Dear families,

Welcome to Week 10 everyone.

As we approach the last weeks in our wait for the birth of Jesus at Christmas, we have had a wonderful couple of weeks where we have celebrated all that is great about St Mark's. Our students have shared their learning, we have prayed together at our Candle Ceremony and, we have sung, laughed and chatted together at our Christmas Carols and our Helper’s Morning Tea. And we still have our Graduation Mass to come tonight, Awards at Assembly on Friday 12th and our End of Year Mass at 9.00am next Tuesday December 16th. St Mark's is indeed a dynamic learning community.

It was lovely to see so many families enjoying themselves at our Christmas Carols performance last Thursday afternoon when our children entertained us with their impressive Performing Arts talents, yet again. The children looked great in their festive attire and sang and danced beautifully. Many thanks to the parents for preparing them so well. Thank you to our staff for preparing and setting up the event and especially to Performing Arts Teacher, Britt Densmore and Italian Teacher, Antonella Catalano who prepared the children so well.

Student Leadership at St Mark’s - Our student leaders are to be commended for the excellent job they have done throughout 2025 in leading our school in so many ways. They have left a great legacy for those that follow.

It is with pleasure that we recently announced our School Captains for 2026, Orlando and Drishti.

Our Vice Captains are Alessia G and Jaidyn.

These four students have impressed the staff of St Mark’s over a number of years with their attitude to learning and their ability to be great role models to others. I’m sure their parents are very proud of them and I wish them all well as they take on this important task in 2026. All other student positions of leadership will be appointed in early 2026.

Tonight we will celebrate the Graduation of our 20 Gr6 students. Fr Colin will say Mass at 6.00pm in St Mark’s Church, followed by graduation celebrations in our Parish Hall. I wish all our graduates every success in the future. St Mark's is a richer place for having you here. These students are forever St Mark’s people and will always be in our hearts. Congratulations to their parents and families, and congratulations to the teachers and everyone else who has guided these young people through their time at St Mark’s.

Next Wednesday 17th December, we will farewell a number of families who will finish their time at St Mark’s. We thank them for all they have brought to our community and for entrusting their children’s care and education to us.

We say farewell to the following 14 families at Graduation tonight:

Assafiri Family, Audoa Family, Bhatt Family, Ene Family, Finch Family, Gerakas Family, Gutierrez Family, Iacopino Family, Marinelli Family, Mercador Family, Ngo Family, Paolo Family, Sansotta Family and Walec Family.

We also say goodbye to the following students who are moving onto new Primary Schools in 2026: Shreesha (LA4), Sunni (LA4), Jessica (LA9), Jason (LA10) and Arianna (LA10)

We wish them well and send them off with every blessing.

Semester 2 Student Reports - Student Reports will go home to all families on this Friday 12th December. These reports will provide you with a snapshot of your child, their achievements throughout Semester 2 and the many qualities that assist them in their learning. Congratulations to our students on their wonderful achievements throughout 2025 and many thanks to our dedicated teachers who have worked so hard in recent weeks in producing the reports.

2026 Gr1-6 Student Assessment Appointments - Assessment Appointments will take place on Wednesday January 28th and Thursday January 29th for Gr1-6 students only. Online bookings will open on Monday December 15th at 4.00pm and close on Friday December 19th at 9.00am. Those families who do not book in for an appointment will be allocated a day and time. Students will only be required to attend for one hour for their Assessment Appointment. All booking details will be included in the student report envelopes.

2025 Mercy Spirit Award - you are all warmly invited to this Friday mornings assembly at 9:00am when the recipient of the Mercy Spirit Award will be announced and presented.

Year 6 2025 Student Awards - the following Awards will be presented to some of our current Yr6 students at the final assembly on this Friday 12th December. Our local State Member, MP Kathleen Matthews-Ward has generously donated a certificate and EFTPOS Voucher to recognise remarkable achievements of a number of the Yr6 students in the following categories:

St Mark's Elizabeth Carter Award - for a student who demonstrates hard work & helpfulness.

St Mark's Learning Dispositions Award – for a student who always uses the St Mark’s Learning Dispositions to become the best learner they can be.

St Mark's Peacemaker Award - for a student who promotes peace, cohesion and understanding.

St Mark's Respect Award - for a student who has consistently shown respect for others and their differences, and who encourages others to do the same.

St Mark's Mentor Award - for a student who supports and mentors others.

St Mark's Education Excellence Award – for a student who strives to achieve excellence in all areas of the curriculum.

The 5/6 Teachers will determine the recipient of each of the awards based on their knowledge of the students, and their achievements throughout the year. We thank Kathleen for her support of St Mark’s, and she is invited to attend the assembly to present each award.

2026 School Fees & Levies - Under the guidelines of the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) and the advice of our Finance Business Partner, it is necessary to increase School Fees by $150.00 per Family in 2026.

This increase is to enable the school to meet the costs of providing a quality education for the students of St Mark’s. In 2026, the Fee for sending one child to St Mark’s will be $1,750.00 and the Family Fee for two or more children will be $1,950.00.

St Mark’s Fees are amongst the cheapest of the Catholic Schools in the local area and we will continue to strive to provide an excellent education at an affordable price to the children and families of St Mark’s.

There will be a slight increase of $20.00 per child for the 2026 Curriculum Levy and the School Development Fund will increase by $10.00 per family in 2026. This fund goes towards playground and facility improvements and servicing of loans taken by the school as our contribution to our Building Programs. I’m sure you will agree that this is a small amount to contribute to enable the continued development of wonderful facilities for our children.

