Beyond the Bells

Our thriving Arts Department offers a wide variety of arts programs for students outside of school hours, in addition to the arts programs in the curriculum.

Drama

Middle and Senior School students are encouraged to get involved with the annual musical production. Students can contribute in variety of ways, such as on stage, back stage and front of house. Along side our talented musicians, dancers, singers and actors, we have a thriving Tech Club and a Wardrobe/Make Up Club. Popular past stage productions have included Beauty & The Beast, Cabaret, The Jungle Book, The Sound of Music and more!

In addition, our Senior School students, particularly those who are studying drama, also have the option to get involved with the Senior School performance, which is often based on works the students are studying in class. Past productions have included Antigone, Cloudstreet, God of Carnage and others.

For Primary School students, opportunities to get involved in the upper Primary production, a drama club, and Assembly items come up on a regular basis.

Music

The well-established Music program offers individual and group tuition, as well as the opportunity to join one of four choirs and become a part of a wide variety of ensembles. Individual lessons in instrumental music are held once a week, during school hours and students can begin lessons in Pre-Primary. New music students are welcomed at any time throughout their time at St Mark’s.

Download the Music Handbook.

Visual Arts

Our Visual Arts Team encourages students to join the after school Art Club. The Art Club is a wonderful way for those with a creative streak to try new things, explore using new materials and more. In addition, the Art Club gets involved each year with the City of Joondalup's Lantern Parade, a truly amazing experience. Students from other areas of the arts are also involved. In previous years, St Mark's students built a fully articulated six metre-long puppet, learned to walk on stilts and created their own musical instruments!

Primary Sport

In Primary School Students can get involved in a range of sports, including swimming, cross country, basketball, soccer, football, hockey, netball, athletics, triathlon and cricket. The majority of these programs take place during school hours.

St Mark's participates in the Northern Independent Primary Schools Sports Association (NIPSSA) and also participate in selected Champion Schools programs, amongst others. A before-school Running Club is also open to Primary School students.

Middle and Senior School Sport

The mix of sporting activities for Middle and Senior School is varied, and includes triathlons, volleyball, beach volleyball cricket, football, netball, golf, surfing, badminton, touch rugby, soccer, rugby 7s, tennis, basketball, and hockey. For Middle and Senior School students, training and competitions take place outside of school hours.

St Mark’s is a member of the Associated & Catholic Colleges of WA (ACC), an independent secondary schools’ sports association. St Mark’s students from Years 7 to 12 compete in the ACC's Coastal Associated Schools (CAS) competitions. St Mark's also participates in a number School Sports WA Champion School Sports (CSS) Carnivals during the year.

We have a number of students actively involved in both the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, and the Ignite Award, which are designed to challenge and inspire young people across a number of areas.

Duke of Edinburgh's Award

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is an international program designed to empower young Australians aged 14 to 24 to explore their full potential and find their purpose, passion, and place in the world, regardless of their location or circumstance. The Award is designed to be an individual challenge based on the unique interests of each participant in the areas of Physical Recreation, Skill, Service and an Adventurous Journey.

Students at St Mark’s will find that their sport, debating, drama, music or other co-curricular commitments will meet the requirements for Physical Recreation and Skills components of the Award. The Year 10 Outdoor Education Camp will satisfy the Adventurous Journey and there are various volunteering positions available within the community. Students are encouraged to find their own volunteering commitment but assistance can be provided through the School.

For more information, visit www.dukeofed.com.au or contact Mrs Jane Upson at jupson@stmarks.wa.edu.au.

Ignite Award

The Ignite Award is modelled on the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, and is a challenging program of self-discovery for young people aged 10 to 14 years old that provides opportunities to learn valuable skills, be physically active, assist others in the community and experience adventures.

The Award benefits young people by fostering positive attitudes towards learning, complementing their school curriculum, whilst also building an environment for positive engagement and interaction between young people and the community. It promotes positive self-development and leadership skills and is a great tool for participants to transition into secondary school; hence helping to create responsible and motivated young people in Western Australia.

For further information, visit www.awardswa.org.au or contact Mrs Jane Upson at jupson@stmarks.wa.edu.au.

The Community Garden is a wonderful way to use the schoolyard as a classroom, reconnect students with the natural world and the true source of their food, and teach them valuable gardening and agriculture concepts and skills that integrate with several subjects, such as maths, science, art, health and physical education, and social studies, as well as several educational goals, including personal and social responsibility.

The Primary School's Sustainability Squad is a before-school activity that encourages students to get involved with every aspect of the Community Garden - from sowing seeds to harvesting produce. The project is self-funding, as Sustainability Squad is sells organic, fresh produce from the garden each week. Students are also encouraged to taste-test the results of their hard work, creating a new appreciation and taste for fruit and veggies!

Middle and Senior School students have access to a range of before and after school Study Clubs and revision sessions, hosted by the various departments and learning areas throughout the year. Students can use this time to complete homework, ask for assistance with something they worked on in class, or do revision ahead of exams. Dates, times and venues are provided to students once confirmed.

In addition, the Tony Stopher Library and Information Centre is open to Middle and Senior School students from 7.30am to 5pm every day. During this time, students can choose to access the resources located in the Library, work independently on group assignments, complete homework, revise work or prepare for exams. Students are welcome to ask for support from any one of the teachers on duty. The Library is also open during some holiday breaks for students who wish to have a quiet place to study ahead of exams.

We have a number of STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Maths) programs on offer outside of school hours at St Mark's.

The CoderDojo has proved to be a very popular option, and is open to Primary, Middle and Senior School students. Over the past three years, the CoderDojo has quickly grown into a very positive and supportive community. Projects vary from website design, 3D modelling and game design, all with an impressive level of creativity. Students challenge themselves by learning to code in Scratch, Blockly, Python, Unity and others! The Club is open to all students, even if they have no prior knowledge of coding, but who have an interest in all things 'techy', including coding, gaming, making websites and more.

In 2020, St Mark's also gave the Primary and Middle School students the opportunity to continue their exploration of coding and circuits through participating of the Western Power Circuit Breakers initiative.

Robotics programs are on offer in the Primary School, and in Middle and Senior School. The Primary Robotics Team participates in the First Lego League Regional Championships. Our older students compete at both an Interhouse level, and at the State Robocup Junior Competition each year.

Other opportunities come up throughout the year for students to participate in events such as the Girls Programming Network, Capture The Flag competitions, National Computer Science School Competition and the AI For Good Competition.

Information on the various Digital Technologies programs is available from Head of Digital Technology, Mr Rob Blair at rblair@stmarks.wa.edu.au or Digital Technologies teacher, Mrs Chomiak at mchomiak@stmarks.wa.edu.au.

Our Science Department also encourages students to get involved in outside of school hours programs, with a Science Club open to all students from Years 4 to 10. Students participate in a series of fun and hands-on STEM workshops.

St Mark's also offers plenty of activities that stimulate other areas of the brain, such as the Philosophy Cafe, academic competitions, strategic thinking challenges, spelling bees and more!

St Mark's students have enjoyed success in programs such as the Tournament of Minds, Perth Philosothon, Da Vinci Decathlon, Numero Challenge, Western Australian Debating League and more.

In addition, students in the Primary School students also have opportunities participate in activities through the Independent Primary School Heads of Australia (IPSHA). This includes an Interschool Chess Tournament and a Speaker's Challenge.

These activities give students the opportunity to challenge and extend themselves in new areas. Some activities are open to all, others are by invitation or by application.