Junior School Bulletin - Term 1, Week 2

Dear Parents and Carers

Navigating the new school year is going very well and I would like to thank parents for their patience with our car park in particular. The start of the school year is always the most hectic with traffic and prioritising safety over time is important for all members of our community.

Students have started exceptionally well but I would like to remind parents that often weeks 2 and 3 can sometimes bring a few wobbles. The excitement of the new school year starts to wear off, and the reality of routines and expectations can feel a little overwhelming for some children. This is completely normal. The best thing we can do, as teachers and parents, is to stay consistent, reinforce routines, and keep expectations high. Children thrive on structure, and with patience and encouragement, they’ll soon find their stride again.

A reminder that our Parent Information Evenings are coming up in the Early Learning Centre tonight (Kindy to Year 1) and tomorrow night in the Junior School (Year 2 to Year 5 - please see separate article below which includes timetable). This is an excellent opportunity to meet your child’s teacher, hear about the exciting learning planned for the year, and understand classroom routines. Our specialist teachers will also be available if you’d like to learn more what your children will be doing in their subjects. These evenings are a great way to strengthen the home-school partnership, ensuring that we’re all working together to support your child’s success. We look forward to seeing you there.

You may have noticed some changes near the Primary School Oval. The new Year 6 change-rooms and grounds' shed will begin construction shortly and new temporary fences have been installed to keep the students safe. If you are walking across the Secondary Oval to drop-off or pick-up students, I suggest taking the pathway towards the stairs next to the Len King Sports Pavilion, and then continuing through the school grounds towards the Quad, passing the Ken Fairfield Hall, and onwards to the Primary School. Thank you for your understanding as we continue to improve our facilities to support our students.

Kind regards

Mark Douglas
Head of Primary School

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:

Welcome back to another exciting year of fun, fitness, and learning in Primary Physical Education! I hope you had a fantastic break and are ready to jump, run, and participate fully in our PE program.

This year, students will engage in a variety of sports, skill-building activities, and teamwork challenges. Our focus will be on developing fundamental movement skills, fostering a love for physical activity, and encouraging teamwork, resilience, and personal growth. Some of the sports will be new to students: they will enjoy new games, drills and will learn valuable skills.

Students are to bring a hat, water bottle, and enthusiasm to every PE lesson. Sunscreen should be applied at home before school each day and is also available at school if students wish to use it.

It is a very busy year, so here are a few key dates to keep in mind:

Year 5 - Bike Education
As mentioned in the Bulletin last Tuesday, the Year 5 Bike Education Program will commence in this week. 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.

Tuesday 11 March – Year 2 to Year 5 Interhouse Swimming Carnival
A great opportunity for students to showcase their swimming skills! To help your child feel confident and reduce any anxiety, we encourage you to get them comfortable in the water before the event. The Interschool Team will be selected from this carnival for the competition on 4 April.

Pre-primary to Year 4 Interm Swimming & Year 5 Surfing – Last Two Weeks of Term 1 (31 March to 11 April inclusive)
Pre-primary to Year 4 students will participate in swimming lessons, building water confidence and essential skills. Year 5 students will have the chance to participate surfing lessons, and this is a highlight of Year 5.

Friday 2 May – Pre-primary to Year 5 Interhouse Cross Country (Early Term 2)
Cross Country will take place right after the holidays, so it’s a great idea to start running with your child over the April School Holidays to help improve their fitness and make the event more enjoyable.

I look forward to an action-packed term and appreciate your support in preparing the students for these exciting activities!

Looking forward to an amazing year ahead!

Michael Barton
Primary Physical Education

Please see attached flyer with parent information regarding NAPLAN for later in Term 1. For information, NAPLAN is for all Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 students.

With the end of the first week of Term upon us, we thought it would be a timely reminder to reiterate student safety regarding the use of bikes, e-bikes and e-scooters.

Please remind your children of the road rules, especially relating to e-scooters and e-bikes.

Walking/Riding to School

• Please remind your children to be vigilant when walking/riding to and from school and around the area, and to be aware of their surroundings and those around them.
  
