Getting to know our new teachers - Mrs Zelda Engelbrecht

Born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa in the 1980s, is Year 6 teacher Zelda Engelbrecht, who joined the Primary teaching staff at King’s Pimpama this year.  Mrs Engelbrecht grew up in Richards Bay - the largest export coal terminal in the world with 65 million tons loaded every year from this port in South Africa.

At the age of 21, Mrs Engelbrecht immigrated to New Zealand and lived there for 21 years before moving to Australia with her husband, Steve and son, Anthony.  

Before completing her Bachelor of Education in Auckland, she also had experience in hospitality, customer service, finance, recruitment and coaching, which have all aided in her approach to teaching in the classroom and dealing with her students.  Her various career pathways gave her the perspectives to listen fully, then respond; help with reading situations; a smile can change anyone’s day and it’s free; respect is reciprocal and altruism is contagious.  These mindsets have moulded Mrs Engelbrecht into a caring teacher.

When Mrs Engelbrecht was at school, she got extremely involved in all the activities available but was passionate about sports and culture.  She played many hours of netball, sang in the school choir, helped out at the tuckshop, participated in the school theatre productions and was also a Christian leader.

These days when she is not in the classroom teaching, she enjoys long walks with her dogs, spending time with the family, swimming, gardening and watching movies. However, acting or being disrespectful to anyone or anything is one thing that will annoy Mrs Engelbrecht.

Something you might not know about Mrs Engelbrecht is that she sang the South African National Anthem at one of the Rugby World Cup games in Wellington with the choir Umoya. 

Mrs Engelbrecht’s favourite quote from researcher and storyteller Brene’ Brown is  “Vulnerability is not winning or losing; it's having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome. Vulnerability is not weakness; it's our greatest measure of courage.”

She would like to encourage all her students to not be afraid of being vulnerable.