A Message from Keir and Emma

“We would like to acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people, the first people to dream, create, wonder, dance, play and learn on this breathtaking land. This land was cared for and respected for tens of thousands of years. The First Nations people lived in companionship with the animals and the life on this land. We acknowledge that this is stolen land and we pay our respects to elders, past, present and emerging.” 

Rayma Atkinson (2023 Suzanne Peterson Award Recipient)

Welcome to 2026! 

We are very excited about the learning, thinking, re-thinking, connection  and creativity that this year is bound to bring. We genuinely hope that everyone had a restful and restorative holiday period doing things that they love with people they love.

Classes here have started very smoothly - on Wednesday morning (day one!) there was a lovely calm but engaged and energetic buzz in the school yard as students lined up and reconnected with friends and important adults. This buzz continued all the way through to Friday, and we are certain that it will continue all the way through to the end of the year. 

2026 Leadership Team

The leadership team At BNWPS is made up of Keir, Emma, Lilly and Alice. 

Each leader has particular responsibilities as leaders of separate areas of the school; 

Alice Hamilton (Mon & Tues) -  Maths/Numeracy

                                                            Middles Learning Community Co-Leader 

Lilly Van Dyk (Wed, - Fri) -            Disability Inclusion 

                                                            Middles Learning Community Co-Leader

Emma Mallia (Mon - Fri) -            Acting Assistant Principal 

                                                             Literacy/English

                                                             Foundation Learning Community Leader 

                                                             Junior (Grade 1 and 2)  Learning Community Leader

Keir Jasper (Mon-Fri) -                   Principal 

                                                             Guided Playful Inquiry Leader 

                                                             Senior School Community Leader. 

Emma and Keir can be found in the principal's office beside the Culloden St entrance, and Lilly and Alice can be found in the office beside the TLC at the Sprout end of the building. If you are unable to find them when you need them, just go to the front office and staff there will help you in your search. 

As you can see above, each learning community has a Learning Community Leader who works alongside the teachers and the team leader to support the students, families and staff in that team.  You can reach out to this leader if you have questions, concerns or compliments about how, why and what is being taught in these areas of the school, as well as if you have specific questions about the wellbeing or learning of your child. 

In the middle school, we have Alice Hamilton and Lilly Van Dyk sharing the learning community leader  role. To streamline communication processes, we have created one email address that will reach both of the Middle Learning Community Leaders, The email address is middleleaders@brunswicknwps.vic.edu.au. This means that parents/carers do not need to think about which leader works on which day when reaching out, and it means that Lilly and Alice can work through communication with a sense of sequence. Emma (emma.mallia@education.vic.gov.au) and Keir  (keir.jasper@education.vic.gov.au) can be contacted through their own email addresses. 

The communication pathways at the top of this page are there to  help families remember who to contact and for what reasons. To assist this process, we include these communication trees at the start of every ‘Keir and Emma’ page in every newsletter. It might also be handy to print out the communication trees that apply to your children and pop them onto the fridge for easy access.  

You can find out more about our leaders on the ‘meet the team’ page in this week’s newsletter. 

Being Sun Smart 

Victorian primary Schools are required to encourage, teach, support and implement ‘Sun Smart’ behaviours and practices. Part of this practice means that every student should be wearing a sun smart hat when they are outside in terms one and four - this includes recess, lunch and any classes that are held outside (eg - PE or Science/Garden)  

Over the past few days, we have noticed quite a few students who have forgotten their SunSmart hats and were therefore asked to play in the shaded undercover area. 

Sun Smart hats are any hats that have a full brim all of the way around, or a legionnaires hat that has a peak at the front and a loose flap at the back that protects the ears and the back of the neck. 

Hats are available to purchase from the office for $15.

Some School Sunsmart Survival tips for parents and carers -:

• Please write your child’s name on their hat so it can be returned if lost. Avoid naming the label/tag as they can fall off.
• Decorate your school hat. Our school hats are well priced, safe and convenient! But also common - if your child wears a school hat, we recommend to decorate it so it’s easily identified even when someone is wearing it.
• If you buy a hat from somewhere else, we strongly recommend you look for hats with quick release attachments on the chin strap. Playing tag or on monkey bars can become dangerous if a chin strap gets caught; quick release attachments significantly reduce the chance of choking or neck injuries.

Welcome Foundies & families!