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.”

As Head of Secondary, Drew is responsible for the leadership and organisation of the Secondary School. He is an experienced educator, who has been a part of the NBCS community since 2001. During this time Drew has held roles as a PDHPE Teacher, Year Adviser, Head of PDHPE, Head of Sport and Assistant Principal Wellbeing. Drew is on the cusp of completing a Masters of Educational Leadership through Wollongong University.

In the Head of Secondary role, he is looking forward to building on the positive culture already established at NBCS by supporting staff, students and parents to develop a Love of Learning, and a focus on Christianity in Action, and Excellence in Education. All of this is to set students up for achieving their personal best and to open up the greatest number of opportunities 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.

As Director of Wellbeing, Pippa is responsible for implementing and planning Wellbeing programs and initiatives across the school (K-12). She is an experienced educator who has been part of the NBCS community since 2016. During this time, Pippa has held roles as an English Teacher, Wellbeing Adviser, and Year Adviser. She has taught Senior English for many years and has been an HSC marker. Pippa holds a Batchelor of Arts with majors in Psychology and English, and a Diploma of Education.

Pippa believes that developing social and emotional competencies are key to supporting student Wellbeing at NBCS. She leads the Wellbeing Team to ensure the welfare of all students, fostering high expectations of behaviour. She understands the vital role of parents in supporting student wellbeing and values parent communication and involvement. Through implementing the NBCS Wellbeing Framework, Pippa aims to build upon the strong foundations already in place, ensuring a strategic and integrated educational approach to Wellbeing in both Primary and Secondary.

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.

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.

​Rev Keith V Garner
MTh (Oxon)

Keith and Carol came from the UK in 2005. Keith trained at Wesley College, Bristol and gained his Master of Theology through the University of Oxford. After 25 years as a Methodist leader in Britain, he was invited to be CEO and Superintendent of Wesley Mission.

His leadership at Wesley Mission involved 2,400 staff. A wide range of welfare and service provision was directed to the aged, families, the unemployed and homeless, those experiencing financial stress, addictions and personal crises. He was a director of the Community Council for Australia. He grew suicide prevention work in over 120 networks across Australia. He conducted live television Easter Day Services from Sydney Opera House for fifteen years and a weekly TV program. He is currently taking part in the launch of a Channel 9 TV program entitled “Helping Hands” showcasing people and organisations seeking to make the world a better place.

In 2018, Keith was a signatory to end street sleeping in NSW, becoming a founding board director for the End Street Sleeping Collaboration. He was an initial board member of the major religious organisations group SEIROS (The Study of the Economic Impact of Religion on Society).

Keith hosted two documentary series – “John Wesley: The Man and His Mission” which won awards at the International Christian Film Festival, and “The Man of Galilee” filmed on location in Israel. He produces a weekly radio message on United Christian Broadcasters in Britain.

Keith was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2015 Queen’s Birthday Honours for “Significant service to the community and for being an advocate for people who are homeless and socially disadvantaged”.

Keith and Carol became Australian Citizens in 2008 and, after retiring from Wesley Mission in 2021, they live in Belrose, and Pittwater Uniting Church is their spiritual home.

Kerryn has a background in finance and marketing. She has worked in Australia and overseas in various roles with Price Waterhouse, Regent Hotels, Four Seasons and the Centre for Public Christianity. Kerryn is also on the Board for Collective Shout, an organisation which campaigns against The Sexualisation of Children in the Media Industry. She has worked with a number of charities and is an Ambassador for the Gidget Foundation, and has been Patron for a charity group Peninsula Pals which raised funds for several charities looking after vulnerable children and youths. Kerryn has travelled overseas with World Vision to Cambodia to highlight and observe their work with education and the effects this has with improving the lives of whole communities. She is passionate about Christian Education and the impact this has on our our society today.