Junior School Bulletin - Term 1, Week 1

Please find attached a letter from the Principal welcoming families to Term 1.

Letter from the Principal.

Over the next few weeks, through class emails, notices, the Bulletin and parent evenings, the class routines and school processes will become clearer and this makes each day much easier for students and parents alike. The ebbs and flows of the school year do bring a calming influence once the school is up and running at the beginning of the year.

This Bulletin has information about our Year 5 Bike Education program, Clubs, etc and I encourage you to use the App to access this information source each Tuesday afternoon when it comes out.

Please note, the new opening times for the Primary Library: Monday to Friday, 8.15am until 3.45pm each day. Our Library is extremely popular with Primary students borrowing a staggering 24,000 books last year!

Our students look immaculate in their uniforms and I thank parents for helping their children start the school year looking their very best. A reminder of our hair and jewellery expectations are below to assist parents in helping their children to follow the school rules.

Uniforms

• Create an evening checklist (e.g., lay out uniforms, pack bags, locate lunchbox and drink bottle) to minimise morning chaos. When we are frazzled leaving the house, this permeates into the classroom first thing in the morning.
• Summer uniforms are required for all Primary students (ELC: polo shirts/shorts; Junior School: summer uniform or PE attire as notified). Key reminders:
• Hats are compulsory from Monday.
• Hair: Neat, conservative styles (no mullets/mohawks). School-coloured accessories only. Please note – it makes for very uncomfortable conversations when teachers have to make contact in the first week of school regarding a student’s haircut. This conversation makes the staff member and the student uncomfortable. This can be solved by following the correct haircut requirement before returning to school. Thank you for supporting our School with this.

• Jewellery: Limited to plain studs/sleepers, wristwatches, or medic alerts.
• Label everything! Lost property accumulates quickly.

Mark Douglas
Head of Primary School

A photograph session will take place on Thursday 6 February for all Year 2s and and also students that are new to the school in Years 3, 4 and 5. The purpose of this photo is to ensure we have an identifying photo for all students in the school. The photo will also be used for the SmartRider cards that are issued free to all Year 3, new Year 4 and new Year 5 students; SmartRider cards are used throughout the school to access the school printers, as well as being able to be used for public transport.

All Year 2s and new Year 3, 4 and 5 students should wear their summer uniform for photos on Thursday (if your child's class has sport on this day they will still need to wear their summer uniform and will be allowed to wear this for sport).

The traditional photo day where class and individual photos are taken will take place in Term 2.

The Year 5 Bike Education Program will commence in Week 2 this term. Year 5 students will be required to bring their bikes and bike helmets to school on the days their class has PE lessons from the beginning of Week 2 for approximately six weeks. Class timetables will be available for students this week indicating when their class has PE. The Bike Education sessions in Week 2 will involve bike and helmet inspections to ensure they are in safe working order before bike riding commences. Further information regarding the Bike Education Program will be provided in the coming weeks. Please click here for further information.

If you have any queries regarding Y5 Bike Education, please email Michael Barton at mbarton@stmarks.wa.edu.au

Y2-5 Meet the Teacher Evening is tomorrow evening, Wednesday 12 February (please see timetable below). This will be a fantastic opportunity for you to meet with our dedicated teachers, learn about classroom routines, timetables, and the shared expectations we uphold at St Mark's. Additionally, our specialist teachers will be on hand to discuss their exciting plans for the year. The evening will begin at 6pm, there is no need to book sessions to meet with your child's class teacher - please see the timetable below:

Please click on the following link to open the schedule for the Junior School Clubs this term: 2025 Junior School Clubs - Term One. Please note, the schedule contains sign-up links for these clubs and spaces go very quickly.

The Junior School Sustainability Garden has been facing some warm temperatures recently and will require watering during Term 1. If you would like to obtain some parent hours by watering the garden during Term 1, please follow the link below and put your name down in any available time slots:

Watering Roster - Sustainability Garden - 2025 Term One

The Australian Government Department of Education would like to notify you that we have requested for your child’s school to provide residential address and other information.

Under the Australian Education Regulations 2023, the school is required to provide the department with the following information about each student at the school:

• names and residential addresses of the student’s parent(s) and/or guardian(s)
• student residential address (excluding student names)
• whether the student is a primary or secondary student (education level)
• whether the student is boarding or a day student (boarding status).

Can families please update their information on Consent2Go by Tuesday 11 February 2025.

More information on the purpose of collection and privacy information can be found here.

Mark Lee Football Coaching is delighted to offer a before school program in Term 1.

The sun will be shining and it’s a great way for children to start their school day!

All ages are welcome and will be grouped according to their age and school year. Mark and his team can also take the children to class after, simply let him know.

Mark is a former professional footballer and has been running MLFC for the last 16 years. The program has been running at St Mark’s since 2015.

The MLFC coaching staff are made up of current and former professional players who all have a passion for coaching children and will create a welcoming, fun, dynamic and exciting coaching environment.

Dates Friday 8th March to 11th April

Time 7.30-830am on school oval

Cost $129 per child for 6 weeks

Simply email, text or call Mark to register your child.

Mark Lee
0430 788 703
mark@mlfc.com.au

Tickets are selling fast, for our Old Scholars' Milestone Reunion on Saturday 22 February 25.

All Old Scholars who graduated from St Mark’s in 1995, 2005 and 2015 are invited, and we can't wait to see you all and hear what you've been up to since leaving the land of maroon and blue!

Ticket details are available here.

If you have not received an email regarding the reunion, it means we do not have your current email - please update your details here.

Did you know that our Old Scholars' Association Little Lions Playgroup is run on-site every Friday during term time? We'd love to see your little cub there this Friday!

Join us from 8.45 a.m. to 10.30 a.m. for lots of fun and games. Little Lions Playgroup is a community-based group run in conjunction with Playgroup WA and caters for children up to school age. Families attending our Kindy and not in session on Fridays are more than welcome to join as well.

For more information and to book your spot, please email us, osa@stmarks.wa.edu.au or join our Facebook group HERE.

Everyone is welcome - you do not need to be an Old Scholar (former student) of St Mark's to attend.