Leadership

Educated at Macquarie University and a Chartered Accountant since 1991, Santino Dimarco joined NBCS as Business Manager in October 2021. With over three decades in finance and operations, and serving on not-for-profit boards including Northcross Christian School, The Crusader Union, and Arden Anglican School, Santino brings a rich expertise to leading the financial stewardship and sustainability of the school.

Early in his career, Santino worked in both large and small accounting and consultancy firms, as well as in the banking and finance sector (including Touche Ross, Deloitte and Commonwealth Bank), before commencing his own practice in 2001. Selling his business in 2010 gave him the opportunity to serve in ministry at St Andrew’s Anglican Church Roseville in finance, operations, and a music leadership role (he plays keys and drums), until 2021.

Married to Meredith and with three adult children, Santino’s professional and personal life is shaped by his Christian faith. He draws particular encouragement from his favourite bible verse, Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

This responsibility sees innovative educational practice continue to build, with a vision to provide every student with excellence in their experience of education and to set them up for achieving their personal best in preparation for life after school.

Tim joined NBCS in 2005 as a Science/Geography teacher, following completion of a Bachelor of Science (Environmental) degree and Graduate Diploma in Education. He also completed a Masters of Educational Leadership through Macquarie University. Taking leave from NBCS in 2008-09 to live and work in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tim brings a passion for both ‘Excellence in Education’ and ‘Christianity in Action’ to his leadership and teaching.

Drew has been at NBCS for many years teaching and leading PDHPE and Sport. Drew is also trained as a Child Protection Investigation Officer.

Mick has many years’ experience and is skilled in conflict resolution, mediation and case management of student issues in Secondary.

Mick is a registered Child Protection Investigator with the Association of Independent Schools. He is responsible for ensuring that issues concerning the wellbeing of students are managed appropriately and that all investigations are conducted with procedural fairness and natural justice.

Mick has a Masters Degree in Education.

Jann’s role is to provide professional accountability and ensure that our teachers have appropriate levels of professional knowledge, practice and professional engagement that will improve the outcomes for our students.

Damien is passionate about Jesus and enjoys walking alongside students, staff and parents on their faith journey. He is responsible for the oversight of Chapel, Christian Studies, and voluntary groups where students can go deeper in the Christian faith. He often says we will teach students ‘how’ to think, not ‘what’ to think. Damien is excited to return to NBCS to help students find meaning, articulate their beliefs, and see people become the best version of themselves under God.

Eric has spent over 30 years in senior leadership roles in leading independent schools in Sydney and as Head of The Scots School, Bathurst. He has also held senior management roles in private enterprise ventures in the property sector. As an experienced school leader Eric’s role on the Board of NBCS is to draw on his experience in education and business. He wants to share his passion for education with a desire to see students achieve their potential, learn to think critically, to live intentionally, and to be the best they can be. He believes all children have extraordinary God-given potential and the NBCS environment provides the opportunity for students to realise their potential and to respond to God’s call on their lives. Eric believes NBCS is well positioned to build on its excellent reputation for responsive, personalised and cutting-edge educational practices and to achieve outstanding character development and academic outcomes for all students.

Lesley has been involved in languages education in Australian schools and universities since the early 1970s. During the 1990s she was sessional Lecturer in Indonesian at Charles Sturt University, Bathurst. Lesley then moved to be Lecturer in Languages Other Than English (LOTE) Education at the University of Tasmania, where she completed her PhD in 2001. After Lesley’s move to the University of Sydney in 2002 she became further involved in internationalisation of higher education, first as the Director of Study Abroad, Exchange and Short Term International Experiences in the Faculty of Education and Social Work from 2006, then as Associate Dean International from 2009 to 2014. Between 2007-2010, Lesley was President of the Australian Federation of Modern Language Teachers’ Associations (AFMLTA), the national peak body for language teachers in Australia.

Between 2012 and 2014, Lesley was the Community Outreach Advisor for the Executive Committee of the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre, at the University of Sydney. Between 2010 and 2014, Lesley has been joint coordinator of DEPISA: Developing Educational Professionals in Southeast Asia, a bi-annual meeting of educational professionals from Thailand, Laos, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, South Korea, and Australia.

She has sole-authored and joint-authored/edited numerous book publications, book chapters and refereed journal articles since 1990. She has reviewed papers for a number of national and international languages education journals.

Lesley has supervised numerous doctoral, masters and honours projects to completion. She has consulted on languages education to schooling systems and government agencies, and has designed and taught many language teacher professional development workshops and programs.