Meet Our Team
Teaching and Mentoring Staff
Kintara Phillips
Kintara has been a Secondary English teacher for more than 25 years and has built her career around supporting gifted and neurodivergent young people. Her passion for gifted education began through her own parenting journey and grew into formal training, leading to a Graduate Certificate and later a Master of Gifted Education from UNSW.
After a long and fulfilling teaching career, Kintara has now stepped out of the daily classroom to focus on improving outcomes for gifted learners on a broader scale. She supports teachers and schools to better understand the diverse learning needs of gifted and twice-exceptional students, and continues to mentor pre-service teachers who will shape the next generation of education.
At Emergence Education, she works closely with families and a small number of home-schooled gifted students, offering expertise in English, Literature, and advanced academic pathways. From 2026, due to her growing commitments in psychology, Kintara will be offering academic support exclusively for Year 12 students.
Alongside her educational work, Kintara has returned to study and is now a provisional psychologist, currently practising at First Steps Psychology. Any families seeking psychological therapy or assessment should contact First Steps Psychology directly, as these services are offered outside of Emergence Education.
Emily Keegan
I began my teaching career in 2011, and I have worked in a range of government, independent and Catholic schools over the last 10 years. In 2018 I gave birth to my daughter, and this shifted my view of education – we were always working towards an assessment, a score, a product. I felt as teachers we often had to say ‘no’ to things by default – why was this?
This led me to search for something more as a teacher – how could I be more accommodating and move to ‘yes’ being the default? I wanted to support my students to navigate the challenges of school so that they were free to not only be kids, but also explore the world – what better time to learn for the sake of learning, celebrate thinking and creativity, instead of just striving for the magic ATAR number.
I have completed a Graduate Certificate of Child, Youth and Family therapy and I am Mental Health First Aid qualified, so that I feel equipped to tackle difficult conversations and provide a more wholistic approach to working with young people.
My approach to working with your young person is to look at the goals that you share as a family. I work with students who find school challenging and need a guide and mentor to navigate secondary school. I want to be your young persons’ cheerleader – the person who is on their team when they might feel like the world is out to get them.
Emily’s academic areas of expertise are VCE Psychology, Humanities 7-10 and 7-10 English. She also has extensive experience with writing appropriate IEP/ILP type documents.
Tom Sharkie
Tom is a VIT registered teacher, Food Scientist, Bio-Chemist, and Languages expert. He is fluent in Latin, Ancient Greek, Japanese and Chinese, plus dabbling with other languages. He loves gardening, especially with plants he can cook or turn into poison (he has promised not to teach the children this).
Emma Donaldson
With over 20 years of experience in both public and private school systems, Emma enjoys working with primary and lower secondary students.
Her passions include empowering student voice, supporting wellbeing, promoting Indigenous curriculum, and fostering literacy. Emma firmly believes that by understanding the whole child—how they learn best and what their interests are—great learning will follow.
Emma’s two teenagers have diverse learning needs spanning neurodiversity and disability, and her Corgi, Queenie, is convinced she is descended from royalty.
Jack
Jack is currently studying for his Master's of Teaching Practice (Secondary). He recently completed his undergraduate in Global Business and has run a small manufacturing and electronics business for over 7 years now. Jack also started and completed 3 years of an Engineering degree in Advanced Manufacturing but deferred this to pursue a degree in education.
Jack has extensive experience in 3D Printing, 3D modelling, computer design, and advanced manufacturing processes. He also has an interest in teaching physics, science and maths. He also has a passion for business, entrepreneurship and global supply chains.
Jack's sessions usually revolve around STEM and involve electronics and circuits, 3D Printing, physics design and chemistry. He enjoys collaborating with students to develop personalised learning plans that leverage their existing interests and knowledge while expanding their understanding through practical and hands-on experiments.
Ryan
Ryan is a secondary teacher currently completing his Master of Teaching (Secondary) Internship. With an academic background in English and History, Ryan is passionate about sharing stories and critical thinking through language, literature, and the past.During his undergraduate years, Ryan studied Albanian histories while living abroad deepening his appreciation for cultural narratives and global perspectives.
Alongside his work in education, Ryan has professional experience in providing valuable healthcare working in various pharmacy dispensaries across Queensland and Victoria. His passion in bridging science and art together brings curiosity and creativity into every learning space.
Beyond these two backgrounds, Ryan enjoys testing his knowledge even further by always saying ‘yes’ to trying out new enriching hobbies. He is committed to fostering meaningful learning experiences and excellent learning outcomes.
Allied Support Staff
Niki
I am a creative arts therapist (ANZACATA Professional Member) who draws on relational, neurobiological and developmental processes to create conditions for change and growth to happen. Working with adults as well as kids and teens, I see constant evidence that humans are primed to be creative, and that creativity can be applied to anything to find new questions and answers.
I particularly love working with young people on coming to grips with the complexity of the world, as a necessary foundation in working towards other types of functional outcomes. I am experienced in supporting people with divergent ways of processing information (including at the sensory and cognitive levels), as well as anxiety, depression, chronic stress and grief.
My training was in the Master of Creative Arts Therapy (Dance Movement Therapy) at the University of Melbourne. As a dancer, movement is my first artistic language, but I see Art as a very broad spectrum of action and experience. I typically incorporate visual, verbal, spatial and enactive elements into my sessions alongside physical movement (broadly defined) - my focus is on finding the right ingredients to meet people where they are.
I also have a degree in philosophy from USYD, which significantly informs my approach. No question is too big! We might not find an answer, but we can look together from all angles.
Ginger
Ginger is an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker with over 15 years of experience supporting young people and their families. Ginger specialises in school-can’t, anxiety, trauma-informed support, and helping families navigate complex school environments. She works holistically with both parents and students, offering practical strategies, emotional support, and collaborative planning with schools.
NDIS funding may be used for Ginger’s services.Ginger has flexible availability in 2026 – please get in touch to book a time.