What we do at Active Little Learners

The Active Little Learners Charitable Trust was established in early March 2022 by two dedicated individuals: Anthony Denissen, an accomplished sports coach and, Anita McLaren (née Punt), a celebrated sportswoman.

Anthony and Anita share a profound passion for sports and firmly believe in the importance of children developing fundamental movement skills from a young age. Through this charitable trust, their goal is to ensure that their expertise and resources are accessible to all families within the community.

Active Little Learners aims to cultivate healthy habits that last a lifetime. Children and their families will experience numerous benefits, including improved coordination, enhanced resilience, developed social skills, and increased self-confidence.

Statistics

The Active Little Learners programme has been successfully delivered to over 35 early childcare centres over the  last three years, across the Nelson/Tasman region. Reaching over 1,300 children between the ages of 2 and 5 years.

Weekly & fortnightly centre sessions

Rural visits

Community sessions

Anthony Denissen

Director, Lead facilitator and Co-founder

Anthony has over 30 years experience in sports coaching and management in New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and England.

  • Director of Sport, Ashton College Ballito
  • Sports Manager and Director of Hockey, Westville Boys High
  • Youth Development Officer, Hockey Southland, New Zealand.

Email anthony@activelittlelearners.org.nz

Part-time facilitators

Anita McLaren (née Punt)

Part time facilitator and Co-founder

Anita is a former New Zealand hockey player with over 270 caps.

  • 2 x Olympian
  • 3 x Commonwealth Games
  • 2018 Nelson Sports Women and Person of the year
  • 5+ years experience in sports coordinating.

Cherie Llewellin

Kia ora, I'm Cherie. I'm so excited to be apart of the team at Active Little Learners.

I recently graduated with a Diploma in Sport and Recreation from NMIT.

I love getting to know your tamariki. I am passionate about them giving things a go and praising effort not achievement.

When I am not teaching sport in ECE I also work for Richmond Football Club, and run the amazing girls only Fantails program in Nelson. I can usually be found on Saturdays on the side of a football field with a coffee in hand.

I am a māmā to 3 amazing children; Declan, Poppy and Flynn. My husband is Bryan and we live in Richmond with our crazy Jack Russell. In my spare time I love camping with my family somewhere near a beach.

Come say hi if you see me around, I love a chat and would love to meet you.

Board Members

Lee Corlett

Having spent 20 years in the Military at a Physical training Instructor, and 25 years as a sports coach covering gymnastics, athletics and BMX, Lee had a passion for children’s physical activity. Lee founded Kindy Sport Nelson in 2000 and delivered activity programmes to kindergartens, pre-schools and the community for 18 years. In that time, Lee averaged working with 600 children every week from Hokitika, across the Top of the South and Wanganui. Lee is still involved with working with children with his work at Broadgreen Intermediate and Athletics Nelson.

Luke Swart

A businessman, currently an adviser for Generate Kiwisaver. Being a qualified professional accountant and financial advisor, Luke has worked in many finance and insurance roles over the last 20 years. Luke has previous experience working with Charitable Trusts, from the application of funds through to reporting on charitable donations. Luke truly enjoy's working with the youth and is passionate to assist in the development of Active Little Learners.