Our School

Meet the Principal

Welcome to our School.

I am delighted to welcome you to Langwarrin Park Primary School. We have a vibrant, nurturing learning community where students are encouraged to strive for their best in everything that they do.
We support the academic, social and emotional development of every student and work hard to ensure that our learning environment is inclusive and respectful.

At LPPS we foster strong and productive partnerships with parents, creating many opportunities for parents to be involved in classroom support and activities. We encourage you to work closely with us so that you have as much information as possible about the curriculum programs that we run and the policies and processes that support our daily work. We greatly appreciate the role that parents play in supporting the learning needs of our students and making our school a great place to be.

We are justifiably proud of our teaching and learning program which focuses on the core areas of literacy and numeracy while at the same time offering students a rich array of subjects to stimulate and engage. These include:

  • Language Other than English (LOTE) – Auslan
  • Health and Physical Education – which includes an impressive Water Safety and
  • Swimming program using our on-site swimming facility (YMCA/Kings)
  • Visual and Performing Arts
  • Music
  • ICT – Digital Technologies
  • Integrated Studies – incorporating Science, History, Geography and Civics and Citizenship.

It is a privilege to be the Principal of such a great school and I am very proud of our students and our dedicated teaching staff. Please contact the office if you would like further information or a school tour.

Richard Barren
Principal

Staff

Principal
Mr Richard Barren

Assistant Principal (Wellbeing)
Ms Debbie Haddow

Assistant Principal (Teaching & Learning)
Mrs Kym Gilchrist

Classroom Teachers

F01
Emma Middlebrook

F02
Lauren Jackson

F03
Kellie Rose
Level Leader

F04
Julieanne Brooks

F05
Danielle Barrett

F06
Rebecca Moulton

1/13
Kim Zerafa

1/14
Sharna Dean-Wright
Whole School Inclusion Leader

1/15
Lisa Dempsey
Level Leader

1/16
Makayla Young

2/17
Kristen Whitehead-Bell
Level Leader

2/18
Kamika Hart

2/28
Mandee Clark

2/29
Bec Gilchrist

3/22
Rowena Blake/Maddie Angell

3/23
Kaylah Wainwright

3/24
Brenda Petkovic
Learning Specialist

3/25
Sarah Keane
Level Leader

4/19
Meggie Andrews
Level Leader

4/20
Cleo Samson

4/21
Jarrad Rose

4/26
Ms Ashlee Exner/Ms Cassy Peace-Stirling

4/27
Rowan Freake

5/33
Richard Emerson

5/34
Ashlee Grant
Level Leader

5/35
Merilyn Thompson

609
Scott Hannah
Level Leader

610
Jackie O’Neill

611
Amy Milne

612
Holly Smith-Pill

Specialist Team

PE
Sue Burt
Franca Valeri

Visual Arts
Melissa Hamilton
Sarah Bailey

Performing Arts
Jenny Barnett

Music
Di Pendlebury
Erica Eichner

Auslan
Jessica Cooper

TLI
Sue Anderson

Numeracy Intervention
Jo Smith

Education Support Team
(Admin)

Business Manager
Sue Guest

Office Manager
Joyce Stocker

First Aid Officer/Reception
Fiona Smith

Accounts
Bridgit Dooley
Shona Byrnes

Facilities Manager
Ron Skidmore

School Gardener
Carol Hopper

Maintenance
David Geddes

Librarian/Community Engagement
Kate Mowat

DET IT Technician
Malik Ahmad

Education Support
(Teacher Aide)

Luana Lane (Welfare Officer)

Adrian Burrage (Network Inclusion Leader)

Kerryn Cornelissen

Naomi McMaster

Travis Shakes

Trudi Paydon

Caitlin Rossi

Natasha Deveraux

Sarah Roney (THRIVE Network Leader)

Fiona Biss (Speech Therapist)

School Sculpture

The LPPS Sculpture – ‘Achievement’

In 2002 John Ahearne, an artist studying at Frankston TAFE, was commissioned to design a large scale sculpture for the school. The inspiration for his work ‘Achievement’ came from the world famous Bradshaw Paintings discovered in the Kimberley region of Western Australia in the 1900s.

These ancient cave paintings were discovered when Captain Joseph Bradshaw and his brother rode west from Central North Australia in search of new grazing land for their cattle. The terrain became so rough somewhere north of the Prince Regent River, in the heart of Kimberley, that he and his brother became lost and stumbled upon a group of caves. When they explored them they found a series of incredibly sophisticated paintings which have become known as the Bradshaw Paintings.

The paintings were not recent creations but originate from an unknown past period. When the first settlers occupied the area, the Aborigines told them that the Bradshaw Paintings were “before their time”. According to legend, they were made by birds. It was said that these birds pecked the rocks until their beaks bled, and then created these fine paintings by using a tail feather and their own blood. This art is of such antiquity that no pigment remains on the rock surface, it is impossible to use carbon dating technology.

Fortuitously, in 1996 Grahame Walsh discovered a Bradshaw Painting partly covered by a fossilised Mud Wasp nest, which scientists have removed and analysed using a new technique of dating, determining it to be 17,000 + years old. This discovery lends solid support to Grahame’s theories about the true antiquity of these works of art. They are considered to be amongst the most Ancient Rock Paintings of Earth?

The artist John Ahearne, noting that the Bradshaw figures were examples of how ideas, messages, stories could be illustrated two dimensionally through simple forms, created the cluster of thin three dimensional forms which look as they have moved from the cave walls into life! The forms are meant to be touched and our students relate very well to the five figures which symbolise striving for ACHIEVEMENT through collaboration and cooperation.

The sculpture takes pride of place in the central courtyard of Langwarrin Park Primary School.

The information and visuals on the Bradshaw Paintings was compiled from the Bradshaw Foundation. Have a visit and find out more about the paintings that acted as the inspiration for our school’s magnificent sculpture.

Schools’ Privacy Policy