The Lion's Roar - 26 July 2023

ALEX ROCKS ON!

Congratulations to Year 10 student Alex, who rocked out playing bass guitar and drums in America for a 16-day tour as part of the School of Rock. He took to the stage for nine gigs in Nashville, Cincinnati, Pittsburg, Brooklyn, Berwyn, Washington, Virginia Beach, Charlotte and Roswell.

If you want to see Alex performing as part of the Perth-based School of Rock band, Jersey Street, head to Forrest Chase in the city on 5 August where they are entertaining the crowds as part of the FIFA World Cup Festival.

Well done, Alex and rock on!

CRICKETING SUCCESS

Year 8 student, Leo, has had a busy holiday! Not only did he head to Queensland to spend 10 days representing WA at the National State Champs for Indoor Cricket, but his team won the entire competition! They played ten games all up and were pitted against the home side, Queensland, for the final.

Selectors for the World Cup Championships were also at the competition scouting for talent, and we are excited to share that Leo is one of five boys from WA selected to represent Australia at the Cricket World Cup Championships U14’S in Dubai in September. This two-week tour will see them battle it out against England, Sri Lanka, India, South Africa and New Zealand.

Well done, Leo, on a fantastic achievement and good luck in September!

POOL RESCUE CHAMPIONS

Over the weekend of 15 and 16 July, six St Mark's students representing Mullaloo Surf Life Saving Club participated in the State Pool Rescue Championships at HBF Claremont.

Our students had a great time and performed very well individually and in the team events. In a fantastic effort, all St Mark’s participants won medals:

• Hugo (Year 6): 2 x Gold, 2 x Silver, 3 x Bronze
• Finley (Year 6): 1 x Gold, 1 x Silver, 2 x Bronze
• Ada (Year 6): 2 x Silver, 2 x Bronze
• Anzu (Year 6): 5 x Silver, 2 x Bronze
• Ben (Year 7): 1 x Silver, 3 x Bronze
• Koga (Year 7): 1 x Silver, 4 x Bronze

A huge thank you to our Old Scholar, Annika Rasmussen (2021), for a job very well done as their coach!

Congrats to our St Mark's contingent on an amazing effort!

CROSS COUNTRY CHAMP

Well done to Charli-Rose in Year 12 on her selection to represent Western Australia in the 2023 Cross Country Championship. This team will be competing at the School Sport Australia National Championships in Canberra in August.

Good luck, Charli-Rose!

Sending all the best to our incredible secondary students, staff, and volunteers as they gear up to rock the Performing Arts Complex tonight for the highly anticipated Opening Night of 'School of Rock'!

We're eagerly awaiting their electrifying performances as they take charge of the stage with their boundless energy and deliver an unforgettable show!

Act fast, as there are still some tickets available. Trust us; you don't want to miss out on this sensational show!

Book your tickets here: https://mytickets.co

As advised in previous School communications, the St Marks ACS Uniform Shop is now independently managed by Tara Uniforms. Tara Uniforms has been supplying quality garments to the school since its inception and also provides uniforms to a number of other Anglican Schools Commission (ASC) Schools. Di Kelly and Leanne O’Connell will join the Tara team and continue to provide their high level of service and expertise to our families.

Please note that there are some changes to the opening times and contact details:

Uniform Shop Trading Hours - Term Time

• Mondays: 7:45am - 11.15am and 1pm - 5pm
• Wednesdays: 7:45am - 11.15am

The Uniform Shop has different opening hours during the School Holidays. Please check the School App or website before the School Holidays for these opening hours.

Contact Details

You may contact the Uniform Shop with any queries on 0434 211 591. Please note this phone number is only monitored during shop hours. If the matter is urgent, please email sales@matrixuniforms.com.au

With Tara Uniforms taking over the supply of our uniform items, including blazers, this will mean that our blazer fittings for 2024 enrolments will be able to occur later than the fittings that would usually have been scheduled for around Aug/Sep 2023. Tara will advise the cut-off date for blazer fittings and orders in due course.

Welcome back to Term 3!

After the first day back, we thought it was timely to remind our families to be neighbourly when parking around the School and also adhere to the Kiss n Drive rules.

• Please do not park in neighbouring business parking bays, including the commercial complex directly next door (which includes AutoMasters and Better Pets), the Endeavour Business Centre across the road, Endeavour Child Care and the Whitfords Family Day Care. The bays in these facilities are set aside for their customers.
• Drive carefully and be alert for pedestrians.
• Older students with P-plates/Driver licences should park across the road near Muzz Buzz
• Remind your children to cross at points where Traffic Wardens are in operation and adhere to the Traffic Warden's instructions.
• Please note that both Whitfords Avenue and Endeavour Road are school zones, and as such, the speed limit is 40km/h during school hours.
• Please do not double park at any location, including (but not limited to): Kiss ‘n Drive points, St Marks Drive, School parking areas, access gates and across our neighbours’ driveways.
  
• Please do not overtake stationary cars on the School grounds, especially in Kiss ‘n Drive zones.
• When exiting the School grounds, please ensure you look both left and right carefully before re-entering St Marks Dr, particularly around our neighbour’s driveways.

