From the Principal
As the end of Term 3 approaches, I have been reflecting on the many events that have taken place across the School in recent weeks that demonstrate the commitment of our staff beyond the usual classroom experience and the sense of community that pervades our School. I wrote down a long list of some examples:
- RUOK? Day was acknowledged in a unique and community-spirited way. The images of staff distributing KitKats to parents during the morning drop-off, the distribution by senior students of yellow gerberas, with RUOK? conversation starters attached, to mainly elderly shoppers at Whitford City Shopping Centre, and the distribution of cupcakes to our staff, courtesy of our wonderful Food Technology staff & students were all examples of our community caring for others, within and outside of the School.
- The success of our athletes who competed at the Secondary School ACC ‘B Division’ Athletics Carnival and Primary School NIPSSA Athletics Carnival. The commitment of the teams to their preparation and performance, mentored by many of our staff across the School, was clear, and the support of parents and friends in the stands was welcomed.
- The Primary School Disco was held in two parts in the School last Friday afternoon/evening and isn’t possible without the organisation and supervision of our staff. Our P&F also provided an opportunity for parents to stay at the School and enjoy their own social activity and connection with others.
- Our Year 8 students and staff enjoyed their Camp at Woodman Point, south of Fremantle, last week in perfect weather. Camps provide so many benefits to our students and take a lot of organisation and planning by staff so that the experience does run smoothly.
- Our Music team organised the event at the Indi Bar last weekend and our students and their families loved it. We have some fantastic student bands, developing and developed, and they provided a great afternoon’s entertainment. On top of that, the Music team also enabled our Junior Choir, Viva Ritmo, to compete in the North of Perth Festival held in Maylands on Saturday, and they were the winners in their category. There is now another Concert to come! Parents have directly provided lots of wonderful feedback about both events and the talents of our wonderful Music team.
- The Year 11 Drama production, “Queens”, attended by many staff, students and their families, was performed over two nights last week and was a highlight for the Arts team.
- The inaugural French Camp was conducted here in the Senior School on Saturday, where our Year 12 French students were immersed in the French language for the day via many different opportunities, and was only possible because of the generosity of our Languages staff.
- It was a pleasure to join many parents and grandparents, and students and staff, as we viewed and were enthralled by the Year 4 Endangered Animals presentations. The students had worked very hard to teach us about their chosen endangered animal using a variety of teaching resources. It was wonderful to engage with the students’ learning in such a direct way and to enjoy the students’ performance as the culimination of their projects.
Such wonderful opportunities are part of the reason that families send their children to be educated at St Mark’s. We do indeed provide ‘Opportunities for All’, but they can’t happen without the creativity, passion and commitment of our staff, and we are very grateful for them.
Given so many examples of our community engaging with each other and others so positively, I was disappointed to also learn of a couple of recent instances of behaviour that did not represent our positive appreciation of the community to which we belong. When our Year 8 campers returned from Woodman Point last week, at the end of the day, one of our Facilities staff was asked to attend the Whitfords Avenue car park, in high visibility gear, to actively ensure that the buses bringing our students home could safely enter the car park and park so that disembarking students could be safe as they collected their luggage and moved away from the area. A few people responded very poorly to being asked to move their cars away to allow the buses in. I’m disappointed that a few could not see the bigger picture, which was clearly about the safety of our children. In future, we will ensure that our whole community is well aware if buses are returning to car parks at times when traffic is likely to be busy. I am also aware of some interactions between parents and staff when staff were verbally abused – this cannot be the way we conduct ourselves as a community. We must maintain mutual respect and be good role models for our children in the way that we treat each other. I urge all members of our community to behave respectfully towards others at all times. I am grateful that at least 99% of the time, this is the case.
We at St Mark’s talk about child safety all of the time. From next term, we will refocus our emphasis on child safety from a sun safety point of view. As we move out of winter and into spring and summer, we will enjoy the increasing number of blue sky days and warmer weather, and we will begin to remember to protect ourselves from the sun. I know when I was younger, the temperature and how sunny the day is were my main considerations determining whether or not I would wear sunscreen or a hat. We are ‘sun smarter’ now, and the focus has shifted to the UV Index each day. Protection from the sun is recommended when the UV Index rises above 3. In Perth, the UV Index rises above 3 on most days in the year, even through autumn and winter, so we need to be especially careful, even when we think we don’t need to be.
At the start of Term 4, the School will be intent on raising the profile of a ‘SunSmart’ approach to being outdoors. When outside, ALL students, K-12, will be expected to wear a suitable hat or to be in the shade. This applies to lessons that are outside and also during Recess and Lunchtimes. Sunscreen will be widely available around the School, but you might like to send a bottle along to school with your child.
We have some SunSmart uniform initiatives that will assist us in our wish to protect our students and staff from the sun. The Uniform Shop stocks a new type of hat that is SunSmart. Many of our secondary students own a St Mark’s cap. Research shows that caps are not terribly effective in providing from the sun, but at the moment, they are better than nothing, and if students have one, they are expected to wear it. We will work with students next term to identify a SunSmart hat design that will be appealing to our students. We will also investigating long sleeve Sun Smart PE shirts and making them available at the Uniform Shop for purchase. If you need to purchase a new School hat, our Uniform Shop is open during the holiday period on Wednesday 2 October from 7.45am to 12.45pm, and 3 October from 11.30am to 4.30pm.
By living in Australia, we are at greater risk of injury from exposure to the sun. Your support in ensuring that your children do have a School hat to wear from next term is critical, and your support when we have to enforce our approach with students who aren’t wearing a hat will also be necessary. This approach is all about the safety of our children, so must be a priority for us all.
Wishing you all a safe and restful holiday period.
Steven Davies
Principal