ELC Bulletin - Term 3, Week 6

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NOTICE FROM HEAD OF PRIMARY

What a wonderful time to be a Primary Schooler at St Mark's. This week we have the full spectrum of activities and opportunities for the children to participate in.

The annual Athletics Carnival kicked off today with selected Year 3 to 5 participants and will continue tomorrow, giving our budding athletes a chance to shine. With the Olympics still fresh in our minds, I am certain the children will give each event their all. Our Athletics Carnival also includes many novelty events that make the day fun and engaging. This system works better than the traditional model of only doing a handful of events and having to watch for the majority of the day. For events such as the 800m, 200m and sprint races, children will be out of breath at the end of each race. It is a timely reminder for children and parents that this moment of discomfort passes quickly and after a few minutes they will feel their normal selves again. I do hope the weather stays clear tomorrow, however, I am sure the students will have great fun regardless. Thank you to Mr Barton for the many hours of organisation required for this event to run.

Friday will see all of the Primary School gather again for the Book Week parade. I love to read and really enjoy asking children what they are reading as they pass me on their way back to class after being in the Library. They are normally very eager to tell me what their current book is and their thoughts on the series. I know there are some brilliant series for children and I would like to thank all of our parents for their support of their child in these pursuits. I am sure your homes are regularly visited by the print copies of Wings of Fire, Ella's Diaries and the Land of Stories. Reading brings with it the magic of imagination and is an area I hope our students continue to flourish in as they move through the School. A big thanks to Mr Fransz and Mrs Lindsay for organising the Book Week event this year.

The last fortnight has also seen our ELC classes participate in their first assemblies of the year in the Performing Arts Complex. Year One led the way and I don't think there could have been a single person in attendance who was not beaming with smiles after such wonderful performances. While many children are very confident from the beginning, for others these opportunities are how they grow in this area and develop the skills they need in the wider world outside the school gates.

Mark Douglas
Head of Primary School


NOTICE FROM DEPUTY HEAD OF PRIMARY – EARLY LEARNING

ELC Staff Updates

PP Newell

We bid farewell to Education Assistant Priya Falloon, who has moved to Melbourne for a new opportunity. We are pleased to welcome Hannah Logan, who will be stepping into Priya's role on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays for the rest of 2024. Hannah is a familiar face to the children in the ELC, having served as a regular relief Education Assistant over the past few years. She is also pursuing a degree in Occupational Therapy at University on her non-working days. We look forward to benefiting from Hannah's enthusiasm, efficiency, and genuine care on a regular basis.

Year 1 Wells

Kate Wells will be joining Natalie Harriden and Louise Grayson as an Education Assistant in Y1H for the remainder of 2024. Like Hannah, Kate is already known to the children in the ELC from her previous relief work. We are excited to have Kate’s warmth and dedication as a regular part of our team.

Year 1 Wells

Alice Waterman will begin her Parental Leave on Friday, August 30. Carly Blakiston will be taking over Alice's teaching position in Y1W on Fridays for the rest of the year. Carly brings a wealth of teaching experience with her, and we are thrilled to have her join the Year 1 team. We wish Alice all the best for baby number 3!

Long Service Leave and Personal Leave

Our dedicated staff at St Mark’s ELC have been with us for many years, and many are now taking Long Service Leave. Additionally, staff may take personal leave to support their health and well-being. As a result, you may notice some relief staff in your child's classroom from time to time. We ensure that our relief staff receive a comprehensive induction and strive to use our regular relief staff to maintain continuity. Please welcome our relief staff, who play a crucial role in maintaining the quality of teaching and learning at our ELC.

Linda Sweet
Deputy Head of Primary – Early Learning

TERM 3 – ELC EVENT DATES

• PP-Y5 INTERHOUSE ATHLETICS CARNIVAL – Wednesday 21 August (Week 6) - Secondary Oval
  REMINDER: CANTEEN LUNCH ORDERS ARE NOT AVAILABLE ON THIS DAY
  Parents are welcome to attend. It is an all-day event but PP & Y1 tend to start at about 10.00am.
  PP-Y5 students will need to wear their House shirts on this day and have applied sunscreen prior to arriving at school.
  All students will return to their classrooms at the conclusion of the carnival to await collection then or at the normal end of day.
  Please provide your child with their own snack for Recess, food for Lunch and water. Thank you. (Canteen lunch orders are NOT available on this day)
  Notifications from Consent2Go have gone out to relevant families (Pre-Primary to Year 5) with more details. (It is not necessary to respond.) A Program for the event with estimated times was sent as an attachment. The Program is also available separately via the School App.
  
  
• K-Y5 PRIMARY BOOK WEEK – 19 to 23 August (Week 6)
  Kindy to Year 5 students are invited to dress up as a character from their favourite book on Friday 23 August (Kindy Starfish on Tuesday 20 August). The theme this year is ‘Reading is Magical’.
  