On Friday 4 August 2023, Non-Government schools will participate in the Australian Government’s Department of Education 2023 Census. The annual Census collects information about schools and students and is used by the Government to calculate funding and create informed and tailored policies. The census also informs the My School website, helping parents and the community to learn more about Australian schools and the needs of each school’s students.

This communication is to inform you that the Census will be taking place and to also provide you with the attached Privacy Notice, which explains the information collected for the Census, why it is collected, how the data is used and how the information will be handled. The communication is for information purposes only - you DO NOT need to take any action.

Please find below the current Parent Commitment Hour reports logged up to 15 April 2024. You will need your family code as shown on your St Mark's account statements, to check your individual log.

Parent Commitment Hours Summary

Parent Commitment Hours Detailed

Our Languages Department is excited to bring you Languages Week in Week 2 of this term! They have lots of exciting things planned, but to entice you a little, here's a snippet of what's happening:

• Monday 31 July - Asian food van will be parked in the quadrangle (close to the coffee van) during the lunch break.
• Tuesday 1 August - French cartoon ‘Astérix et la potion magique’ showing in the PAC from 3.30pm to roughly 5.00pm. Open to all students. Students will need to be collected at 5.00pm.
• Wednesday 2 August - French crepe van will be parked in the quadrangle (close to the coffee van) during the lunch break.

Both of them accept cash or Eftpos payment.

The AVCAT scholarships, including the Long Tan Bursary, are tertiary scholarships for the children and grandchildren of Australian ex-serving veterans. Scholarships are $4000–$6000 per year for three years.

Applications open on 18 August 2023, Vietnam Veterans' Day, and close at midnight AEDT on 31 October 2023.

Apply online at avcat.org.au

Our P&F Association has their Quiz Night coming up on Saturday 9 September, and like every school community-based event, we need volunteers!

If you can lend a hand, please head to the link below. This is a great way to grab some extra Parent Commitment Hours.

Sign up for P&F Quiz Night 2023 Volunteers https://signup.com/go/PjrtzjC

We are chasing four volunteers for our Primary Languages Day coming up in Term 3 on 31 July between 9am - 12 noon.

If you can assist, please contact Stacia Higgins via email to confirm your place and duty.

DiGii Social provides a safe and secure social networking platform that educates and prepares children for their digital lives. As a member of the DiGii@School solution, we are able to share webinars with our School community.

The latest webinar available is “I caught you looking at naughty pics - now what?”.

Webinar description: Sadly, we know that the average age of children viewing inappropriate content online is just 8 years old. It's not a case of if they will see it, but when. This can be challenging for parents to accept. DiGii Social's next parent webinar is going to deal with this issue head-on - helping parents to minimise the harm and manage the situation when it arises in their homes.

“I caught you looking at naughty pics - now what?”

• Thursday 24 August @ 6pm (AWST)
• Book tickets here and use the code 'DiGii@Home' for free access.

On Wednesday 2 August, Elevate Education will be hosting its first free webinar of the term for parents.

Elevate Education works with students, delivering high-impact workshops on study skills, motivation, wellbeing, and exam preparation. By tuning into their webinar series, you will learn how you can help better support your children at home by reinforcing the skills they learn at school:  

How to Help Get (& Keep) Your Child Motivated - Wednesday 2nd August

Here’s what Elevate will be covering on the night:

✅ What impact does praise and reassurance have on your child’s motivation?

✅ What are the best type of goals to be setting with your child? 

✅ How can you help your child create meaningful and lasting motivation?

Click here to register for free.

How's your general knowledge?

Book your tickets because our highly-anticipated P&F Quiz Night is only 1.5 weeks away, and ticket sales CLOSE 31 AUGUST!

It's time to dust off those thinking caps, gather your brightest buddies, and get ready for an evening filled with brain-teasing fun and excitement! Fantastic prizes await the victorious teams, so make sure to bring your A-game!

• Date: Saturday 9 September 2023
• Time: 6.30pm
• Location: Ken Fairfield Hall, St Mark's ACS
• Tickets: Head to the event page link here.
• Please note that no refunds will be provided after 31 August

Don't miss out on this fantastic opportunity to showcase your knowledge prowess and have a blast with friends and family.

Spread the word, invite your friends, and let's make this Quiz Night an unforgettable one!

See you all there!

The Old Scholars' Association Little Lions Playgroup is back for Term 4 , and we'd love to see your little cub there this Friday!

Join us every Friday (during St Mark's term time) from 8.45am - 10.30am 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.

Those 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.

THe City of Wanneroo has launched a new Junior Basketball competition to accommodate the growing demand for basketball in our community.

The Junior Basketball competition welcomes players of all skill levels. Newcomers are encouraged to join and experience the joy of basketball, while more experienced players can challenge themselves and refine their abilities.

The new Junior Basketball competition is held at Kingsway Indoor Stadium. For further information head to the link, Junior sports competitions - City of Wanneroo or check out the flyers below.