Middle School Bulletin, Term 1 - Week 2

Dear Parents/Caregivers

As discussed at the Parent Information Night last week please find an article attached with regards to classroom norms and classroom culture.

Classroom Norms

Kind regards

John Stewart

Head of Middle School.

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I would like to welcome all new and existing families to Year Six at St Mark’s. Being the first year in our Middle School brings many opportunities for your child including sports, music, arts, a range of specialist subjects and before and after school clubs. Middle School is the perfect time to encourage young people to have a go and try something new! The Homeroom teachers and I will be working throughout the year to inform and support your child to do just that.

Moving into a Middle School setting will present a range of challenges along with those opportunities. Our first week of the school term has been busy one as we work together to set expectations and help settle your child into routines for success. There has been a wonderfully positive feeling amongst students as they face and overcome the little challenges each day. I look forward to that enthusiasm continuing as the term gets underway.

As your child’s Head of Year, I am delighted to be working closely with your child and their Homeroom teachers to meet their pastoral needs. Our priority is for your child to feel safe and supported at school. Through FLOURISH, our positive education program, and our daily Homeroom time, we want to build on your child’s sense of belonging and self-worth and to promote a healthy emotional climate at school as well as grow their confidence in learning and connections within our community.

Our focus for 2025 is to:

• Feel safe, accepted and included in our St Mark’s community,

• Be involved and an active contributor to St Mark’s,

• Support and develop their individual abilities and potential,

• Develop a range of study and organisation skills,

• Build on their emotional wellbeing and know how to cope with challenges,

• Know who to go to when they need help,

• Know what a good friend is and grow healthy friendships.

These focus points align with our School values and our Middle School philosophy of ‘Explore and Flourish’.

The first few weeks of Middle School can be extremely overwhelming, and it is normal for students to be emotional and tired. There are a lot of new things to learn. The Year Six Team is here to help and support your child through this significant transition period. If you have any concerns about any elements of your child’s wellbeing and health, I encourage you in the first instance to contact your child’s Homeroom teacher via email. If you have any concerns about any elements of your child’s learning, please contact your child’s subject teacher via email. Teacher emails are the first letter of first names followed by the last name (no spaces) at the St Mark’s email address @stmarks.wa.edu.au.

If you are a new parent to St Mark’s, I strongly encourage you to use the parent portal. This will provide you with a wealth of helpful information and is where all communication to parents, occurs. It is in this portal that you are also able to access SEQTA, where you will find information regarding subject overviews, course information, timetable information, teacher email addresses, assessment dates, results and feedback. Our IT department will have emailed all new families with login details to the parent portal. Please email IT@stmarks.wa.edu.au if you need assistance with the accessing the parent portal.

You can learn more about what to expect and meet your child’s Homeroom teacher at our Year Six Parent Information Night on the Feb 17. Please save the date and join us in the Floreat building from 6:00-7:30pm. The Year Six Team of teachers and I look forward to meeting you soon.

Yours Sincerely,

Kellie Bailey

Head of Year Six

Dear Parents

The School uses SEQTA as its learning management system, and SEQTA and OneNote as the main teaching and learning platforms. Students access SEQTA for course overviews, assessment details, semester reports and timetables. Additional course content and resources are accessed through SEQTA or OneNote, depending on the course.

On Thursday, 6 March, we will offer parents a special session on SEQTA and OneNote. This session will show parents how to use SEQTA to find course and assessment information, track their children’s progress, and access assessment feedback. Parents will also be shown examples of how teachers and students use OneNote at St Mark’s.

The details of the session are as follows:

Who: Kelly Curran, Head of IT

When: Thursday 6 March

Where: Performing Arts Centre

Time: 6:00 PM to 7:15 PM.

Attending this session will give parents two hours to contribute to their school hours. Parents are welcome to join us for this very informative session.

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

Please find below the Heads of Year and House contacts for 2025:

Heads of Year - Secondary School

Year 6 - Kellie Bailey: kbailey@stmarks.wa.edu.au

Year 7 - Paula McGibbon: pmcgibbon@stmarks.wa.edu.au

Year 8 - Rebecca McManus: rmcmanus@stmarks.wa.edu.au

Year 9 - Seb Salinas: ssalinas@stmarks.wa.edu.au

Year 10 - Troy De Bomford: tdebomford@stmarks.wa.edu.au

Year 11 - Jaime Milner: jmilner@stmarks.wa.edu.au

Year 12 - Lia Parsons: lparsons@stmarks.wa.edu.au

Heads of House - Secondary School

Carnley - Rachel Cool: rcook@stmarks.wa.edu.au

Challen - Kane Smith: ksmith@stmarks.wa.edu.au

Moyes - Trent Browner: tbrowner@stmarks.wa.edu.au

Watkins - Alex McNamara: amcnamara@stmarks.wa.edu.au

The Australian Government Department of Education would like to notify you that we have requested for your child’s school to provide residential address and other information.

Under the Australian Education Regulations 2023, the school is required to provide the department with the following information about each student at the school:

• names and residential addresses of the student’s parent(s) and/or guardian(s)
• student residential address (excluding student names)
• whether the student is a primary or secondary student (education level)
• whether the student is boarding or a day student (boarding status).

Can families please update their information on Consent2Go by Tuesday 11 February 2025.

More information on the purpose of collection and privacy information can be found here.

