Junior School Bulletin - Term 1, Week 8

Dear Parents and Carers

The term has flown by and next week we will enter the two week period of in-term swimming. This program is always met with a mixture of emotions. Bus rides with friends are overall very fun, whereas the nervousness that may come with the swimming lessons, particularly at the start, are a challenge to be overcome.

Swimming lessons in Australian schools are in decline. A March 2025 report from the Royal Life Saving Association of Australia highlighted some startling facts. 31% of schools do not offer any swim lessons for their students. 48% of Year 6 students cannot swim 50 metres and tread water for two minutes, and a staggering 84% of 15–16 year olds are unable to swim 400m and tread water for five minutes.

As the statistics show, our two week swimming block is important for students to not fall into the above statistics. Many children, however, will require more practice and additional lessons and I hope the skills learnt in this swimming block can be built upon outside of school time. Dr Steve Georgakis, from the University of Sydney, an expert and advocate in this field, says that being able to swim 25 metres by the end of primary school as well as having the skills to float to save their lives, helps them to become adults who can successfully participate in the many water based aspects of Australian life. With Perth right on our beautiful coastline, this is really important for the students of St Mark's.

Lost goggles, wet towels left in bags, lost swimmers - there is always a large learning curve on organisation for the students. Rather than being viewed as a difficulty, I believe that this is one of the benefits. Part of the important learning in childhood are both organisational skills and independence. Swimming and surfing lessons are an opportunity to build these skills. Some children may also have butterflies in their stomachs before the first lesson. This is normal and getting through this helps character development. We encourage the children to charge into this challenge and enjoy their swimming experience.

Kind regards

Mark Douglas
Head of Primary School

On Wednesday 26 March there will be another House activity afternoon for the students from Years 2-5 (this coincides with Parent/Teacher interviews). Students will be placed in their House groups and participate in music and sporting activities. All students are to wear their House uniform on this day.

PP-Y4 Swimming lessons and Y5 Surfing lessons begin on Monday next week. Please ensure you have responded to the Consent2Go invite.

Students in PP-Y4 have all now received a paper copy of the Government Swimming Lesson Enrolment Form. Please ensure this is returned to your child's class teacher as soon as possible. Spare blank copies of this form can be collected from Junior School Reception or ELC Reception if needed. Thank you.

As a reminder, below is an extract from the wording in Consent2Go:

• Y2-5 students must wear their sports uniform to and from school each day for the duration of the swimming lessons. It is recommended students wear their bathers to school under their uniform (remember to pack underwear to change into) and bring a pair of thongs to wear to the pool/beach. All swimming gear (goggles, towel, comb, brush, underwear, rash vest, etc) is to be labelled with the student's name and be taken to the venue in a bag, also labelled. Students will, of course, dry themselves thoroughly after their lesson and change into dry clothes back at school. Students are only to use roll-on deodorant (sprays are not to be used). Please ensure your child has sunscreen applied before coming to school each day.

• Y3-6 Primary Schools Champion Cross Country – Wednesday 28 May
  The top 6 boys and girls from each year level (selected at the Interhouse Cross Country event) will represent St Mark’s at this event. Further details of this event have been sent via Consent2Go to those parents of selected students.
  
  
• Y5 Lightning Carnival – Monday 9 June
  Year 5 students will pre-select their sport and compete in a round-robin tournament against other schools. Further information of this event will be sent to Y5 parents via Consent2Go in due course.
  
  
• Y3-6 Interschool Cross Country at Mawson Park – Friday 20 June
  The top 6 students from the Primary Schools Champion Cross Country Carnival will be selected to represent St Mark’s at this event. Further details of this event will be sent via Consent2Go to those parents of selected students in due course.

The Salvation Army Takeaway Food Containers Program is back again in 2025.

