From the Principal

Celebrations in Life

As a parent, we are, hopefully, blessed with countless memorable moments and the gift of celebrating many milestones as we nurture and watch our children grow from infants to capable and mature adults.

Many of you are witnessing the growth of your children through the trials and challenges of adolescence. No doubt you observe your son in his learning as his mind is nourished with information and he develops the capabilities and skills of creativity, discernment, critical thinking, ethical understanding and the ability to work collaboratively with others. One of the wonders of being a parent is to walk alongside your children as they mature into adulthood, develop socially and create life-long friendships with their peers at Blackfriars, and beyond school, expanding their social circle with new friendships.

I myself, am at an exciting milestone in the parental journey. By the time you read this week’s Blackfriars Newsletter myself and my wife Alison, will be back in Tasmania at Boat Harbor celebrating and witnessing our daughter, Emily’s marriage to Ilya, her partner of six years. We are overjoyed by our daughter’s fast approaching marriage. To be a parent, to know that your journey as a parent and child has safely travelled the easy, hard and all the in between paths to this point where you can now be the observer of your most precious earthly, responsibility and that your ultimate gift is seeing the happiness and love radiating from your child’s eyes, not for you as it once was, but for another, is the most rewarding and humbling of emotions. I am bursting with fatherly pride in anticipation of what the day will bring and the optimism that the sacred vow of marriage brings to a couple with their own dreams and life plans.

Parklands

Many of you will have read in the Advertiser, the news of the Adelaide Crows considering the North Adelaide Aquatic Centre and surrounding ovals as their next club nest and training location. While there is no official notification from any government or council department, my Executive Team and the School Board are closely monitoring and contacting many notable people to ensure that all departments and persons involved are very much aware of the lease hold that Blackfriars has on the ovals in this vicinity.

Currently Blackfriars has a valid and binding lease and we have no reason to believe that our lease of the parkland ovals should not continue in the future as it has over the past 60+ years.

Year 12 Parent Meeting

My appreciation to the many parents who attended the Year 12 parent forum on Monday evening. In our Catholic education tradition, parents are the first and foremost educators of their children and it is our privilege, as professional educators, to work alongside you in our Blackfriars community for the benefit of your sons. The focus of the evening was to give key information about SACE and post school pathways, to provide insights into the development of the 17-18 year old boy and to support you as you navigate the joys and challenges of Year 12 with your sons. I believe parents travel the vagaries of the Year 12 journey for each child and the journey is always different as the challenges and joys for each boy is different.

The final topic of the evening was the Year 12 Formal and the perspective of the School about pre and post school gatherings. Blackfriars does not condone pre or post formal parties due to the presence of alcohol/illicit substances and the potential for minors (U/18 years) to be at personal risk in often unsupervised situations. I believe we can work in strong partnership with each other to ensure the Formal remains a positive experience for our boys and a great opportunity for our seniors to develop important social skills and graces without the potential negative outcomes that can occur after the formal.

An important message of the parent forum is for parents to be proactive in support for each boy throughout the year and to contact School personnel if you are concerned about any issue or would like to discuss the progress of your son. We are here to provide an environment where your son can thrive in Year 12 and achieve an excellent personal outcome for his future.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Simon Cobiac

PRINCIPAL