families grow, welcomed younger siblings, and perfected the art of making every single child feel safe, seen, and celebrated.
Our educators don’t just teach; they nurture, inspire, and care deeply about your child’s unique journey. We are incredibly proud of the capability, wisdom, and heart they bring to work every single day.
Maya Shmait
Early Childhood Teacher: Rainbow Group (3 year old)
Nominated Supervisor/ Educational Leader
Maya joined St Paul’s Kindergarten in 2026. She holds a Bachelor of Early Childhood Education.
Maya is committed to creating a warm, inclusive, and engaging environment where every child feels a strong sense of belonging and is celebrated for their individuality.
She views children as capable, confident, and active learners, and values their autonomy in shaping meaningful learning experiences that reflect their interests, strengths, and needs.
She recognises families as children’s first teachers and believes that meaningful collaboration between educators and families is essential in supporting each child’s learning and development.
With a bilingual background, Maya is deeply committed to inclusive practice and ensuring that all children are supported to learn and develop at their own pace, with their diverse identities, languages, and abilities respected and valued.
Georgia Lambert
Educator: Rainbow Group (3 year old) / Pre-Prep (second year of 4 year old)
Georgia joined the team in 2025 and has a Diploma in Children‘s Services and has over 8 years of being an Educator in a kindergarten setting. She also holds a Graduate Certificate in Pre and Post Natal Family Support.
Georgia has a passion for children’s learning and development and is loved by the children for her warm and nurturing approach.
In 2026 Georgia is supporting Maya as the Educator in Rainbow group and supports Cece in Pre-prep group on a Thursday.
Natalie Coulson
Early Childhood Teacher: Red Group (4 year old)
Natalie holds a Bachelor of Early childhood and is a qualified Yoga teacher and has been at St Paul’s Kindergarten for 19 years. This year, in 2026, Nat is leading the Red group as ECT.
Natalie is co-author of two best-selling teacher resources incorporating play spaces into early childhood settings. She enjoys incorporating music and dance into the learning program, along with supporting the needs and interests of the children.
Natalie values the importance of positive partnerships with families and is committed to ensuring all children have a positive experience at St Paul’s Kindergarten.
Kate Elsbury
Educator: Red Group (4 year old)
Kate has a Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care and has been an educator at St Paul’s Kndergarten for 16 years.
Kate has extensive experience working with children with additional needs and has a particular interest in creating inspiring play spaces. Known for creativity, Kate has more than 14 years experience as an Educator in both our three and four year old groups and is a very loved staff member by all the children.
Alison D’Amico
Educator: Red Group (4 year old)
Alison joined the St Paul’s team in 2015 and holds a Diploma of Early childhood Education and Care.
Throughout the past 11 years Alison has had extensive experience in working with young children, having been an educator in our three year, four year and pre-prep programs.
Alison loves to encourage children’s artistic abilities and gets great joy out of seeing their imaginations come through in their art. Her creativity and artistic flair is evident in the inviting play spaces that she creates in the kinder room and the incredibly engaging way she can read any story book!
Rita Earl
Early Childhood Teacher: Pre-prep (second year of 4 year old)
Rita has been an ECT at St Paul’s for 8 years and is one of the two Early Childhood Teachers for the Pre-prep group in 2026.
Rita’s goal as a teacher is to celebrate each child’s diversity, view them as confident and involved learners and to ensure all children are supported by creating an inclusive and equitable learning environment.
Rita enjoys developing relationships with families and working with them to make shared decisions about their children’s education.
With a bilingual background, Rita has an interest in developing programs that support children with English as a second language and has extensive experience with supporting children with additional needs.
Cece Kong
Early Childhood Teacher : Pre-prep (second year of 4 year old)
Cece joined St Paul’s Kindergarten in 2026 and one of two Early Childhood Teachers for the Pre-prep group.
Cece completed her Graduate Diploma of Teaching (Early Childhood) at the University of Melbourne in 2016 and has since worked across a range of settings including kindergartens, long day care centres, her own family day care and university.
Originally from China, Cece is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese, and her multicultural background inspires her to create an inclusive and diverse learning program.
Cece also has a strong interest in supporting children’s early literacy and numeracy development through engaging, play-based learning experiences that foster confidence, curiosity and a love of learning.
Rania Drakopoulos
Educator: Pre-prep (second year of 4 year old)
Rania has been an eduator at St Paul’s for 10 years and holds a Diploma in Children’s services with over 16 years of experience as an Educator for sessional kindergartens and long day care.
Rania is very passionate about her Greek heritage and teaching children about diversity, inclusion and culture. Rania also has extensive experience of working with children with additional needs and loves celebrating the achievements of children with her bubbly and excitable nature.
Lauren Hurst
Admin Officer and Enrolments
Lauren is originally from South Africa and came to Australia in 2006 with her family. Lauren has been a part of the St Paul’s Kindergarten team for more than 14 years and spent a number of years as an Educator in our 4 year old group.
Lauren holds a Diploma of Business Management, in which she has over 30 years experience and since 2014 has been part of the St Paul’s Kindergarten Leadership team in her role as the Office Administrator and Enrolments officer. Lauren is very loved by all the children and she very much enjoys popping into the classrooms to visit the children each day!
29 Highfield Road, Canterbury VIC 3126
(03) 9830 1117
For all enrolment or program-related queries please contact our Enrolments officer via email: office@stpaulskinder.org.au