Dear families,

As we come to the end of Term 3, I find myself reflecting with gratitude on another busy and rewarding term in the life of St Mark's school. There have been so many moments of learning, celebration, faith, friendship and connection that remind us of what makes our school community such a special place.

As a Catholic community, the recent floods in Nepal reminds us of the ways that we are called to walk alongside one another with compassion, kindness and hope. We invite our students to come together for a special Red, Blue and White Dress Up & Donate Day this Friday 11th September to support Caritas and communities in Nepal impacted by the recent devastating landslide.

Students are encouraged to come to school dressed in the colours of the Nepalese flag (red, blue and white) or traditional Nepali dress and bring along a gold coin donation if they are able.

Caritas Australia is the Catholic Church’s international aid and development organisation in Australia. Through our donations, we hope to support Caritas in providing assistance to communities affected by the landslide and to show our solidarity with families facing incredibly difficult circumstances.

This is also an important opportunity for our students to put their faith into action by demonstrating compassion, generosity and care for our global community.

Thank you for your support as we stand alongside the people of Nepal during this difficult time.

If you would like to learn more about Caritas Australia's work in Nepal - read here.

Families are also invited to donate directly to Caritas

MACSSIS - Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools – School Improvement Surveys.

Monday 31st August - Friday 18th September WE NEED YOUR VOICE!

The survey is only available online, is open now and needs to be completed by next Friday September 18th. This survey may only be completed once.

Your voice is an important part of our school community. The feedback you provide helps us understand what we are doing well, where we can improve, and how we can continue to strengthen the learning, wellbeing and school experience of every child.

So far we have only 15 responses. The survey closes in 9 days and it only takes approximately on average only 14.8 minutes of your time. Please check your emails - a unique pin and link to the survey was sent via email to one member of each family. If you did not receive the email - please contact me via the Office or send me a Seesaw message or email.

The greater the number of families who participate, the clearer and more representative our understanding of our community becomes. Every response contributes to our ongoing planning and helps inform the decisions and priorities that shape our school.

We know family life is busy, and we sincerely appreciate the time you take to share your thoughts with us.

Please take a few minutes to complete the survey and have your voice heard.

Thank you for your continued partnership and for helping us make our school the very best it can be for our children and families.

Sacrament of Reconciliation - last Wednesday 2nd September at 7:00pm, 12 of our Grade 3 students received the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It was a lovely celebration led by Fr Colin. Many thanks to the families who prepared the children so well, to our Religious Education Leader Ms Dorothy Mash, and our 3/4 Teachers Ms Emma Crotty, Ms Stef Marin and Ms Penny Camiot for ensuring it was a memorable celebration. Thank you also to our staff members who attended in support of the children, the families and their colleagues.

Fathers Day Celebrations - It was great to see so many fathers, grandfathers and special males at our recent Father’s Day celebration. The Morning Tea was delicious and the assembly led by our Gr1/2’s was beautiful. It was lovely for our students to bestow a St Mark’s blessing on all the men in attendance who do so much in our lives. Thank you to everyone who assisted in making this morning so special. I hope all our father’s had a wonderful Father’s Day. Thanks also to our KM@SMAT and the volunteers who ran the Father’s Day Stall. From all reports the dad’s loved their gifts! A special thank you to everyone who generously donated to our fundraiser. Through the Gold Coin Donations gathered on the morning we will donate $122 to Mens Line Australia - a free 24/7 phone counselling service offering support for men anywhere, anytime.

Term 4 Summer Uniform - now is the time to locate your children's Summer Uniform items before the holidays and make sure they still fit and are ready to be worn in Term 4! All students are to wear Summer Uniform from the commencement of Term 4, Monday October 5th. Please see below the Summer Uniform items. Don't forget the approved St Mark's blue school hat with logo!

Uniform items and pricelist

Click here for click and collect, delivery or instore

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.

Visting Primary School Nursing Program - the Nurse will be onsite tomorrow from 9:00am, Thursday 10th September to visit our Prep students.

The Visiting Nurse Program is an important partner in supporting the health, wellbeing and development of our students. School nurses bring specialist health knowledge into the school setting and can help identify concerns early, provide families with guidance and connect children with appropriate health and community services.

Partnering with the School Nursing Program helps us to provide coordinated support for children at St Mark's. This includes sharing relevant information, with appropriate consent, communicating about identified needs and working together to ensure recommendations can be supported within the school environment. If any Prep students are absent, the Nurse will return in Term 4 to visit these children.

Family holidays and students' extended absences

The Attendance Policy and guidelines for MACS Schools outlines that family holidays and extended absences during school term dates require Principals approval. Parents and Carers are encouraged to plan holidays for students during school holiday periods and pupil free days. However, if your child/ren will be away from school for an extended period of time, please email their teacher, together with Ms Claire White - Acting Principal (principal@smfawkner.catholic.edu.au) in advance, for these days away from school to be considered an approved absence.

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 are usually held at 2.45pm on Fridays. This Friday 11th September, Assembly will be at 2:45pm.

However, there will be occasions when Assemblies will be held in the morning.... so on the last day of school (next week), Assembly will be at 9:00am for Footy Colours Dress Up!

Footy Colours Dress Up - last day of Term 3 - Thursday 17th September. Get ready to show your footy colours! Students are invited to come to school dressed in their favourite footy team colours, jersey, scarf, beanie or footy gear for a fun-filled Footy Dress-Up Assembly at 9:00am! We can’t wait to see a sea of team colours around the school!

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 and Term 4 have been added. These are added to and updated each fortnight.

Save the Date! - St Mark's Art Show -

Thursday October 22nd, please see the Art Show page of each Newsletter for updates. Erin B, our Visual Art teacher and her Art Show Committee have some great things planned for 2026!

Staff leave updates and arrangements - we will welcome back Lisa in the Office in Term 4 after a period of travel. Miss Kate will be taking some Long Service Leave for the first 2 weeks of Term 4. We wish safe travels to Kate.

Mrs Daniela Lazzaro will also be taking Long Service Leave for in Term 4, from Weeks 3-7. Mrs Barbanera will teach LA7 on a Monday and one of our regular Relief teachers will cover the Fridays. Our PE Specialist Program will be covered by some of our exisiting Part Time staff members.

Term 3 comes to a close on next Thursday September 17th at 1:00pm. It has been a very busy and productive 10 weeks with many learning opportunities for everyone. Some of the highlights of Term 3 include celebrating the Sacraments of Confirmation and Reconciliation, the Family Disco, Italian Day Celebration, Book Week Celebrations, 5/6 Hooptime Basketball, Grade 6 Volleyball, District Athletics, Father’s Day Celebration, Celebration of Grandparents, not to mention all the great learning that has been occurring in the classrooms and beyond.

I’d like to thank everyone for everything they bring to St Mark’s. We are truly blessed to be part of such a vibrant and dynamic community.

Great working with you all and enjoy the spring weather with your families!

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