Veritas - From the APRIM

Veritas - From the APRIM

As I set to writing this newsletter piece, I am in awe of the tremendous foundation Blackfriars provides its community members through its Dominican tradition, which is crystallised when viewed through the lens of the Dominican Four Pillars of Prayer, Study, Community and Service (Preaching). The events of which I write include opportunities for formation in the Dominican tradition, and some particularly exemplify the Pillars of Community and Service.

On Common Ground

On Common Ground is a biennial Dominican student leadership formation conference that attracts participants from Dominican schools around Australia and New Zealand. This year it is being held in South Australia and organised by St Mary’s College. The conference will take place these holidays from Monday 16 July to Wednesday 18 July at Nunyara Conference Centre in Belair. The theme of the conference is Preaching the Gospel in Our Times, and we will be blessed to have two dynamic American Dominicans leading several sessions. Blackfriars has four students attending:  Philip Clark, Francesco Freda, Mathews Manchappillil Giji and Declan Fitch-Woolford.

This opportunity will include Prayer, learning (Study) and the development of an international Dominican Community. Hence, three of the Four Pillars are prevalent in this experience.

Please pray that these young men grow from the experience and return to Blackfriars with enhanced leadership skills.

Dominican Formation Week

The final week of Term 2 was Dominican Formation Week for staff. From Monday to Thursday, ten different staff members each day have spent time learning more of the Dominican Four Pillars through engaging and interactive presentations from Br Sebastian Condon OP and Fr Robert Krishna OP. Staff considered the role of the Four Pillars in their own lives, and in particular the manner in which they can apply them in their own work-life. This, of course, is so that all members of the Blackfriars community can benefit from the gifts we each have to give, particularly the students.

For teachers, the week helps them to transmit the Gospel to students in the Dominican way. By Gospel – the Good News of Christ – I don’t just mean reading and interpreting scripture. This may be the role of some, but the role of all is to transmit the Gospel through actions. For teachers, these actions are most pronounced through their way of being, particularly for boys. There is a saying: “girls learn subjects, boys learn teachers.” Teachers that are firm, diligent, patient and kind will transmit these Gospel virtues to their students. Teachers that Pray, Study, value Community and perform acts of Service will produce students that do the same.

The setting for each day was The Monastery at Urrbrae, which is beautiful and peaceful. The staff groups of ten came from a cross-section of the school – early learning, primary and secondary teachers, executive members and support officers. It provided an opportunity for Community building and enabling relationships to form amongst staff that do not cross paths regularly. The feedback I have received is very positive.

Godly Play

Godly Play is best described as a Play School Scripture Story. Whilst this simplified description is apt, it does not do justice to the spiritual impact it has on young people. It is a simple, slow and visual means of telling a scripture story, and an experience. It begins with an invitation to students – “would you like to hear a story?” The answer is invariably “yes”, and then the young people are allowed to immerse themselves into the story and develop their imaginations within the Word of God. Following the story, they are encouraged to reflect in a creative manner, and generate their own meaning from the story.

This year, as has been the case over the past several years, some Year 12 Integrated Learning (Religion) students negotiated a scripture passage with a host ELC or Junior Primary teacher and created a Godly Play presentation for their young students. The Year 12s are required to develop their understanding of Godly Play theory, as well as a sophisticated understanding of the scripture they present. They then design their Godly Play collaboratively, and deliver it.

This year was very successful as evident in the following feedback from the ELC and Ms Schenk (Year 2) respectively:

“Children had insightful questions that indicated to us they had listened to the performance”.

“I think you boys did a great job. Thank you for coming in and sharing your learning with us. It was great to see you all give teaching and interacting a go with the boys and you were very prepared.”

The photos demonstrate the level of engagement of the young students as well as the creative talents of our Year 12s.

This exercise is another example of the Four Pillars at work in the Blackfriars community. How fabulous is it for our young men and young children that they can interact in this manner? This is Community building, including the building of relationships between staff and students across the school. It is another example of Study, and the spiritual immersion of the young is an example of Prayer.

Vinnies Winter Appeal

At the time of writing this article, we have collected over 1,400 cans for Vinnies, which is a fabulous demonstration of generosity from our Community. This is also demonstrating the Pillar of Service – which is defined by its reaching out beyond our community. I will report the final tally in the next newsletter.

Apart from collecting cans, we have also collected clothing and blankets and these are certainly welcomed on the cold nights we are experiencing. The Year 2s of Ms Kendall Schenk and Mrs Tanya Hoendervanger tied this in with their learning, as per her article below.

Winter Warmers Collection - by Kendall Schenk

As part of Design and Technology lessons, 2SH have been learning about the sustainability of clothing. The boys came up with a range of ideas of how to keep old clothes out of landfill. One idea that the boys decided to take further was donating our old/unused clothes to those in need. They were thinking about all of those who would be feeling the cold this winter and decided we could collect clothes that would help others to keep warm. They created posters asking for donations across the Primary School and wow what a response they got…

Thank you to all for your generous donations, they will be greatly appreciated by many!

Mr Matthew Crisanti

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL: RELIGIOUS IDENTITY AND MISSION (ACTING)