Blackfriars Priory School Newsletter

From the Deputy Principal, 

Secondary

Mrs Ruggiero leads the Ax Academic Extension Program students through her workshop on Radiation Therapy

From the Deputy Principal, Secondary

This week our Stage 1 and 2 students have been engaged in Semester 1 examinations. It has been somewhat quieter in the school yard as senior boys come and go for their exams. The silence in an exam room is a reminder for us on the importance of removing distractions from our lives so we can focus on the present. Sometimes these distractions (emails, social media and phones are big ones!) impact our relationships, mood, prayer life, exercise and study. The art of being focused on the ‘now’ is critical to our wellbeing. Jesus made time for silence as an opportunity to pray and realign his focus to his mission. The Prophet Elijah finds God in the, “…sound of sheer silence” and is confronted by God’s question of, “What are you doing here?” 

 

A line recall is from an interview with an old Scottish weaver. She was asked about what she thinks about when she weaves and why she weaves. Her simple reply holds the essence of life’s secret, “When I weave, I weave.” Let us make the time for silence (distraction free, including mobile phones) so we can discern what we are doing here and experience the present in all its beauty.

 

A ͯ  Excursion

This week our A ͯ  (Academic Extension) students were fortunate to attend the UniSA Health Science Faculty. Mrs Ruggiero (who is currently on Maternity leave from Blackfriars) used to work as a Radiation Therapist and organised a workshop and tour for the Year 10 A ͯ  students. The boys studied how to plan a radiation therapy lung cancer treatment using CT slices and were privileged to access the Virtual Reality Education facility. The tour of the University’s Health Sciences Faculty provided a wholistic examination of the different science and the commitment the University has to cutting edge research. Frank Snelling has provided a recount of the excursion in this edition of the newsletter.

 

The A ͯ  program has been an exciting initiative for 2018 and we are delighted that A ͯ  will be rolled out from Year 7 – 11 in 2019 as an elective subject. Please refer to the Curriculum Handbook http://www.bps.sa.edu.au/learning/curriculum-handbook (Deputy Principal section) for more information.

 

SEQTA and Continuous Online Reports

As we move closer to the end of term, a reminder that your son will not receive a printed report. With the introduction of continuous online reporting, you can see the grade and comment for each assessment piece. At the end of the term a PDF summary is produced and available for download from SEQTA (as per Term 1). From our SEQTA and Consent2Go login data, we are conscious that some families are not accessing school information regularly. SEQTA is our main form of communication and it is imperative that you login to SEQTA regularly. Also, please inform our Student Office should any of your contact details change.

 

Subject Selection Reminder

Over the past few weeks you would have received hard copy letters, emails, sms messages, SEQTA direqt messages, and Consent2Go emails reminding you of Preliminary Subject Selection. Below is a copy of the correspondence for Preliminary Subject Sections.

 

On Tuesday 12 June your son should have come home with an Edval Webchoices unique ID letter and Preliminary Subject Selection form. You should have also received an emailed version on Wednesday 14 June.

 

We would prefer subjects are entered by 22 June 2018 to allow us to form a preliminary snapshot for 2019 subjects, however, preliminary selections will remain open until Monday 2 July. A text message reminder has been sent to Year 6-11 families today.

 

For certain year levels, different categories of Mathematics, Science and English exist. Students are to select the category based on their honest self-assessment and in consultation with their respective teacher and you. The Curriculum handbook can be found at http://www.bps.sa.edu.au/learning/curriculum-handbook

 

At the end of the process, the final lists for all subjects will be sent to Curriculum Leaders for review. In the best interest of your son, a change may be necessary and this will be conducted by the school in consultation with you.

 

If you have any queries, please contact the following staff members:

 

Consent2Go is the mechanism (please ignore the default software use of 'event' or 'excursion' in this instance - there is no physical event to attend) we are using to provide consent to the subjects you and your son have entered at https://spring.edval.education. If you have not received a Consent2Go email, please contact Jak Francis: jfrancis@bps.sa.edu.au. 

 

Furthermore, whilst the preliminary selections must be in by 2 July 2018, fine tuning will be possible until the beginning of Term 3. After this, individual changes need to be made in consultation with parents and Mr Gray or Mrs Piteo.

 

SACE subject selection 2019_Final.pdf

 

Blessings and Peace.

 

Mr David Ruggiero

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL, SECONDARY (ACTING)