3 December 2020
End of year Principal’s message
Dear community of Blackfriars, Appointment of 2021 Head Prefect and Deputy Head Prefect It…
Dear community of Blackfriars,
Appointment of 2021 Head Prefect and Deputy Head Prefect
It is my great pleasure to announce that our Head Prefect for 2021 is Lewis Saint (pictured below left), and our Deputy Head Prefect is Mitchell Gregory (pictured below right).
Lewis and Mitchell are outstanding young men who have a strong history of leading by personal example and generosity throughout their journey at Blackfriars. The leadership appointments of both Lewis and Mitchell are endorsed and supported by their peer Prefects, House Captains and the staff of Blackfriars.
We look forward to witnessing their leadership qualities as they empower our students to embrace the four pillars of Study, Prayer, Community and Service, being the life and essence of our Dominican education. We thank them for accepting the mantle of leadership and wish them every success and blessing for the year ahead.
2021 Term Dates
Below are the School Term commencement and conclusion dates for the 2021 School Year. I remind you all that Terms conclude at the normal end of school day; either 3:05 (Primary) or 3:15 (7 -12).
| Term 1 | Wednesday 27 January – Friday 9 April (*ELC to Year 7 and Year 12) Thursday 28 January – Friday 9 April (Year 8-11) |
| Term 2 | Monday 27 April – Friday 25 June (three week mid-year break) |
| Term 3 | Monday 19 July – Friday 24 September |
| Term 4 | Monday 11 October – Thursday 2 December |
*NB: Term 1 commences across two days to enable primary students, and students who are transitioning into high school (Year 7) or their final year (Year 12) an opportunity to orientate and prepare for the official commencement of the 2021 school year.
Staffing news
Fond farewell to staff
This is a time of year when we bid farewell to some staff who have been with us a long time and for those staff who have been with us for a lesser time.
Education Support Officers
- Nathan Gillard – Creative Arts & Design Technology Assistant
- Jean-Marie Nguyen – Cultural Inclusion & Wellbeing Officer
- Vittoria Maiorana – Early Learning Centre, Co-Educator (replacement)
Teachers
- Joanne Dametto – Japanese & RE Teacher (17 years)
- Margaret Snelling – Secondary English Teacher (seven years)
- Nadia Morris – Primary STEM Coordinator
- Matthew Freeman – Science, Health & Physical Education Teacher (contract)
- Stephanie Carnovale – Primary (contract)
- Elaine Stiliano – Primary (contract)
Each of the above staff have, with their knowledge, skill and personal qualities contributed to the Blackfriars mission and vision of educating boys of today for the world of tomorrow. We trust that being a part of our Dominican community will be remembered with fondness well beyond the gates of Blackfriars. We sincerely thank you for being a part of our Community and wish you every blessing and success for 2021.
End of the 2020 school year
The 2020 year in the grip of COVID has been a year like no other. In some ways it has been like a vacation road trip with young children asking that persistent, relentless question, “Are we there yet?”
Well, I am pleased to say, in regards to the school year, we are almost there and to extend the road trip metaphor, we are all but five minutes away from our destination!
Staff appreciation
I sincerely thank all staff for their enormous contributions in 2020. A year that in the pages of history will be recorded as COVID-19, the year that required our staff to go above and beyond in all manner of educational matters. With the assistance of a small but capable team of ICT staff, teachers had to deploy and drive new online technology platforms to teach students from home, requiring them to be more creative and diverse in their thinking and teaching methods and along the way, discovering many skills they did not know they previously needed or possessed.
Returning to the classroom, staff implemented and educated students to be mindful of social distancing where at all possible and the need for increased hygiene procedures. As always, teachers and support staff were astutely aware of the mental health, wellbeing and pastoral needs of students; monitoring the impacts of COVID from the very young to our Year 12 cohort, who in their final year of Blackfriars were most affected by this pandemic.
I cannot express in words my sincerest gratitude of working with such professional staff during this extraordinary year, they have remained focused and committed to the mission and core responsibility of our Dominican school, educating the students of Blackfriars to seek the truth and to be the best of themselves in all things. On behalf of our community: thank you!
Parents and caregivers of our community
To our parent/carer community, I thank you for your understanding, the compassion shown to our staff, your flexibility and assistance in helping us teach your children with new online technology and for remaining a positive force in our Community.
Thanks also for your support of the co-curricular life of Blackfriars and for your presence at sporting events and cultural activities during the year. It has been a tough year for everyone, made more bearable because of the dynamic fabric of people who are, our community. Thank you!
Keeping faith
I have no doubt that keeping our faith and Dominican legacy alive and true has challenged us all in 2020, but I believe that above all, it has been a treasured time to re-evaluate what is truly important in our life, an opportunity to stop and breathe, and to show kindness and compassion to each other including at times, to those who are unknown to us.
I pray that we can all enter the Christmas season with great joy and immense gratitude for all our blessings, for if COVID has been our cross to bear, in truth, it pales into insignificance for the cross that our Lord Jesus Christ carried to be our saviour.
I sincerely wish our Blackfriars Community a blessed, holy and happy Christmas!
