From The Principal - Mr Simon Cobiac

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Mass to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Death of Cardinal Joseph Cardijn

The senior Young Christian Students (YCS) represented Blackfriars Priory School at the Mass to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the death of Cardinal Joseph Cardijn on Monday, 24 July 2017. Cardinal Cardijn was a major figure of hope to ordinary people and he provided resistance to Hitler and the Nazis during the Second World War. He began two youth movements, the Young Christian Students (YCS) and the Young Christian Workers (YCW). Both movements spread beyond his native Belgium and have provided a solid foundation in Christian belief and practice for countless young people over many years.

A saying of Cardinal Cardijn printed on the back of the Mass booklet took my attention; “Every young person is worth more than all the gold in the World”. I mentioned Cardinal Cardijn’s saying to the boys at the recent school assembly and I dearly hope each boy in our school community reflects on how precious they are to themselves, their family, friends and our God. I hope they understand that God loves them unconditionally, just as they are.

St Dominic’s Day

This week we will celebrate the feast of our patron, St Dominic de Guzman.  There are a number of activities planned for this special occasion and I will share these with you in detail in our next newsletter.

Positive Feedback for Blackfriars Priory School Students

On Monday I received a phone call from Sylvia, a senior citizen (83 years old) – who worked on the 12volt Caravan & Camping stand at the Wayville Showgrounds last weekend.

Blackfriars Priory School was represented at the showgrounds with students providing help to stallholders.

Sylvia’s feedback regarding our students was on behalf of all stall holders:

• Polite and Confident
• Interested in information at each booth
• Stood back to allow customers to see more easily
• Interested in learning about the business of each booth
• Spoke to stallholders and customers quietly and with respect
• Did not run and were not loud
• Represented themselves and the school in the best possible way
• Rated our student behaviour and interaction with others at 150%
• Sylvia said we should be very proud – that, “these students are our future!”
• All stallholders felt the same and delegated Silvia to phone the school and provide feedback on behalf of all of them.

Congratulations to the students who represented Blackfriars Priory School at the Caravan and Camping Show and for making such a positive impression on the public through exemplary behaviour. 

Traffic Congestion on Highbury Street

I recently received a letter from the Prospect City Council detailing complaints made by the residents of Highbury Street regarding the poor driver behaviour of some parents of our school community during the drop off and pick up times of the school day. The major issue of concern is that some parents park across the driveways of residents and obstruct the access and egress from homes. Please remember that it is permissible to park right up to a driveway. It is not permissible to park across a driveway.

We encourage positive driver behaviour on every street around Blackfriars Priory School and within our carparks. Please follow the road rules, drive cautiously, within all speed limits and be very careful when students are present. Please note that there may be an increased presence of Council parking inspectors over coming weeks.

Welcome to new Staff

• Miss Kendall Schenk – Primary Years Teacher [Year 1]
• Mr Cameron Brealey – Primary Years Teacher [Year 5 ]
• Mr Gabriel Portolesi – Health, Nutrition & PE Teacher [Secondary Years]
• Mr Edward McInnes – Health, Nutrition & PE Teacher [Secondary Years]

Acting Positions to 25 August 2017

• Mr Matthew Crisanti – Acting APRIM
• Mrs Johanna West – Acting Religious Education Coordinator

Welcome Back

• Olev Harm from Long Service Leave

We welcome Pre-Service teachers, Nate Carmody, Nicholas Scalzi, Nathan Quadrio, Hamdalla Hassan, Liam Davies, Pip Young, Melissa Corcoran and Katarina Schulz.

International Student Exchange

Finally, a special welcome to Mrs Machida, Mr Doko and the 14 Exchange students from Nagoya Otani High School. A few points of interest for our community:

• Nagoya Otani High is in Nagoya which is the third largest city in Japan and is where the car manufacturer Toyota was founded.
• This is the 20th Year Anniversary of our sister school relationship and the exchange program.
• This program has been helping both Blackfriars Priory School and Nagoya Otani High students to become global citizens.
• In fact, two of our Blackfriars Priory School old scholars are studying at Nagoya University this year
• Students maintain their friendship with their host families for their life.

We also welcome five students from France, 3 from Korea and 2 from China.

A special thanks to all parents who have accepted international students into your homes. Your generosity is outstanding and fundamental to the success of our international program. Thanks also to Ms Chikako Oguma, Mrs Silvana Cardone-Muzik and Ms Eleanor Low for arranging such a wonderful experience for our visitors and for our students.

Wishing you all a refreshing weekend.

Mr Simon Cobiac

Principal