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)
Term Three Staffing Changes
As always, in a large workplace, we have some small changes to staffing during term three;
Jenny Wheatcroft will be reducing her time fraction to four days a week. This means that she can still take all classes for their amazing Arts lessons, but will be unable to continue to teach in JKJ on a Monday. We are very happy to announce that Jen Dunnell (who worked in our senior school last year) will be returning to teach on a Monday in JKJ.
Bek Tankard (classroom teacher from SRK and our Wellbeing Leader) will be taking leave for the entirety of term three. Bek will be exploring her creative side, and taking a well earned break. In the classroom, Bek will be replaced by Scarlett McKee on a Monday and Tuesday. Scarlett has worked at BNWPS for a number of years in an ES (Education Support) role, but has now completed her teaching degree and is very eager to get into the classroom. Kate Middleton will increase her teaching days in this class from two to three and will work Wednesday to Friday - thanks Kate!
Part of Bek’s role will be covered by Mariska Copping James, who will work at school for two days each week and will run focussed social skills groups. Mariska is currently studying a Bachelor of Social Work with a focus on Group work, theory and practice. She will use the Social Stencil framework to work with students from years two to six on social skill development.
Emma Costard (one of the amazing teachers in SEA) will be taking leave for the first six weeks of term three, and will be returning to her home country to get married surrounded by family and friends. Emma will be replaced on a Monday and Tuesday by Frank Guarino (who worked in our senior school last year) and Andrew will increase his working days from two to three, meaning that he will teach in SEA Wednesday to Friday.
If you see Frank, Jen, Scarlett or Mariska in the yard, please make sure you make them all feel welcome.
Winter Solstice/Wirrang Celebration
We would like to thank everyone who attended or contributed in any way to our fantastic Winter Solstice event last Friday afternoon. It was so lovely to see, hear and feel the gentle Winter BNWPS buzz. It was so lovely to connect with so many members of our community - past and present. A truly beautiful afternoon!
Yellow Ladybug Conference 2026
The yearly Yellow Ladybug Conference brings together autistic experts from the allied health, education, advocacy, research, care-based and creative sectors to share their experience, work and ideas on how to better support autistic girls and gender diverse youth at school, home and beyond. Our classroom teachers and ES staff were able to attend this year’s conference through the online platform, and found it to be useful, informative and thought provoking. They identified some clear and simple strategies and practices that we can employ to continue to make BNWPS a more neuro affirming space and community.
Term Three School Calendar
A hard copy of our Term three 2026 school calendar will come home to families later this week. Term three is jam-packed with lots of exciting moments and events, so we recommend you keep the calendar somewhere visible so that your family can be ready to engage in each and every one of them.
Just a reminder that on the back of the calendar is a brief description of some of the big events that will be happening. This information also includes key contacts for each event in the instance that you might have a question or a wondering, or you might like to offer your support. Other important information on the back of the calendar is the upcoming key dates and events for the next term (in this case term four 2026!) It can be so easy to pin the calendar up at home, and then forget that this important information is right there on the back.
We would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a restful and restorative school holiday break, and we look forward to seeing you all back at BNWPS on Monday 13th July.