Blackfriars Priory School
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| Motto | "Deus Scientiarum Dominus" (The Lord is an All-Knowing God) |
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| Established | 1953 |
| Type | Private |
| Affiliation | Catholic school |
| Principal | Dr Paul Hine |
| Founder | St. Dominic |
| Students | 950 (2005) |
| Grades | Reception - Year 12 |
| Location | 17 Prospect Road, PROSPECT 5082, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia |
| District | Prospect |
| Colours | Black, Blue, White |
| Mascot | "Hounds" |
| Website | http://www.bps.sa.edu.au |
Blackfriars Priory School is a private Catholic school situated in Adelaide, South Australia, conducted by the Dominican Friars of the Province of the Assumption. For over 50 years the school has provided an education program for boys from Year 3 to Year 12, however in 2005 a junior primary (Reception to Year 2) section was introduced and is expected to grow in the next two years. Blackfriars opened in 1953 with 45 students and currently has over 950 students.
[edit] About Blackfriars
[edit] Name
Dominicans became known in England early in their history as "Black friars", and their houses or even the districts where they lived were called "Blackfriars". In England, quite apart from modern Dominican foundations, the name has survived with notable historical associations in several places. The London Blackfriars, which gave the name to a district and to a bridge over the Thames, was built in 1278,at the end of Fleet Street and the boundary of Ludgate. It stood on the Thames in the southwest corner of the city walls. The Apothecaries Hall stands on the site of the Guest House.
Two General Chapters of the Order, one in 1314 and one in 1335, were held in the London Blackfriars. Parliament was held in the Great Hall of the London Blackfriars Priory under Edward II in 1311, under Edward VI in 1471, under Henry VIII in 1523. In 1529, the tribunal for the examination of the marriage of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon was held in Blackfriars Priory, London.
The famous Parliaments of 1258 and 1388 met in the Oxford Blackfriars and the Cambridge Blackfriars respectively.
[edit] Motto and patron: St Albert the Great
The School Motto is Deus Scientiarum Dominus, "The Lord is an All-Knowing God"; (I Samuel, ii. 3) the opening words of an antiphon in the Office of Albertus Magnus.
[edit] Mascot
When Blessed Juana de Aza (Mother of St Dominic) was pregnant with her second son around the year 1170, in rural Caleruega (in the north of Spain), she experienced a curious dream. In it she gave birth to a dog with a blazing torch in its mouth - signifying, so the legend goes, the sort of man her son, Dominic, would be - setting the world on fire with his dogged preaching of the Christian faith.
The legend may have been helped along by an early pun. Dominic means "the Lord's man", and in Latin Dominicans are "Dominicani". The similar sounding words "Domini canes", however, mean "hounds of the Lord" - and so a long association between the Order and the canine species was begun!
The choice of "The Hounds" as a name for our Blackfriars sporting teams is neither accidental nor arbitrary, therefore. It is a name which grows out of the Order's seven centuries of tradition. It also has the merit of being uniquely our own.
It is a strong name without being excessively aggressive; it denotes relentless pursuit of a goal and yet a certain friendliness too. A hound is "man's best friend", of course. Just the same, we would advise sporting teams who come up against us in our sports gear to remember the Latin adage, inscribed above a kennel in Pompeii: "Cave canem!"
[edit] History
Blackfriars Priory School holds a unique position in Dominican history as the only school founded by the Dominican Friars (Order of Preachers) in Australia. The school started as a day school for boys in 1953, added a Boarding House in the 1960s, and included senior girls on its roll for a few years in the late 1970s. It has now returned to its origins as a day school for boys. Through the leadership of the Dominican Friars, Blackfriars has expanded and improved its facilities over the first fifty years, while still retaining ties and maintaining traditions set by its founding fathers.
[edit] Pre 1953
Blackfriars was built on the property 'Comonella' which was purchased from the Lewis family by Fr Jerome O'Rorke, Prior of St Laurence's Priory. 'Comonella' is an Aboriginal name meaning 'come on fellow'. The house on the property was called St Catharine's after the wife of a previous owner of the property, Mr James Angus Johnson. Alterations, adaptation and additions to St Catharine's were supervised by Fr Bonaventure Leahy.
[edit] Fr Raymond Maher OP, Headmaster (1953-56)
Archbishop Matthew Beovich blessed and opened Blackfriars Priory School on 25 January 1953. The school year commenced on 10 February 1953, with an enrolment of 52 boys in five classes. Fr Raymond Maher was appointed Headmaster, with Fr Francis Xavier Brown, Fr Alex Fitzpatrick, Fr Bonaventure Leahy, Fr Basil Predergast and Br Joseph Harnett making up the Dominican Community. John Robbins and John Haimes are acknowledged as the first boys to enter the Blackfriars gate on the first day of school. In 1953 the Science Block opened (later replaced by the Maher Building in 1975) and First expedition to the Outback was conducted which later has become an annual tradition of many students, fathers and other members of the school community.
[edit] Fr Laurence Fitzgerald OP, Headmaster (1957-62)
Ferrer House(1959-1988) at the corner of Highbury and Bradford Streets opened as a Primary School (Grades 3-6). In 1960 Audley House was purchased on the western side of Prospect Road and renamed Verona House. The house was used as a Boarding School. (1961 -1968). Next door, Devon House was purchased for use as the Priory House for the Community. A Temporary Chapel opened on the feast of St Albert in 1961. A Statue of St Albert the Great (Albertus Magnus) was created by Br Christopher Davey, OP.in 1962.
[edit] Fr P. Curran OP, Headmaster (1963-68)
In 1965 The Senior Science Block was built, with the financial assistance of benefactor, Mr A J Kingston. The building was named The Kingston Laboratories in his honour. The current Primary School and Quadrangle opened in 1968, replacing accommodation in Ferrer House and the O'Hearn Building (named after Br Brendan O'Hearn) opened originally as a hall, but converted to 5 classrooms in 1983.
[edit] Fr Denis Hallinan OP, Headmaster (1969 - 71)
In these years the Hallinan library was constructed and opened in 1972.
[edit] Fr John Neill OP, Headmaster (1972-88)
In 1975 Environmental Design Building opened. In 1976 the Maher Building replaced Science Block and a Normanville Camp Site was purchased. St Albert's Chapel opened in 1978 and was replaced in 2002. Also in 1978 A Business course run in conjunction with the Department of Further Education involved girls for the first time, and last time as Blackfriars students. The Current Neill Gymnasium was opened in 1980 and the Fitzgerald Building was opened in 1982 with a new purpose-built library made for primary school students exclusively. Restoration of St Catherine's was started in 1985.
[edit] Fr Martin Wallace OP, Headmaster (1988-2002)
In 1989 the Highbury Street house purchased. Blackfriars won a competition for a new logo for EdNA (Education Network of Australia) resulting in the fit out of a new high-tec computer room known as the EdNA Room. A New Primary Library and an extension to the fitzgerald building was opened in 2000 and in 2001 the neighbouring uniting church was purchased.
[edit] Mr Daniel Lawler, Deputy Headmaster (2002-07)
In 2002 a new computer facility was opened.
[edit] Dr Paul Hine, Headmaster (2002-08 Term 1)
Students now sat on chairs instead of sitting on Gym floor. Improved school facilities by renovating the O'hearn buildings in 2007. New Primary administry building built 2007.
