Dear families,

We are very much looking forward to our Mothers' Day Breakfast tomorrow morning and celebrating with all our mums. Thanks to the PA and all the dads who are coming along to help with the breakfast.

You have probably seen the measures announced on Tuesday by the Allan Labor Government in the 2024-25 State budget. A $400 School Saving Bonus was announced for all government school students. However, only Health Care Card holders will be eligible for the payment in Catholic schools.

We know, families are feeling cost of living pressures and for Catholic school families to be discriminated against in this manner is deeply unfair. We believe there should be equality for all school children in Victoria. Either the payment should apply to all students, or it should be means tested for all students, as has been the case with programs like the Camps, Sports, and Excursions Fund. Dr Simon Edwards, the Director of Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools, (MACS), is meeting with the ministers on our behalf to advocate for our families. We will keep you up to date with any news when we get it.

A reminder for the foundation families about the Preps in PJs night on Wednesday 15th May from 6.00 - 7.00 p.m. in the hall.

We will also be having our 50th Anniversary whole school photo on Wednesday 22nd May at 9.30 a.m. Children will be required to wear their full school uniform for the photos - no sports uniforms. The prep children can bring their runners to school and change into their runners for PE on the day.

Some of our year three children will be making the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Wednesday 22nd May at 6.00 p.m. We wish them every blessing on this next stage in their faith journey.

2025 Enrolments:

This is the final call out for applications for enrolment for Foundation 2025, from our current families. Letters of offer will go out to all families at the end of May and we want to ensure that we have enrolment forms from all our current families before we offer places to new families. We do currently have more applications than places so please ensure we receive your application as soon as possible and no later than 24th May 2024.

School Master Plan:

We have begun the exciting task of creating a master plan for our school with Foreground Architects. Our master plan will outline possible future facility upgrades and inclusions that we would ideally love, to enhance our teaching and learning at St Mark's. This is a long term idealistic plan that we hope to work through in stages over the next 10 plus years. The architects will be meeting with the students, staff and parent members of the School Advisory Council and Parents' Association next Tuesday, to garner their ideas and insights about our "ideal" school facilities.

Congratulation Ms Amerena:

Ms Amerena, our PE teacher, has been competing in the World Cheerleading Championships in America. Her team placed 6th out of 40 teams from all over the world and we are very proud and happy for her. She has done so much training and preparation to be ready for this special event and we look forward to congratulating her in person when she is back next week. Click on the arrow to see more photos.

Past Student Achievements:

Two brothers, Lachlan and Stefan Lamble have run across Australia from Perth to Melbourne to raise money for Cancer research. These two boys are past St Mark's students and we are very proud of their amazing efforts to highlight the need for more research, into a disease that effects so many families every year.

UNIFORM SHOP CHANGE OF HOURS:

Our onsite uniform shop run by our very generous volunteer, Kim, has changed its hours of operation. Starting in Term 2, the uniform shop will be open on Friday mornings between 8.45 a.m.- 9.15 a.m. Enormous thanks to Kim for providing this service to our families.

CHILD SAFETY:

PHOTO PERMISSION:

Earlier in the year all families were sent a photo permission letter outlining the different ways we use the photos we take of students during school events. We mainly use photos in our school newsletter and on See Saw, both of which are only accessible to St Mark's families. At times, we post photos on our Facebook page and create promotional materials for our school, as well as the local newspaper occasionally asking to include photos of our students in articles about our school. We do not use student names when we add photos to any public platforms as a matter of child safety, and only use first names in our own newsletter and on See Saw.

Whilst we do respect that all families have the right to opt in or out of giving the school permission to use their child's photo, it is becoming increasingly impossible to take photos at school events that we can then use to advertise and promote our school in the wider community - which we do need to continue to do.

Firstly we ask that families allow their child's photo to be used on our own closed platforms for the newsletter and See Saw, as only our St Mark's families can access these publications. I understand that Facebook is a publicly accessible site, but we do not put student names in this arena when posting about our school's events and activities and we would love to be able to use the photos we take, without blacking out children's faces etc. It takes an enormous amount of time to check every photo to ensure we have the appropriate permissions to use them. If you choose to not allow your child's photo to be used in the above mentioned situations, please understand, and don't be offended, when your child is asked to stand out of a photo, in order that we can use it to promote our school in the wider community. Please explain to your child, if this is the case, so that they understand why they cannot be in the photo. Thanks for your understanding.

PARENTING WORKSHOPS AT ST MARK'S:

On Tuesday the 4th, 11th and 18th of June from 6.30 - 8.30 p.m. St Mark's will be hosting some wonderful parenting workshops to support the mental health and wellbeing of our St Mark's families, through helping to develop optimal family relationships. The Optimal Relationship Approach is an evidence based approach that the staff of St Mark's have been learning about and using in our classrooms. We have had many of our staff become fully TORA (Teacher Optimal Relationship Approach) certified and found it a very useful approach to help us to create calm, well managed classrooms. It made sense for us to share this approach with you as parents, as we are well aware that the more we can work together to support our children the better the outcomes are for our children.

Please book in on 0478 389 793 to secure your spot. The series of three workshops is FREE for St Mark's family - normally this would cost $200 per family.

Best Teacher Competition:

Do you have a favourite teacher? Nominate them today!

For the second year, News Corp is running its Australia’s Best Teachers campaign, recognising inspirational and innovative educators across the country.

The campaign will launch on Sunday 28 April, calling on the community to nominate teachers who have had an incredible impact on our students and all our lives.

A panel of expert judges will then select and announce the top 50 teachers on Sunday 30 June.

Nominate your favourite teacher today by visiting www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/australias-best-teachers-campaign-is-back-nominate-now/news-story/f7ded458c472bc3ab10862e6735415df.

Stand Up Project (SUP) - from our SUP Leaders:

On Friday 3rd May our 5/6 Stand Up Leaders presented their slide shows to all year levels on the Stand Up Project.

Students learnt 4 strategies to help prevent and deal with schoolyard issues. The four strategies include Distract, Direct, Delay and Delegate.

You may see these posters up and around St Marks, in the prep area, near the library and playground. Stand Up Leaders are also identifiable by their new Stand Up leader badges.

It would be beneficial if you could talk to your children about the lesson and help them to remember the 4 D’s. You may like to put this poster up on your fridge as a reminder.

You may like to discuss further with your child which strategy they would use if faced with a friendship or school yard issue.

Thank you for your ongoing support throughout this program.

From your 5/6 Stand Up Leaders

Second Hand Uniform:

Second hand uniform is available from the office at any time. If you are in need of some extra items of uniform please don't hesitate to come to the school office and see what we have in stock. We also welcome donations of clean second hand uniform items in good condition that perhaps your children have grown out of.

Sports Uniform Days:

Here is the timetable for the days students can wear their sports uniform and runners to school (all other days students must wear full school uniform and school shoes):

Monday - 5/6 Level

Tuesday - 3/4 Level

Wednesday - Foundation Level

Thursday - 1/2 Level

PARENTS' ASSOCIATION