Dear families,

I would like to share with you some very pleasing NAPLAN results for our Year 3 and Year 5 students. Our strong results reflect the success of our evidence-informed programs, aligned to the MACS Vision for Instruction. Congratulations to all the Year 3 and Year 5 students.

YEAR 3
70 % of students achieved Strong or Exceeding proficiency in Reading
100 % of students achieved Strong or Exceeding proficiency in Writing
78 % of students achieved Strong or Exceeding proficiency in Spelling
91 % of students achieved Strong or Exceeding proficiency in Grammar & Punctuation
65 % of students achieved Strong or Exceeding proficiency in Numeracy

YEAR 5
78 % of students achieved Strong or Exceeding proficiency in Reading
100 % of students achieved Strong or Exceeding proficiency in Writing
94 % of students achieved Strong or Exceeding proficiency in Spelling
78 % of students achieved Strong or Exceeding proficiency in Grammar & Punctuation
94 % of students achieved Strong or Exceeding proficiency in Numeracy

Our Year 5 students demonstrated Literacy and Numeracy growth that was above the State average between Year 3 and Year 5. In three test areas (Spelling, Grammar and Numeracy) learning growth was well above the State average growth between Year 3 and Year 5.

Planning for 2027

Currently, all Catholic schools are working through planning and budgeting activities for 2027 to ensure we are well placed to support our staff, students and school communities in the coming year. This includes looking at how we can accommodate the changes likely to flow from a new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA) with school staff.

We recognise the significant financial pressures many households are facing, and we are making a conscious effort to ensure these costs are not passed on through significant fee increases. We cannot promise that there will be no fee increases for 2027 but I will work closely with the MACS Business Manager and the School Advisory Council throughout this process.

I will continue to keep our parent community informed. As always, our focus remains on maintaining a strong school community and continuing to deliver a high-quality Catholic education for every student at St Mark's.

Ooshies - these are very popular! If this fad hasn't found its way into your house...dont' worry! Some schools have banned students from bringing Ooshies to school due to various issues - but the message is ... students are allowed to bring their Ooshies to school at each families discretion, at this stage. At St Mark's the students must keep their Ooshies in their school bags and there is NO TRADING as it has caused some ongoing issues.

We appreciate they are a great interest to students and I did read online that if your children were interested in trading, there is a nationwide Ooshies trading event at all Woolworths or BigW stores this Saturday 15th August from 1:00pm-2:00pm. But no trading at school. Please support us with this and remind your children of this if they plan to bring their Ooshies to school.

Semper Dental Van will be at St Mark’s on Friday August 21st

Flyers have been sent home today with each child today.

Once again this year the school is offering dental services to the children of St Mark’s by engaging Semper Dental to provide comprehensive oral examinations and treatment plans. Preventative dental care helps identify small issues early, before they become painful or require more extensive, costly treatment.

Please access the following link to register your child/ren using the Semper Dental Consent Form.

(Available in multiple languages with Google Translate)

Families who wish to take up this offer will need to complete the Semper Dental Consent Form online, (or complete the paper copy), by next Wednesday August 19th.

We are offering this service on an ‘opt in’ basis, and families are under no obligation to participate. Paper copies of the forms are also available in the School Office.

Please contact the Office, or Semper Dental directly (1300 661 204) if you have any questions.

Dropping off items at school

There are times when the students forget things at home (brain food, a drink bottle, library books or lunch) or they get left in the car after drop off. If this happens, parents are asked to come to the Office and drop them off there rather than entering the building and going to the classrooms themselves if it is after 9:00am. An unexpected visitor to the classrooms is often disruptive to the teaching and the flow of learning for the students. Office staff or a member of the Leadership Team will pass any items on to the students at the classrooms and learning areas. We appreciate your understanding with this.

Safety reminder

A reminder to parents, guardians and supervising adults to not encourage or allow the children to press the door release button at the double door when exiting the main building. Staff can press the button from the Office counter on behalf of the students and adults must be the only ones using this button. This is a procedure that we have in place to keep all of out students and family members safe.

Assemblies - Assemblies in Term 3 will be held at 2.45pm on Fridays. This week will be led by LA7 and LA8 and we will acknowledge birthdays and the Week 4 and 5 Learners of the Week!

All are welcome!

There will be occasions when Assemblies will be held in the morning....

The next occasion is the Book Week Parade at 9:00am on Friday 28th August. Following that will be the Father’s Day Assembly which will be held at 9.00am on Friday September 4th (details to be advised).

Dates to Remember - all the the Term Dates and School Closure days have been published on the Dates to Remember page since the start of the year. Add these to your diary! The events and special days for Term 3 have been added. These are added to and updated each fortnight.

St Mark’s Family Disco - Our Family Disco will be held this term on Friday August 28th, 6-7.30pm in our Hall. This will be a fun filled night for all the family to come along and dance the night away. There will be music to suit everyone’s taste, no matter which era you grew up in! Please note, the Family Disco is a family event. All children will need to be accompanied by adult family members. Details for tickets and how to order pizza will be sent home this week.

The Student Action Team consulted with their classes and decided that there is no dress up theme for this year's disco. To ensure this event is a great success, would love to see you all there!

Start planning those Book Week costumes and Disco outfits!

Ms Claire White - Acting Principal and Learning & Teaching/Literacy Leader

claire.white@smfawkner.catholic.edu.au

‘The St Mark’s Catholic Primary School, Fawkner Community promotes the safety, wellbeing and inclusion of all children.’

St Mark’s Catholic Primary School respectfully acknowledges the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation, who are the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we live, learn, work and play. We pay our respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.

Playgroup