  
• ELC CLASS ASSEMBLIES – Most Wednesdays at 2.00pm in the PAC
  Parents are welcome to attend their child’s Class Assembly.
  More details will be provided by Teachers via Seesaw closer to their Assembly date.

1WEL – 7 August (Week 4)
1HAR – 14 August (Week 5)
PPL – 28 August (Week 7)
PPN – 4 September (Week 8)
KGT – 11 September (Week 9)
KGS – 18 September (Week 10)

• ELC FATHER/PARENT’S DAY CELEBRATION – Friday 30 August (Week 7)
  ELC Dads (or other special family member) are invited to attend from 8.30 to 10.30am. Kindy Starfish are invited as well.

• R U OK DAY – Thursday 5 September (Week 8)
  Students are usually invited to add something yellow to their School uniform on this day.

• Y1 EXCURSION TO PERTH ZOO – Thursday 5 September (Week 8)
  Details have one out via Consent2Go. Parents will need to respond to the invite as soon as possible.
  Year 1s will not be permitted to add something yellow to their School uniform on this day.

• PP EXCURSION TO HERDSMANS LAKE – Tuesday 10 September (Week 9)
  Details will be provided via Consent2Go closer to the event date. (Parents will need to respond to the invite.)

• KINDY: COMMUNITY NURSE VISITING KINDY FOR HEALTH CHECKS
  Starfish – Tuesday 10 September
  Turtles – Thursday 13 September (apologies for date error in last week’s Bulletin)

• PP & Y1 HOUSE ACTIVITY DAY – Friday 20 September (Week 10)
  Pre-Primary and Year 1 students will need to wear their House shirts on this day.

• LAST DAY OF TERM 3 – Friday 20 September (Week 10)
  Students will finish at their normal time on this day.

• FIRST DAY OF TERM 4 – Monday 7 October
  Kindy Starfish will attend on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Week 1
  Kindy Turtles will attend on Thursday and Friday of Week 1

NEW LINKS CREATED 18.9.24. FOR UPCYCLING AND WATERING ROSTERS:
Please follow the links provided below to add your name to one of the rosters if you are able to assist. Thank you.

These are shared documents which all ELC parents are able to view.

• ELC UPCYCLING ROSTER (Term 4 roster available):
  ELC Shared Upcycling Roster
  
  

• ELC WATERING AND OTHER OUTDOOR TASKS (Term 4 roster available):
  ELC Outdoor Enviro Volunteer Roster
  
  
• OTHER ELC PARENT HOUR OPPORTUNITIES (None at the moment)

Parents will be advised via the Weekly Bulletins or Class SEESAW pages when opportunities do become available. Parents will be able to access the shared roster via the link provided below to add their names for the advertised task(s).
2024 ELC Various Tasks Roster

Week 6: 19 to 23 August is Book Week! “Reading is Magic”

• Friday 23 August the Primary School will celebrate Book Week by dressing up as their favourite book character. Please talk with your child/children about characters from the books they have read this year, or even some of your own favourite characters from books you have read. Children should come to school in their chosen dress up.

Week 7: 26 August to 30 August is Book Fair

• Once again, we will have Book Fair running in the Primary School Library. We encourage parents to accompany their children before or after school. It is a great time to buy some birthday and Christmas gifts!
• Book Fair opening hours:
  Monday: after school 3.15pm to 3.45pm
  Tuesday to Thursday: before school 8.15am - 8.45am, lunch time 12.55pm until 1.15pm, and also after school 3.15pm to 3.45pm
  Friday: before school 8.15 - 8.45am and lunch time 12.55pm until 1.15pm

Students are to wear Sports uniform with House shirt and School hat, and please apply sunscreen before school. Parents are welcome to attend. This is an all day event and will be held on the Secondary Oval. Students must bring a packed lunch and water bottle on this day as lunch orders from the Canteen will be unavailable. Further detailed information will be sent to parents via Consent2Go shortly and the Program will be available on the School App in the coming days.

The Annual POSTMEN Games Day is on again! Saturday, September 14th, from 1pm to 5pm, presents an opportunity for Dads and Father Figures to bring along their kids to try some fun and interesting board games. Adam from BoardGamesDirect.com will help us again by bringing along some different games for us to play. The event will be suitable for kids of all ages, with something to appeal to everyone.

We’ll round the afternoon off with our much-loved Klask tournament and some pizza for an early dinner.

Come and have a blast, compete for great prizes, and enjoy some quality time with your kids.

Tickets are just $10 per person. Grab yours here.

St Mark's is again looking for volunteers to assist with supervision for the upcoming Year 11 exams from Tuesday 29 October to Friday 8 November.

Sessions are broken up into two time slots, morning (08:00am to 12:00pm) and afternoon (1:00pm to 4:30pm).

Please sign up here. Please only choose 1 session time per family to allow all families a chance at helping.

