Teacher - Room 13
Marcel Bormans
Hi. My name is Marcel Bormans.
I was born and lived for 19 years in Auckland attending Macleans College. My father is Dutch while my mother's family is Bohemian, being one of the founding families of Puhoi, north of Auckland, back in 1863.
I am married to Steph, my beautiful wife. Steph is a Real Estate salesperson with Harcourts. Together we have 5 amazing children, a dog and a cat.
Our eldest son, Nathaniel (23), is currently on his OE, living and working in Bath, England, with his partner, Joe. Tyler is (20) and is living at home while he and his girlfriend, Liv, complete their final year of study for quantity surveying. Luke is 18 and studying to become a licensed Real Estate salesperson. He will join Steph as part of Team Bormans. Lisa (17) is in Y13 at Hillcrest High School, while Michelle, our youngest at 14, is in Y9 at Hillcrest High School. Michelle is an ex-student of Berkley. Donny (10-12), our cat, is a manx, while Ash (7), our dog, is a Bichon Shih Tzu.
After living in various countries overseas for 7.5 years and gaining a degree in Philosophy, I returned to NZ where I gained my Primary Teaching degree. I began teaching in Te Awamutu in 2004, moved on to Dargaville in 2007 before coming to Hamilton and teaching at St John's College in 2012. At St John's I was a teacher of Religious Education and I held the position of Director of Catholic Character for 5 years. I then took a years break in 2024, becoming a licensed Real Estate salesperson and working with Steph before returning to my passion, teaching, here at Berkley.
My life and professional experience have enabled me to become well-rounded as a teacher. I love to coax students to work to the best of their ability, to believe in themselves, to know that - with hard work and a constant effort - they can achieve in ways and to a level that they probably never thought that they could. I guess one of my strongest virtues in the classroom is patience and being non-judgmental. For me, what happened yesterday stays there and today is a new day with new opportunities.
My classroom vision is that the students I teach learn to take ownership of and responsibility for everything that they think, say and do. The training wheels need to come off, and independence needs to set in, and that is what I am passionate about helping them do.