Principal's News

Dear Families,

Our Year 6 children and staff had a fantastic time on camp. They all arrived home safe and sound today. Enormous thanks to all our staff who attended the Year 6 camp and were on call 24/7 to care for and support our Year 6 students to ensure they were safe and comfortable and had a wonderful time. 

Thank-you to those who were able to join us for Ash Wednesday Mass on Wednesday. We need to thank Mr Davies, in his absence for organising such a lovely Mass for us (even though he wasn't there) and to those who stepped up and helped on the day to fill in for Mr Davies while he was away on camp.

It was lovely to be able to attend the District Swimming Carnival with the students last week. Well done to all students who swam in the St Mark's team - you made us very proud with the way did your best and supported your team mates. Congratulations to Max in Year 6 who won two of his races and made it through to the next round to compete at the Division Swimming Carnival.

Thanks to all those who came along and joined us for our Wominjeka - Welcome Picnic last Tuesday evening. We were blessed with the weather and it was wonderful to see such a large number of families take part in the event. My favourite moment was watching one of our Year 1 boys reconnect with his Year 6 buddy from last year. It was like a scene from a movie as they ran towards each other with outstretched arms and complete joy on their faces. It is a powerful reminder of the importance of community and making meaningful connections in all facets of our life. Enormous thanks to Frank, Kate and family and the members of the PA who ensured there were yummy sausages to be eaten and cold treats  and drinks. Thanks also to Team Kids for providing a lovely juice and coffee stand.

Please make sure you check out our Cyber Safety page in our newsletter for great tips and up  to date information for keeping your children safe online.

PUBLIC HOLIDAY REMINDER:

Don't forget that Monday 10th March is the Labour Day Public Holiday. St Mark's will be closed on that day and there is no out of school hours program due to  it being a public holiday.

St Mark's - Monty's Colour Run:

We have some exciting news about our upcoming "Monty's Colour Run". Make sure you have registered your child for the colour run at www.myprofilepage.com.au which will take place at school on Tuesday 18th March. The more money you raise the more prizes you win. Those students who raise more than $100 will go in the draw to win an electric scooter. Those students who raise more than $75 will go in the draw to "Slime the teacher". 

Dimar Court Traffic & Church End of Day Pick Up:

We have been contacted by some residents in Dimar Court to say that some of our families are blocking their drive ways and even parking in their drive ways when picking up their children after school. Unfortunately this has escalated into arguments and inappropriate language being used in front of children. Kingston Council has been contacted and has let us know that they will be making more regular checks in Dimar Court at pick up time and will issue traffic fines for those who are parked in the wrong places. Please respect our neighbours and their homes especially their ability to exit and enter their own homes when they need to. I am well aware that the large majority of our families do the right thing but I please ask that everyone takes special care to park appropriately - even if that means you have to walk a little further to come and get your children. 

I also need to remind families that pick up their children from the church car park that no stopping is allowed in any road way prior to 3.20 p.m. If you arrive prior to 3.20 p.m. you must park you car in a designated car park or keep driving around the car park so that all cars have the ability to leave the car park when they need to. Once the 3.20 p.m. bell rings we ask that everyone understands that a degree of patience is needed to exit everyone safely from the school.

NAPLAN:

Next week our Year 3 and Year 5 students will take part in the annual NAPLAN testing. NAPLAN tests provide schools with useful data about student growth and comparison against national standards. This is one piece of data that we use, along with a myriad of other data sources, to track not only our students' achievements but our teaching and learning programs. We recently used our 2024 NAPLAN data along with many other sources of data to define our school improvement goals for 2025. 

A special message from MACS:

Dear principal,

I am delighted to share innovative new research using the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey data that found people who attended Catholic schools are likely to see lifelong benefits in employment status, general health and life satisfaction.The research found that on average, there are both personal and community benefits of Catholic schooling.

People who attended Catholic schools are on average more likely to be employed, and to earn higher wages, than government school attendees. The average wage difference ranges between four per cent to 11 per cent. In addition, Catholic school attendees are more likely to work in an industry or sector that directly benefits the public and were more likely to donate to charity. The report also found that Catholic school attendance had a positive average impact on personal health and life satisfaction scores.

The research was undertaken by a team in the Centre for International Research on Education Systems (CIRES) at Victoria University and commissioned by VCEA.

These findings are statistically significant and include adjustments to the data to isolate the impact of attendance at a Catholic school from other individual and family characteristics and influences.

This research is evidence of what you and your team will have always known intuitively, that educating the whole person supports the development of well-rounded individuals who will succeed and be happy and confident in the world during and after their schooling, whatever path they choose through life. We have shared this important research with members of the Victorian and Australian governments and opposition, as further evidence of the many benefits Catholic schools bring to Victoria and the nation.

You and your staff should take great pride from the powerful positive impact that you have on the lives of the students and families who join our sector on their educational journey.

A copy of the report is available on our website at www.vcea.catholic.edu.au/lifelongbenefits. You can also watch a video on the report from lead researcher Andrew Wade.

We encourage you to review the report and to consider how your school community can share these messages about the benefits of Catholic schooling and amplify these exciting findings.

Kind regards,

Professor Elizabeth Labone

School Tours:

Our first school tour for 2025 was a great success with 20+ people taking part. We have more school tours on the following dates.

If you know anyone who is interested in sending their child to St Mark's in 2026 please share the following dates with them so they can book in for a school tour. Bookings are essential as places are filling fast. 

Tuesday 11th March 9.15 a.m.

Friday 14th March 12.15 p.m.

Thursday 20th March 9.15 a.m.

Tuesday 25th March 7.00 p.m.

Thursday 27th March 9.15 a.m.

Thursday 24th April 9.15 a.m.

Tuesday 29th April 9.15 a.m.