Junior School Bulletin - Term 1, Week 8

This week's Bulletin has a piece by our Literacy and Numeracy Coach, Mrs Roberston, about bringing Mathematics out of the classroom and into everyday lives. This is something that I fully believe in, not just for the benefits on children's Maths prowess. Highlighting Maths in everyday life is about communication and thinking, and the more parents are talking meaningfully with their children, or challenging them to think, the better off the students are.

I know from experience that a surprisingly difficult part of this is patience. Not the type patience that is needed when you are frustrated with something or someone, but rather the time patience that is required to let the children think about a response or self correct an answer. A Zen style patience. Giving children the time to reply to a point or question can be more challenging than most think as we often fill in the space ourselves with the answer but if we value the response, then a few more seconds of waiting is very much worth it. I hope shopping, car rides and the upcoming holiday planning provides lots of Mathematical opportunities for you to share with your children.

A short reminder also that next term our Winter Uniform guidelines are in place. The uniform shop has extended opening hours for the upcoming Easter holidays (please see the Uniform Opening Hours item below) and please remember to name all items before they are worn to school and are subjected to the immense gravitational forces that are our lost property boxes possess.

Mark Douglas
Head of Primary School

Maths is a key part of learning because we use it in so many parts of life. Maths is not just about numbers and equations; it's about understanding the world around us. We would love you to join us in making maths a lively, engaging, and integral part of daily life.

Discovering Maths in Everyday Moments
Mathematics is not confined to the classroom; it's everywhere, in every moment of our daily lives. From cooking recipes requiring measurements and ratios, to planning a trip and calculating distances or time, maths is fundamentally involved. We encourage you to seize these everyday moments to highlight the importance of maths to your child Talking about shopping deals, measuring a household objects, reading the time on an analogue clock or even looking at geometry in nature during a walk, can all be fascinating ways to bring maths to life.

The Power of Quick Recall: Building Automaticity
As I wrote last year, I cannot express strongly enough the crucial importance of the quick recall of basic maths facts, such as the friends of ten, basic addition and subtraction fats and times tables to developing mathematical understanding. Mastery of these basics can significantly ease the cognitive load when students tackle more complex problems, allowing them to focus on the problem-solving process itself rather than getting bogged down in calculations.

This is something I've observed first-hand with my daughter, who recently started Year 8. Learning her times tables was a challenge that required patience, effort, and plenty of encouragement (and I mean PLENTY). However, she now acknowledges how much more difficult her current maths work would be without that foundational knowledge. Her experience shows to me personally, the value of building automaticity early on.

Strategies for Home Support
Supporting your child in achieving this fluency doesn't have to be a chore—for you or your child. Here are a few strategies to make practice enjoyable and effective:

Incorporate Maths Games: Engage your child with educational games that focus on maths skills. Many online resources and apps make learning fun and interactive.

Daily Practice: Just a few minutes of practice daily can make a big difference. This can be through flashcards, quick quizzes, or use of our ‘Mathematics Portal’

Celebrate Progress: Acknowledge and celebrate improvements and milestones. Positive reinforcement goes a long way in building confidence and motivation.

Together, We Make a Difference
By integrating maths into daily conversations and encouraging the development of quick recall skills, we're not just preparing children for the next test or year at school; we're equipping them with the tools to navigate the world more effectively.

Mrs Natasha Robertson
Literacy and Numeracy Coach (Primary)

A number of parents were unable to book a parent interview time prior to the PTO booking site closing on Sunday evening. The booking site will be reopened from 9am tomorrow morning (Wednesday, 20 March) until 4pm Friday afternoon (22 March) to enable parents to complete this booking.

Please follow the steps below to select an interview time with your child’s class teacher.

1. Click this PTO link after 9am on Wednesday 20 March PTO Link
2. Obtain PIN: Click on ‘Obtain PIN’
3. Go to your email to obtain the details you need to log into PTO
4. Log into PTO
5. Select interview time

During the Tuesday afternoon of Weeks 9 and 10, students will be involved in House music and sport activities while class teachers meet to conduct interviews in the classrooms. All Year 2-5 students are to wear their House uniform to school on these dates, Tuesday 19 March and Tuesday 26 March.

The Salvation Army Takeaway Food Containers Program is back for 2024. We are looking for volunteers to cook 10-20 meals for this worthy cause (either for Parent Commitment Hours / Student IGNITE Hours / Duke of Edinburgh Hours).

Volunteers will need to prepare meals at home this weekend (23 and 24 March) so that these meals can be collected on the morning of Monday 25 March 2024.

• 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 containers for the meals are provided and are now available for collection from Junior School Reception. The containers will have a sticker on them which 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, 25 March 2024. I will have 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. Thank you.