The St Mark's community are invited to join the St Mark's P&F for their general meeting on Tuesday 27 August at 7.00pm in the Barbara Godwin Performing Arts Complex.

• Refreshments will be served after the meeting.
• Bookings are not required.
• Two parent commitment hours are available for each family who attends.

Rebecca Rourke, Head of Inclusion, Learning, and Diversity, and Samantha Goldberg, Senior Psychologist, will present on "How we address individual needs at St Mark's from a Wellbeing and Learning Diversity Perspective.

We invite you to purchase raffle tickets as part of the Hoogenkamp Spirit Cup.

Our Year 12 students and Old Scholars are gearing up for the annual Kristian Hoogenkamp Memorial AFL Match. This match honours Kristian Hoogenkamp, our beloved Class of 2020 member, who bravely lost his battle to rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare cancer, in 2019. This year, the Class of 2024 is taking it to the next level by raising funds for Sock it to Sarcoma through the Hoogenkamp Spirit Cup Raffle.

So why not help a worthy cause that is extremely close to our hearts and possibly win a prize at the same time?

The raffle will be DRAWN FRIDAY 30 AUGUST 2024 at 3.00PM.

The purchase of raffle tickets online closes at 1.30pm on Friday, 30 August 2024.

Raffle tickets will be available to purchase from Thursday, 23 August 2024, at 4.00pm via the online platform (credit card only) or from the Main Parent Reception (credit card). Our Prefects will also be selling raffle tickets during the Kristian Hoogenkamp Memorial Game.

TICKETS ARE $2.00 EACH - PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS HERE

Please make your online credit card payment at the same time as registering for your raffle tickets - you cannot go back at a later date to make the payment online. For valid raffle tickets to be issued, please ensure all steps of the transaction, including payment, are completed.

• Winners will be notified by phone/email.
  
• Your ticket details will be provided directly to the event organiser to be included in the draw.
  

Grand prize:

• Framed Signed Fremantle Football Club 2022 AFLW Pride Guernsey (thanks to the Fremantle Football Club)
  

Raffle prizes:

• $200 Stax. Clothing Voucher (thanks to Stax and Matilda & Don Robertson)
• 3 x 5 free entry passes to Koalas Play Centre (thanks to Koalas Play Centre and Paula Mitchell)
• Gift Pack of funky socks, West Coast Eagles travel mug (with thanks to the Cameron family)
• 2 x $20 Mecca Vouchers (with thanks to the Cameron family)
• 1 x Pandora jewellery set (Sterling silver heart necklace and sterling silver heart stud earrings) valued at $158.00 (with thanks to the Forder family)
• 1 x Pandora jewellery box (not filled) valued at $39.00 (with thanks to the Forder family)
• 1 x $25 Alex Junior Voucher (with thanks to the Forder family)
• 5 x free coffee tokens Alex Junior (with thanks to the Forder family)
• 1 x $30 Eftpos Card (with thanks to 3 Residential and the Nolte Family)
• 5 x coffee tokens Prontissimo (with thanks to 3 Residential and the Nolte Family)
• Lots more prizes are available

If raffles aren't your thing, but you'd still like to support our cause, you can make a donation to Sock it to Sarcoma via this ticketing system.

Thank you for your support.

For any enquiries, please contact the Community Relations Office akemp@stmarks.wa.edu.au

All Old Scholars are invited to attend the 2024 Annual General Meeting at 7pm on Tuesday, 17 September, in the SAC Staffroom.

Drinks and nibbles will be served.

Parent Commitment Hours can be claimed.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

All positions will be declared vacant, and nominations are called for a new Committee. All current members of the Association are encouraged to attend the AGM, and any member may nominate to join the committee.

• Nominations can be submitted to osa@stmarks.wa.edu.au by Friday 13 September. Nominations can also be taken from the floor at the AGM.
• Any members who are not able to attend may select a proxy to vote on their behalf at the AGM. Completed proxy forms should be emailed to osa@stmarks.wa.edu.au by Friday 13 September.
• Members are welcome to submit items for the agenda by emailing emailed to osa@stmarks.wa.edu.au by Friday 13 September.
  
• The Agenda, Nomination Forms and Proxy forms are available by request to osa@stmarks.wa.edu.au.

We are excited to announce that the Art Show returns to St Mark's for 2024!

Mark your calendar for October 4-6, and save the date now! We look forward to seeing you all at the Gala Opening Night, during which you can purchase beautiful artwork from various local artists.

To stay up-to-date with all the latest news about the exhibition, follow the St Mark's Art Show on Instagram and Facebook.

Keep an eye on the Weekly Bulletins for information about buying tickets and opportunities for volunteer hours. It promises to be a fabulous event, but we need your help to make it happen.

Artists who wish to express their interest in submitting work to the exhibition should contact artshow@stmarks.wa.edu.au