The Secondary Assistance Scheme is available to parents/guardians with children enrolled in Years 7 to 12 who hold an eligible concession card (a Pensioner Concession Card or a Health Care Card).

The SAS consists of two allowances:

• $235 Education Program Allowance (payment made to the school); and
• $300 Clothing Allowance (payment made to the parent/guardian).

Parents/guardians in receipt of the ABSTUDY School Fees Allowance from Services Australia (Centrelink) are not eligible for the SAS, but they may apply for the ABSTUDY Supplement Allowance.

Applications open at the commencement of Term 1 2025 and close on 11 April 2025. Forms are available from Main Reception during Term 1 between 8am and 4pm.

Please check the eligibility criteria here.

With the end of the first week of Term upon us, we thought it would be a timely reminder to reiterate student safety regarding the use of bikes, e-bikes and e-scooters.

Please remind your children of the road rules, especially relating to e-scooters and e-bikes.

Walking/Riding to School

• Please remind your children to be vigilant when walking/riding to and from school and around the area, and to be aware of their surroundings and those around them.
  
• St Mark’s encourages students to walk or ride to school where possible, and we stress the importance of using the roads safely. Helmets must be worn when riding to and from school, as required by law.
• Remind students to take note of the traffic around them, and be aware of other road users, including cars and pedestrians. Be respectful to other road users.
• The road via Gate 3 next to the ELC is for vehicles only. There is no pedestrian access. For safety reasons, pedestrians should use the smaller gate directly opposite the roundabout intersection with Banks Avenue.
• Be aware that, even if a cyclist rings their bell, pedestrians may not immediately recognise it as a warning of an approaching bicycle. As such, when pedestrians are on a shared pathway, cyclists should slow down and give the pedestrian time to move to safety.
• Students are to dismount and push their bicycles at crosswalks.
• Students are not to ride their bicycles on the School grounds - they must dismount.
• Primary School students should park their bikes next to the multi-purpose court near the Primary Oval. Middle and Senior School students should park their bikes in the bike racks behind the Dunsborough buildings.

Manned Crossings

There are manned crosswalks at a number of locations. Traffic Wardens appointed by the Children’s Crossing Unit of the WA Police are located on Whitfords Avenue (Belrose Entrance), Endeavour Road (Banks Avenue), Whitfords Avenue, and on Cook Ave.

In addition, we have a School Traffic Warden located at the Kiss ‘n Drive points outside the Performing Arts Complex. Please follow the instructions of the wardens to help keep our children safe.

E-Bikes and E-Scooters

The below information is taken from the Department of Transport's website and we expect our students/staff/families to adhere to the rules as per below:

The maximum speed for ERDs on bike and shared paths and local roads has been set at 25km/h, which is consistent with regulations in Queensland, the ACT and New Zealand, and is the same speed at which the power output on electric bikes cuts out.

The speed limit on footpaths and in pedestrian areas, however, is much lower at 10km/h reflecting the speed differential between different path user groups.

Riders are required to give way to pedestrians and keep to the left of oncoming bicycle riders or other ERD users. They are not permitted to travel on a separated footpath designated for the use of pedestrians.

Other new rules for ERDs and their users include:

• Riders of higher-powered electric rideable devices must be at least 16 years of age;
• Riders must wear an approved helmet, use lights and reflectors at night and have a working warning device; and
• The same mobile phone and drink and drug driving rules apply as for motor vehicle drivers.

Under existing Western Australian rules, children under the age of 16 years are permitted to use motorised scooters that have a maximum power output of 200w and a maximum speed of 10 km/h.

Please see the WA Government for further rules around E-Ride-ons.

Please note that the Uniform Shop accepts EFTPOS only - no cash purchases. If your child needs to purchase an item, and you are not able to be there with your EFTPOS card, you do have the option of calling the Uniform Shop and providing your card details over the phone

Online Ordering

TARA Uniforms Online Ordering is available with orders collected from the Uniform Shop during opening hours. For convenience in Terms 2 and 3, grey tights are available for purchase from the Cafeteria via SmartRider or EFTPOS.

Uniform Shop Trading Hours - Term Time

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

Please note: Uniform Shop operating hours differ during School Holidays

Location and Parking

The Uniform Shop is located between the Early Learning Centre and the Art Rooms in the Busselton Building. Parking is available in Visitor Parking, accessible via St Mark's Drive Gate 2.

Contact

For Uniform Shop queries telephone 0434 211 591 during opening hours. For urgent matters, please email customer.service@tarauniforms.com.au.

The Parents Prayer Group (PPG) meet fortnightly to pray for the students, staff and school community. We will be meeting every second Friday 9am in the school chapel, starting 14th Feb. Please sign in at reception and perhaps stop by the coffee van on the way. All are welcome. Please share any prayer requests by emailing parentsunitedforprayer@gmail.com or call Wing Shattock on 0433 002 151.

Download the flyer here.

Did you know that our Old Scholars' Association Little Lions Playgroup is run on-site every Friday during term time? We'd love to see your little cub there this Friday!

Join us from 8.45 a.m. to 10.30 a.m. 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. 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.

Tickets are selling fast, for our Old Scholars' Milestone Reunion on Saturday 22 February 25.

All Old Scholars who graduated from St Mark’s in 1995, 2005 and 2015 are invited, and we can't wait to see you all and hear what you've been up to since leaving the land of maroon and blue!

Ticket details are available here.

If you have not received an email regarding the reunion, it means we do not have your current email - please update your details here.