From The Principal -

Mr Simon Cobiac

Dear Families and Community of Blackfriars Priory School,

Laureate Assembly- Recognising Excellence in Living the Four Pillars

The Laureate Assembly was held on Monday 19 February in the Fr John Neill OP Gymnasium. Significantly, 19 of the 22 students who achieved an ATAR of 90+ in their SACE results in 2017 attended the assembly and were recognised by the School community and presented with certificates and medals.

The Laureate Assembly is a major Term 1 event for the School which commemorates student achievements of the previous year.  The presence of our past student cohort of 2017 at the first major assembly for the year provides continuing students with models of inspiration to fuel their own goals and aspirations for the current year.  The Laureate Assembly allows the Blackfriars community to come together to witness and acknowledge student successes and achievements with pride and recognising the dedication and commitment of students, staff and families.

Students from Year 7-11 in 2017 were recognised for the following Awards:

• St Albert the Great (Academic)
• St Martin de Porres (Service)
• St Dominic (All-Round)
• Frassati Sportsman of the Year (Sport)
• Caltex All-Rounder

Scholarship Award winners for 2018 were announced and acknowledged.

Burke House Captain, Christian Apolloni accepted the St Albert the Great Shield for Academic Excellence on behalf of his winning House.

House Shield for overall Sporting and Academic Achievement for 2017 was awarded to De Vittoria House and accepted by Adam Nguyen (House Captain).

The School Dux for 2017 was awarded to Minh Tam Vu Tran who scored an impressive ATAR of 99.25. Tam, a quiet and reserved young man by nature, delighted those present at the Assembly with an address of hope and a message highlighting the importance of being a good listener as being a key and fundamental element to his success.  We wish Tam and his peers every success in their future endeavours; hoping that they will always feel welcome and a part of our Community, as Alumni members. 

Please follow the link to the Laureate Assembly program for a complete list of award winners, Scholarship recipients and speeches from the 2017 Dux, Minh Tam Vu Tran, Head Prefect Sebastian Deluca and School Principal.

http://bit.ly/2EHIJ7V

If you wish to listen to Minh Tam Vu Tran's Laureate Address, please just click on this link

http://bps.sa.edu.au/files/28003/2018_Laureate_Address.mp3

Congratulations to all students for their outstanding achievements. The Laureate Assembly was a wonderful celebration of our School tradition of delivering excellence in the holistic education of boys.

2018 Senior Student Leadership

Congratulations to the following Year 12 students who have been appointed to positions of Student Leadership in 2018. The inaugural student leadership training camp was held in December 2017 and a further leadership induction afternoon was held in February this year. The Head Prefect, Sebastian Deluca and Deputy Head Prefect, Dyson Hilder were announced to the School Community at our first assembly and their photograph was in last week’s newsletter.

The main focus and responsibility of the Year 12 Student Leadership teams is to model exemplary living of the Four Pillars of Dominican Life being Prayer, Study, Community and Service as they align in their respective roles. For 2018, we are very keen to enhance student voice at Blackfriars and further engage all students in improving our educational and pastoral care programs.

I am inspired by the way in which the 2018 Student Leadership teams have commenced in their appointments; displaying genuine enthusiasm and commitment for the opportunity of serving their School and fellow students. In the first few weeks of the School Year they have been very active planning community activities for the year and I congratulate them for their involvement in leading the recent Swimming Carnival.

Prefects

• Sebastian Deluca (Head Prefect)
• Dyson Hilder (Deputy Head Prefect)
• Brayden Addison
• Massimo Caiazza
• Jarod Eddy
• Carlos Garcia
• Yonatan Halawa
• Antony Macolino
• Alexander Muscat
• Alessandro Papandrea
• Sebastian Tonkin
• Phi An Trinh

YCS Captains

• Phi Ai Trinh
• Zen Zaccara

House Captains

• James Smith                                       (Aquinas)
• Christian Apolloni                             (Burke)
• Alexander Koutroulis-Duke           (Denifle)
• Adam Nguyen                                     (De Vittoria)
• Tan-Huy Phan                                     (Horten)
• Xavier Preece                                       (Jarrett)
• Ahmad Ali Dosti                                 (Lacordaire)
• Brydon Luu                                          (Lagrange)

Advanced Notice: Open Day Wednesday 14 March from 5:30pm – 7:30pm

Parents and families have access to a variety of networks into our community.  I therefore extend a warm invitation to your family and friends to have a tour of our School on Open Day to observe and experience what we offer in delivering excellence in boys’ education at Blackfriars Priory School. The school is open to all visitors and families from 5:30pm – 7:30pm.

Teachers and students will be available to show visitors around the School and answer any questions about our broad curriculum and the many opportunities in our co-curricular program.  I will be available to speak with visitors and our Enrolment Registrar, Mrs Joanna Rossi, will be able to discuss enrolment procedures.

All areas of our school are open including the Early Learning Centre, Primary School and Secondary School.

Please mark this in your calendar and invite a friend to our Open Day. Also note that students will be dismissed at 1:00pm on this day.

Student Safety in the Community

It is important for parents to speak with their children at home about the need for appropriate awareness and best courses of action if they are approached by a stranger in the community.  Principals are sent timely updates from the South Australian Police (SAPOL) and recently we were advised to remind parents about potential danger to their children if such a circumstance arose.

'Students and families are reminded to be wary of approaches from strangers, especially when they are unaccompanied or travelling to and from school.  If they are approached, students should not respond and should not accept offers of rides or gifts.

Students should seek the assistance of other nearby adults if they feel unsafe, and should report the event to a trusted adult (parent or school staff member) as soon as possible.

SAPOL advises that taking out a mobile phone and calling police can deter the offender and they recommend the student making a formal report to their closest police station.'

Mr Simon Cobiac

Principal