We are looking for volunteers to cook 10-20 meals for the Salvation Army Term 1 Takeaway Food Containers (either for Parent Commitment Hours / Student IGNITE Hours / Duke of Edinburgh Hours)

We are seeking volunteers to prepare meals at home for weekend 5 and 6 April for the Salvation Army Takeaway Food Containers Program. Parents/students will then need to drop-off these prepared meals to school on the morning of Monday 7 April.

The empty containers will be available for collection from Monday 31 March from Junior School Reception.

• 10x Meals = 1.5 x Parent Commitment Hours
• 20x Meals = 3.0 x Parent Commitment Hours

Meals need to be substantial; no soups are required. It is preferred that full gluten products are used.

Below is a list of options that you can cook. Meal suggestions include:

• Chilli Con Carne (mild)
• Spaghetti Bolognese
• Pasta Bakes
• Pasta Carbonara
• Tuna Mornay
• Lasagne

(you may deviate from this list, but we ask that the meal prepared contains either a pasta or rice accompaniment and is not heavily spiced).

The (takeaway food) containers are provided. These will have a sticker on them that you will need to complete with the name of the meal and the date it was cooked or frozen (please state on the sticker).

Meals will need to be dropped off on the morning of Monday 7 April. There will be a collection point from 7.45am by the Flag Pole round-a-bout in front of Junior School Reception for you to “drop n go” the meals to me.

Please do not hesitate to email Andrew Coffin at andrewcoffin@bigpond.com or call 0415 862 907 if you have any further questions.

We have received a number of emails and notifications that our families are continuing to park in our neighbouring businesses as well as double parking on neighbours' driveways and on footpaths.

The risky parking of our families collecting children from school in the afternoon on St Marks Drive is cause for concern, and the Rangers have been contacted. Under no circumstance should parking on the footpath or blocking driveways be an option. This practice creates an unsafe environment for our students when leaving school.

Please do not park in the following neighbouring businesses when dropping off/collecting children or when attending school-based events:

• Endeavor Centre (cnr Endeavour and Banks Ave)
• Whitford Business Centre (Mitre 10, Better Pets, AutoMasters, SuperCheap)
• Endeavour Childcare and Whitford Family Centre
• The bays in the above areas are purely for the businesses who operate out of those premises and their customers. They are not for our school community to utilise.

Should you require additional parking, Whitford Shopping Centre has kindly allowed us to use the bays in the carpark where Muzz Buzz is located.

A short reminder that next term, our Winter Uniform guidelines are in place.

Please remember to name all items before they are worn to school, as they may be subject to the immense gravitational forces that our lost property boxes possess.

Please note that the Uniform Shop will be open during the school holidays on

• Monday 14 April from 8:30am to 2:30pm,
• Wednesday 16 April 11:30am to 5:00pm
• Monday 28 April from 8:30am to 2:30pm.

The St Mark's Parents & Friends' Association cordially invites all members of our School community to join them for the annual Welcome Sundowner on Tuesday 25 March 2025. The P&F's Annual General Meeting will follow the Sundowner.

The Sundowner and AGM will be held in the Barbara Godwin Performing Arts Complex.

• 6.00pm to 7.00pm - Sundowner
• 7.00pm to 9.00pm - Annual General Meeting* in the Barbara Godwin Performing Arts Complex

As per the constitution, all office positions will be made vacant at our AGM. Nominations are open now, and nomination forms are available from the Secretary, secretary.pf@stmarks.wa.edu.au.

Please reach out if you may be interested in any of the positions.

Relevant documents are available on the Parents Portal on SEQTA.

Please send any general business items to the Secretary no later than 7 days before the meeting, secretary.pf@stmarks.wa.edu.au.

*Please note that you can claim two hours of your Parent Commitment for 2025 by attending the Annual General Meeting.

• 2024 AGM Minutes
• 2025 Notice of AGM
• 2024 Financial Statements

Thank you for your patience. The financial statements are attached above and have been uploaded to seqta for your convenience.

Bloom Early Education is offering Vacation Care. Click here to view the details.

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.