• St Mark’s encourages students to walk or ride to school where possible, and we stress the importance of using the roads safely. Helmets must be worn when riding to and from school, as required by law.
• Remind students to take note of the traffic around them, and be aware of other road users, including cars and pedestrians. Be respectful to other road users.
• The road via Gate 3 next to the ELC is for vehicles only. There is no pedestrian access. For safety reasons, pedestrians should use the smaller gate directly opposite the roundabout intersection with Banks Avenue.
• Be aware that, even if a cyclist rings their bell, pedestrians may not immediately recognise it as a warning of an approaching bicycle. As such, when pedestrians are on a shared pathway, cyclists should slow down and give the pedestrian time to move to safety.
• Students are to dismount and push their bicycles at crosswalks.
• Students are not to ride their bicycles on the School grounds - they must dismount.
• Primary School students should park their bikes next to the multi-purpose court near the Primary Oval. Middle and Senior School students should park their bikes in the bike racks behind the Dunsborough buildings.

Manned Crossings

There are manned crosswalks at a number of locations. Traffic Wardens appointed by the Children’s Crossing Unit of the WA Police are located on Whitfords Avenue (Belrose Entrance), Endeavour Road (Banks Avenue), Whitfords Avenue, and on Cook Ave.

In addition, we have a School Traffic Warden located at the Kiss ‘n Drive points outside the Performing Arts Complex. Please follow the instructions of the wardens to help keep our children safe.

E-Bikes and E-Scooters

The below information is taken from the Department of Transport's website and we expect our students/staff/families to adhere to the rules as per below:

The maximum speed for ERDs on bike and shared paths and local roads has been set at 25km/h, which is consistent with regulations in Queensland, the ACT and New Zealand, and is the same speed at which the power output on electric bikes cuts out.

The speed limit on footpaths and in pedestrian areas, however, is much lower at 10km/h reflecting the speed differential between different path user groups.

Riders are required to give way to pedestrians and keep to the left of oncoming bicycle riders or other ERD users. They are not permitted to travel on a separated footpath designated for the use of pedestrians.

Other new rules for ERDs and their users include:

• Riders of higher-powered electric rideable devices must be at least 16 years of age;
• Riders must wear an approved helmet, use lights and reflectors at night and have a working warning device; and
• The same mobile phone and drink and drug driving rules apply as for motor vehicle drivers.

Under existing Western Australian rules, children under the age of 16 years are permitted to use motorised scooters that have a maximum power output of 200w and a maximum speed of 10 km/h.

Please see the WA Government for further rules around E-Ride-ons.

Please note that the Uniform Shop accepts EFTPOS only - no cash purchases. If your child needs to purchase an item, and you are not able to be there with your EFTPOS card, you do have the option of calling the Uniform Shop and providing your card details over the phone

Online Ordering

TARA Uniforms Online Ordering is available with orders collected from the Uniform Shop during opening hours. For convenience in Terms 2 and 3, grey tights are available for purchase from the Cafeteria via SmartRider or EFTPOS.

Uniform Shop Trading Hours - Term Time

• Mondays: 7.45am - 11.15am
• Wednesdays: 7.45am - 11.15am
• Thursdays: 1.00pm - 4.30pm

Please note: Uniform Shop operating hours differ during School Holidays

Location and Parking

The Uniform Shop is located between the Early Learning Centre and the Art Rooms in the Busselton Building. Parking is available in Visitor Parking, accessible via St Mark's Drive Gate 2.

Contact

For Uniform Shop queries telephone 0434 211 591 during opening hours. For urgent matters, please email customer.service@tarauniforms.com.au.

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.

We have a group of eager and brave St Mark's students participating in this year's World's Greatest Shave.

We are calling for hairdressers within our School community to help us ensure that the event goes well. In particular, we are looking for help with the students who are cutting off their ponytails (20cm in length) or shaving heads.

We do not have the time for full fashion cuts, but we want to ensure participating students are left with enough hair to get a professional cut later.

We also require volunteers to help set up and pack down the event.

We require our volunteers to be onsite on Thursday 14 March from 12.30pm - 2.30pm and Parent Commitment Hours can be claimed.

To book your volunteer spot or for more information, please email Mrs Lia Parsons.

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.

The Parents Prayer Group (PPG) meet fortnightly to pray for the students, staff and school community.

We will be meeting every second Friday at 2pm in the School Chapel, starting 6 June 2025. Please note this is a change of time from our previous PPG sessions.

Please sign in at reception and perhaps stop by the coffee van on the way. All are welcome. Please share any prayer requests by emailing parentsunitedforprayer@gmail.com or call Wing Shattock on 0433 002 151.

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.

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