We have a huge collection of new reading books for our younger readers we would like covered and in our classrooms as soon as possible. We are looking for parents who are willing to spend time together in our Primary Library covering these readers. The contact is ready, the books are ready, we just need parent helpers. We will be undertaking this mammoth task on Tuesday next week, and further details are as follows:

Date: Tuesday 26 March

Venue: Primary School Library

Time: 8.30am for as long as you are available

If you are able to assist, please complete the following online form here

In Junior School Chapel, students have been looking at Jesus’ parable of ‘The Wise and Foolish Builder’. Students (and some willing teachers!) had the opportunity to partake in the production of a song and music video based on the story. Over eighty enthusiastic dancing superstars donned ‘tradie’-themed attire and props to help put this together. The final video can be viewed here. Please congratulate these students (and teachers!) if you see them around the School!

Primary Art room is collecting empty cereal boxes or other supermarket boxes larger than A4 size. Please bring your boxes to the art room this week. Boxes can be flattened as we will reuse the cardboard for a project. Thank you for your help with this project.

Please see the link below regarding information received from the Premier of Western Australia and Minster of Education, regarding the new WA Student Assistant payment.

WA Student Assistant Payment

In addition, you may also locate the student WASN information on your child's Report, or students are able to access this through the SEQTA Engage plash page (bottom left hand corner under the student name and after "//").

St Marks has been provided with the new Australia Concussion Guidelines for Youth and Community Sports. The safety and well-being of our students is paramount, and these guidelines aim to ensure prompt and appropriate action in the event of a concussion.

The mantra for these guidelines is simple: “If in doubt, sit them out”. This means that if there is any suspicion of concussion during school activities and after school activities, it is imperative to remove the student from play and seek appropriate medical attention.

Furthermore, we kindly request that parents notify our school nurse if a child has a sustained concussion outside of school hours. Please find attached the link to the guidelines for review and understanding.

Thank you for your cooperation and commitment to the safety of our students.

The Year 8 Extension class is writing poetry about “Walking in the Footsteps” by others. As such, we would like volunteers from our school community to share their experiences regarding their journey to Australia.

Students would like to delve into the reasons why this country was chosen, why they left their country of origin, their experience when they first arrived, what they miss from their country of origin, whether it was how they thought it would be, and whether they experienced any negatives along with the positives.

We would love to see photos or documents that reflect their journey and their history.

Our participants would need to be available on Monday 29 April from 9.50am to 10.40am at St Mark's.

We value you and the stories you have to share as part of the St Mark’s Community.

Please register your interest before the end of Term 1, or for further information, please contact Mrs McGibbbon, at pmcgibbon@stmarks.wa.edu.au.

Please note that Parent Commitment Hours can be obtained by volunteering your time to speak to our students.

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

Below are the uniform shop extended opening hours for the upcoming Easter 2024 holidays.

Also a reminder that from the start of Term 2 2024 the trading hours during term will be:

• Mondays : 7.45am -11.15am
• Wednesdays : 7.45am – 11.15am
• Thursdays : 1.00pm – 4.30pm

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 26 March 2024. 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.

• 6.30pm to 7.30pm - Sundowner
• 7.30pm to 9.30pm - 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.

We have three key roles for which volunteers will not be re-nominating as they leave the school; their children graduated at the end of 2023.

We would like to thank Tracey Forder (outgoing President), Ros Hawker (outgoing Treasurer), and Jill Charlish (outgoing community events coordinator) for their service and welcome some new faces to these and other roles in advance.

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 to your Parent Commitment for 2024 by attending the Annual General Meeting.

• From 1 March, Primary and Secondary School students must have a valid Student SmartRider to travel for free on Transperth services for any journey Monday to Friday until the end of the school year.
• Students must tag on and off, or they will receive a default fare. If their SmartRider goes into negative balance as a result, they will not have access to free travel.

Please find below the Easter Service times for Kallaroo and Whitfords Anglican Church

Kallaroo Anglican Church

Good Friday 9:30am

Easter Day 9:30am & 5pm

Whitfords Anglican Church

HOLY WEEK AND EASTER SERVICES

Sun 24^th 09:00 SUNDAY OF THE PASSION

Mon 25^th 19:00 STATIONS OF THE CROSS

Tue 26^th 19:00 TENEBRAE

Thu 28^th 19:00 MAUNDY THURSDAY

Fri 29^th 09:00 VENERATION OF THE CROSS

Fri 29^th 11:00 GOOD FRIDAY

Sat 30^th 19:00 EASTER VIGIL

Sun 31^st 09:00 EASTER DAY