Nadia Sunde
Nadia Sunde – Keynote Speaker | Artist | Educator | Storyteller
Nadia Sunde is a gifted speaker, award-winning performer, published author, and educator whose work celebrates the power of language, creativity, and human connection. With a career that spans professional broadcasting, songwriting, children’s theatre, and community leadership, Nadia brings a deep understanding of how words shape identity, meaning, and purpose – both in and beyond the classroom.
A former ABC radio presenter and internationally awarded singer-songwriter, Nadia is renowned for her ability to communicate with clarity, heart, and humour. She has written and performed hundreds of shows for young and older audiences, collaborated with schools and libraries across Australia, and led professional development workshops that inspire teachers to rediscover their voice and creative agency.
As a keynote speaker, Nadia invites educators and school staff to engage in a shared reflection on the transformative power of intentional language. Her sessions are rich with personal stories, creative insights, and practical tools – offering moments for both laughter and pause. She explores how tone, punctuation, and presence serve to shape relationships, foster a sense of belonging, and help young people find their own narrative in a noisy world.
With warmth and authenticity, Nadia makes the case that every interaction, from the school gate to the classroom, holds the potential to connect, uplift, and guide.
QUOTES:
"The workshop was incredible and the educators LOVED IT! They are buzzing with excitement to implement the learning into their classrooms. Nadia exceeded all my expectations. It was so refreshing to have some great PD” T. McBride, Director, Country Lane Early Learning Centre.
"Nadia's warmth, humour and passion are contagious. I highly recommend her consultancy services to any education service looking for inspiration." S. Saint-Claire (M.A. Ed) Co-Director, Burleigh Heads Kindergarten.
AVAILABLE WORKSHOPS:
Twinkle Just Won’t Go To Bed! - Preschoolers - Year 2
WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN NADIA COMES TO VISIT:
A highly interactive, joy-filled, 45-minute session featuring: music, movement, storytelling,language and literacy extension, and guided story play embedded with Abecedarian principles.
Nadia arrives with her best friend 'Twinkle', an adorable toy mouse. But before she can begin her author session, Twinkle needs to settle down for his morning nap. He usually loves a book before sleep and today's book is all about rocket ships!
However ... when the book is finished, Twinkle just won't go to bed. He'd rather play a game instead!
Nadia knows just what to do! She takes a look inside pocket number 1 of her magic 'nap' sack - a whimsical sack full of fun ideas that sometimes help Twinkle get to sleep. Inside the pocket she discovers ... a rocket ship! WHOOSH!!!
Today, the pockets of the magic nap sack are full of outer space inspired props, and when Nadia and Twinkle discover jetpacks that can fly them to the moon, they blast off on an imaginary adventure with their newfound friends - discovering moon cheese, banango trees and other wondrous delights!
* Nadia’s newest book ‘Twinkle Just Won’t Go To Bed’ is due for release in June 2022. It is recommended that educators read the book aloud with their children prior to Nadia’s visit and listen to the downloadable songs on Nadia’s website.
Educators receive:
- Detailed teacher notes outlining links to the EYLF, Australian Curriculum and AQS Quality Areas.
- A detailed music and story play lesson plan to use following Nadia’s visit.
Suitable for:
Preschoolers - Year 2
Duration:
45 minutes
Topics covered:
• Literacy and language development
• Numeracy
• The power of imagination and play-based learning
• Collaborative storytelling
• Focussed listening
• Music
• Dance
• Movement
• Nurturing children’s self-identity as an active learner
Curriculum Outcomes
• EYLF Outcome 1: Children have a strong sense of identity
• EYLF Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners
• EYLF Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators
• Literacy - Listening and speaking interactions
• Literature - Experimentation and adaptation
• The Arts - drama, dance and music.
TESTIMONIALS:
Nadia’s engaging storytelling and songs brought such immediate warmth and joy to the room and had the children and adults alike transfixed. The story of Twinkle the mouse eventually getting to sleep after an epic space odyssey was both sentimental and perfectly lighthearted, with lots of laughs and learning too. We LOVED it. - A Davidson-Farnworth, Elanora Library, 2021
Testimonials
Students and Staff found Nadia's performance both engaging and entertaining. The Year 2 students were completely entranced by her storylines, props and songs.
St. Joseph's Catholic Primary School - September, 2023When her, uniquely layered performance begins, Nadia Sunde sans makeup, wigs, or dramatic costume changes embodies the character of Professor Frankie Falconette and invites us on an epic journey into a world where a small, skinny boy with glasses held together by tape triumphs against all the odds and becomes the household name who-must-ALWAYS-be-named! If Magic is the supernatural force that changed Harry Potter’s world on every fundamental level, last Wednesday, Nadia Sunde most certainly maximized its power to weave her spellbinding craft, vividly demonstrating how great stories are universal, surprising, and unexpected. How they constantly touch and shape our understanding of the world and how they endure forever in our hearts and minds. Inviting the senior students of Seven Hills State School to fly on quidditch sticks made from mops, sending magical objects soaring over the heads of an audience of mesmerized muggles, and encouraging volunteers to compete in fast-paced side-splittingly comedic challenges, every minute of this gifted thespian’s performance was at once both touching and hilarious. Deeply connected to the love and devotion these diverse creators and thinkers at our school share for the ubiquitous and most wondrous Harry Potter, Nadia Sundes’ magical performance will remain one of their most memorable ever! Thank you, Nadia!
Seven Hills State School - November 2022It was so wonderful to have Nadia back for Book Week this year. The Collectors experience for our Prep to Year 2 students was magical. The students were so engaged from the activities prior, right through to visit from Sprig and Magnolia on the day. The Harry Potter show was extremely entertaining for our older students. Both shows allowed for student participation and lots of fun, while at the same time ensuring the students were well-managed. Thank you again, Nadia!
Whites Hill State College - October 2020Our students were filled with joy and delight when the The Collectors came to visit. Sprig and Magnolia, aka Nadia Sunde and Melissa Redman, are perfect foils for each other. Sprig explodes with exuberance and humour while Magnolia balances this with serenity and calm. Their message of care for nature is embedded in every aspect of the program, from the pre-performance letters, the performance itself, and then children visiting Little Leaf Village website where they can send an email, view photos, listen to stories and songs, and even get a recipe from Magnolia's Kitchen. The children have been so excited with the replies. The Collectors are real in the eyes of a child, up there with the Tooth Fairy and Santa.... but better. I will definitely invite them back.
Seven Hills State School - August 2019Nadia's sessions with our students were amazing! She catered to the three different age groups beautifully, with each group being thoroughly entertained. Not only were they entertained with theatre, song and hilarity, the student's were managed in a way that meant there were no issues with student behaviour. She set clear expectations and then off she went on a marvellous adventure of storytelling and humour. I have never seen our students as engaged and happy as they were during Nadia's show. We would definitely recommend her to other schools and we will be getting her back here at our school in the future!
Whites Hill State College - August 2019
Twinkle just Won't Go to Bed
Bedtime Stories
Twinkle and the Moon
Three Little Pumpkins
Homespun
Queensland
Speaker type
- Author
- Storyteller / Performer
- Educational consultant
- Motivational