Primary School News

The last two weeks of this term have been extremely busy. We have had two different incursions, swimming lessons, Catholic Schools Music Festival and Grandfriends shared morning tea. While all of this has been happening, the boys have also been attending their normal lessons.

On Monday 18 September, the Year 1s and both Reception classes had a visit from “Turbans and Trust”, to talk to the boys about Sikhism and why some of the boys in their classes wear a turban. They all had the chance to try on a turban as well. The teachers were very impressed with the boys’ behaviour as were our guests. They also had lots of questions for them to answer. Please see the slideshow of some of the boys wearing the turbans.

On Tuesday 19 September saw the Year 3-6 classes attending a session in the Frassati Hall about Forensic Science. They all had to try to solve a crime that had occurred using evidence found at the crime scene. The boys all thoroughly enjoyed getting involved and trying to be detectives to solve the crime.

On Wednesday 20 September, some Year 6 and 7 students were involved in the Catholic Schools Music Festival. The boys have been practising all year for this special performance. This year the festival took place at The Adelaide Entertainment Centre due to the Festival theatre being renovated. The boys had to be at the Entertainment Centre from 9.00am to 12.30pm for rehearsal and sound check. They were then expected to be back at the centre by 6.30pm and they were onstage from 7.30pm until 9.30pm. This year it was on over two nights instead of the normal four, which meant that our boys were part of the 800 students performing. Congratulations to all the boys involved; it truly is a wonderful experience that they will remember for a long time. Well done to Mrs Libby Hunter on her dedication and commitment.

At the end of Week 8, on Saturday 16 September, seven raised garden beds were installed in the St Martin de Porres Place. These have been planted with some salad vegetables, fruits, root vegetables and herbs that have been kindly donated by some of the Primary families. The Primary students will be looking after these and watering them until we can install a watering system. The money raised at our Primary Discos last Friday 22 September will be re-invested into the garden area to buy some shade cloth to go over some of the garden beds, a compost bin and the watering system. Thank you to all the parents who helped out on Friday night at the disco; your help is great appreciated.

Friday 22 September also saw all the Primary School attend a Liturgy and celebration for the wonderful contribution our Grandfriends make to the lives of our students. We had over 150 people attend and stay for a shared morning tea. Each of the primary classes presented something; this ranged from jokes by 6N to a song sung by the Year 2 students. Our Reception students even dressed up for their performance of ‘When I’m 64”. Thank you to everyone who came along for the morning and shared this celebration with us.

Wednesday 27 September was the very last day for Miss Jessica Hansen, who has ended her contract as she is going on an extended overseas holiday. We would like to thank her for all her hard work and dedication she has put into her classes and teaching the boys in Year 1 and Year 5 while she has been teaching at Blackfriars since 2015. We wish her all the very best for the remainder of the year.

During Week 10, all the Junior Primary classes have been attending their swimming lessons at the Adelaide Aquatic Centre. The boys were very excited about their lessons on Monday and the teachers have been very impressed with the boys’ behaviour at the Aquatic Centre. I’d like to thank all the parents who have volunteered their time to come along and for those who have joined us at the Aquatic Centre to watch their son participate in the lessons.

As the term comes to an end I would like to thank all the students for their hard work during Term 3 and the parents for all their help and support throughout the term. I hope you all have a safe and restful break.

A reminder that Term 4 starts on Monday 16 October, and the boys will be required to wear their summer uniform next term. This also includes wearing their hat every day for recess and lunch. If your child does not have their hat they will be asked to stay under the verandah outside the primary classrooms.

Mrs Alison Ronoastro

Acting Deputy Principal – Head of Primary