Junior School Bulletin - Term 1, Week 6

Thank you to all of our parents for their support of our Swim Carnival today. Students will be waiting with eagerness for the official results to be announced at our next gathering. In the meantime, I hope all of the students had a wonderful day in the pool and enjoyed the camaraderie, cheering, laughter and bursts of exercise that the day brought.

A big thank you to our Phys Ed teacher, Mr Barton, for his efforts organising the carnival and also to the staff who support this event with enthusiasm and encouragement of all of the children. Those in attendance would have seen a number of helpers from our Middle School who swam countless laps and offered an endless flow of support for our swimmers. A huge thank you to all of these students also.

Mark Douglas
Head of Primary School

Instrument Loan Agreements
Parents are reminded that students hiring instruments from the school must have a signed Instrument Loan Agreement returned to the school. In particular, we are waiting on a large number of Year 2 string agreements and Year 5 band program agreements. Please check your emails from Optimo Software and add the address: donotuse@optimosoftware.com to your safe list to ensure that you have received your loan agreement. All loan agreements MUST be returned to the school by the end of Week 6 (Friday 8 March). Please contact Jaina van Reyk via email at jvanreyk@stmarks.wa.edu.au if you need another loan agreement emailed out or have any questions.

Open Junior Rehearsals
Parents are invited to join us for open rehearsals in Weeks 8 and 9 of this term to see what we’ve been up to in some of our ensembles!

Mon 18 March 8.00am – 8.30am Crescendo Kids Choir in the PAC Auditorium
Tues 19 March 7.30am – 8.30am Sforzando Strings in PAC 6
Tues 19 March 7.45am – 8.30am Primo Strings in PAC 8
Tues 19 March 7.45am – 8.30am Primary Percussion Ensemble in PAC 7A
Tues 19 March 2.30pm – 3.30pm Year 5 Band Program in PAC 8
Tues 19 March 3.20pm – 4.20pm Primary Classical Guitar Ensemble in PAC 6
Fri 22 March 7.40am – 8.30am Take Note Choir in PAC 6

Tues 25 March 10.35am – 12.35pm Year 2 String Program in PAC 8 (10.35am 2B/F, 11.15am 2STE, 11.55am 2CHA)
Thu 28 March 7.30am – 8.30am Viva Ritmo Voices in PAC 6

Any Year 5 student with a love of Pokemon is invited to bring their Pokemon cards to school to battle with other Pokemon enthusiasts on Tuesdays at lunchtime. This club will be supervised by Mr Mark Pressley and will take place after eating time on Tuesdays in the Junior School Library Classroom. Year 5 students who wish to take part do not need to sign up for this club, just come along on the day.

St Mark's has received a request from the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment to provide residential address and other information as required under the Australian Education Regulation 2013.

For further information regarding the data that will be provided, please read the attached notice.

Collection Notice for Parents/Guardians

Flyers went home last week from the Scholastic Book Club. If any families are interested in purchasing books, please note that orders and payments are ONLINE only at https://mybookclubs.scholastic.com.au/Parent/Login.aspx and need to be submitted before 3pm on Friday 8 March. If you have any queries, please email primarylibrary@stmarks.wa.edu.au

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

PAYMENT NOMINATIONS must be submitted by Tuesday 6 February 2024. Download the Payment Form here.

There is no need to submit a payment nomination if you have paid your 2024 fees in full. Thank you.

• Annual Fee Due 13 Feb 2024
• Quarterly Fee Due 13 Feb, 30 April, 30 July, 22 Oct 2024
• Monthly Fee Due 25^th of each month Feb to Nov 2024, or the next business day if the 25^th is not a business day
• Fortnightly Fee Due Friday fortnightly commencing 16 Feb and ending on 8 Nov 2024

Subject and music adjustments will be amended later in February once payment nominations and queries are effectuated.

Please contact Kaye at familyaccounts@stmarks.wa.edu.au if you have any queries.

Thank you for your patience during this busy start to the 2024 school year.

Our School community, like the wider community, continues to be impacted by COVID-19. We appreciate, when contacting the School to report your child’s absence that you are letting us know if they have tested positive for COVID-19. Please continue to do this.

While nowhere near the levels reached in previous years, the number of cases among our students and staff is not insignificant.

Current advice from the WA Department of Health is:

• Manage your symptoms with rest and pain relief. Remember to check with your doctor if you are eligible for antiviral treatment.
• Stay at home until your symptoms resolve. This could take up to 10 days or more. A minimum of 5 days is a good guide.
• Don’t forget to tell anyone you have had close contact with that you have COVID. You’re most infectious 2 days before symptoms start.

Please be reminded that students with any symptoms should not be sent to school regardless of a negative RAT test. If your child presents to the Wellness Centre with any cold or flu symptoms, we will have to call you to come and collect them.

For information regarding the latest rulings relating to COVID cases, please click here.

If your child will be absent, late to class, or if they will need to leave early to attend a medical appointment please notify the School by emailing absentee@stmarks.wa.edu.au. Please include your child’s name (first name and surname) and class/year level in the subject line of the email. Please do not send absentee/appointments/late information to any other email address - it must go to absentee@stmarks.wa.edu.au no matter what year group your child is in. Thank you.