From the Principal - Mr Simon Cobiac

Dear Families and Community of Blackfriars Priory School,

Community Consultation Survey and Focus Groups

We are about to consult with our community including parents, students, staff, old scholars and friends of Blackfriars Priory School. The consultation process will assist the Board and School staff to better understand the perspectives and views of our community in regards to identified key areas, including what we do well and how we could improve our school to better meet the needs of our students and families. The School has engaged TATU, a professional consultation company, to facilitate this important process. The consultation will seek feedback from our valued community, such as:

What do current parents value about the education of their boys (R-12) and their boys and girls (ELC) at Blackfriars?

What were the key drivers for enrolling their child/children at Blackfriars?

What is important to the families in the School community?

What programs and specialisations should the School maintain or prioritise?

What changes or improvements would parents like Blackfriars to implement in the coming years?

What social and personal growth focus areas are important in the development of young men at Blackfriars?

If asked by others, how would someone in just a few words, summarise their opinion/knowledge of Blackfriars?

Focus Groups

The survey will ask parents, students, staff, old scholars and friends of Blackfriars to nominate an interest in participating in a focus group. The focus group sessions will be structured to gather constructive feedback on what the School is doing well and to make suggestions about changes/improvements for the future. At the beginning of the focus group meeting, there will be a short survey of up to five questions to be undertaken by individual participants. The survey will be followed by open discussion based upon a set of standard questions across all groups to gather personal input. The focus group sessions will be scheduled for mid-October. I anticipate a number of people will nominate an interest to participate in a focus group and in order to effectively manage the process the School will need to select the final participants to ensure a wide cross section of our community are further consulted.

Conclusion

The consultation process will culminate in a Board and Executive Team Seminar in November when the perspectives of the community as they have emerged through the survey and focus group process will be considered.

A link to the survey is provided below and I warmly welcome and strongly encourage all members of the Blackfriars community to contribute their voice to this important project.

Community Consultation Survey:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FTDYCSS

Yours sincerely,

Mr Simon Cobiac

PRINCIPAL