A document containing all details, payment options and eligibility criteria to access Concessional School Fees was sent home last week. As always, families are able to utilise a variety of payment options for 2026 designed to minimise financial pressure on families. Please contact the Office directly if you would like to discuss payment options.

St Mark's 2026 Staffing

We are excited to welcome some new staff to St Mark's and welcome back some familiar staff members in 2026. Sadly, we have some much loved staff members to farewell at the conclusion of Term 4.

-LA4 teacher Claire Lawrence will finish her time with us at the end of Term 4 as she relocates with her family to Perth in 2026. We thank "the good Claire" for her dedication to the students of St Mark's and hope to welcome her back to Melbourne in the future!

-Our dedicated Junior Intervention teacher Sue Torney will be retiring after 47 years in Catholic Education at the conclusion of 2025. Sue has been an incredible assest in our school, not just through the reading intervention support she has provided many of our students but also in the knowledge, skills and experience she has shared in building our literacy approaches at St Mark's.

-LA9 teacher Isobel Javier has been appointed to a teaching role closer to her home and we thank Isobel for all her contributions to St Mark's this year and wish her all the best in her teaching career.

Our Catholic Care School Counsellor Connor Conkey-Morrison's year with us comes to an end at the conclusion of Term 4. We thank Connor for all she has done to support the children and families of St Mark’s and wish her well in her future endeavours. Connor's professionalism and care has been exceptional and she will be missed at St Mark’s.

In line with our ‘be you’ (Kidsmatter) philosophy of ensuring we are supporting the mental health and wellbeing of our children, the school has engaged a new School Counsellor through Catholic Care for the 2026 school year. I am very pleased to announce that Alyssa Melia will be joining us in this role in 2026. We look forward to welcoming Alyssa to the St Mark’s community.

We welcome new classroom teachers, Stefanie Marin, Penny Camiot and Charlotte O'Hegarty who join our teaching team in 2026 and bring a considerable amount of experience in Catholic Education to St Mark's. They come to us highly recommended and we look forward to them sharing themselves, their gifts, expertise and talent to further enhance our learning community. We also welcome back Gab Vandenberg from parental leave in 2026.

Following is a list of the St Mark’s staffing for 2026. Our Common Purpose is to provide opportunities for each individual child to grow spiritually, socially, emotionally, physically and academically. While there is still much to do in 2025, we look forward to an exciting 2026.

Principal - Peter Wilson

Deputy Principal, Learning & Teaching Leader (Literacy), Mental Health in Schools Program, I.T, Student Wellbeing and Learning Diversity 3-6 - Claire White

Religious Education Leader (Tues) - Dot Mash

Maths Leader & Maths Intervention Teacher (Mon-Thurs) - Kate Ballantyne

Learning Diversity P-2 & Inquiry Learning Leader (Mon-Tues) - Madeleine Wright

P-2 Literacy Support Teacher (Mon-Thurs) - Kate Ballantyne

3-6 Literacy Support Teacher (Weds-Thurs) - Dot Mash

LA1 Teachers (Prep) Erin Buhagiar (Mon-Tues) & Madeleine Wright (Weds, Thurs, Fri)

LA2 Teacher (Prep) - Chloe Miller

LA3 Teacher (1/2) - Christina Kelly

LA4 Teachers (1/2) - Britt Densmore (Mon-Tues) & Charlotte O'Hegarty (Weds-Fri)

LA5 Teacher (1/2) - Stephanie Pantazopoulos

LA9 Teacher (3/4) - Stefanie Marin (Mon-Weds) & Penny Camiot (Thurs-Fri)

LA10 Teacher (3/4) - Emma Crotty

LA7 Teachers (5/6) - Daniela Lazzaro (Mon&Fri) & Maria Barbanera (Tues-Thurs)

LA8 Teacher (5/6) - Kyla Lancaster

LOTE Italian Teacher - Antonella Catalano (Mon-Tues)

Performing Arts Teacher - Gabrielle Vandenberg (Mon-Tues)

Physical Education Teacher - Daniela Lazzaro (Weds-Thurs)

Visual Arts Teacher - Erin Buhagiar (Weds-Thurs)

Office Manager - Lisa Pevitt (Mon-Thurs); Office Admin & Finance Officer - Angela Toomey (Tues)

Learning Support Officers - Erin Meggs; Ruby Hoare; Sarah Cumper; Angela Azzato (Office Admin & Library Technician); Carol Skouris; Sophie Lorenti; Susan Clark; Bushra Giliani (+ Playgroup Co-ordinator), Carol Robinson and Rachael Boucher

Canteen Manager, First Aid Officer & Library Admin - Vicki Smith

School Psychologist - Alyssa Melia (Catholic Care) (Fri)

Students will be informed of their 2026 classes at our Step Up Session on next Monday 15th December, where they spend the morning with their teacher and classmates. Thank you to those families who have worked closely with me earlier in the term, to ensure that we have been fully informed in the formulation of these lists. Class Lists are finalised and will not be changed. I am confident that all students will continue to thrive in 2026.

The children will be interested to know that I’ve heard a whisper that a special guest who wears a red suit, black boots and has a big white beard will be popping into St Mark’s on Step Up Day to spread some Christmas cheer. My information is that our guest plans on gifting each student a Zooper Dooper icy pole during the visit. Please contact the Office if you do not want your child to receive a Zooper Dooper and you would like to provide an alternative gift.

End of Year Mass- Tuesday 16th December at 9.00am You are all warmly invited to come along to our End of Year Mass, next Tuesday at 9.00am in St Mark’s Church.

Final day of Term 4 for students - Wednesday 17th of December. Students will be dismissed at 1.00pm. Our Grade 6 Guard of Honour will be held in the main playground. Aftercare is available from 1.00pm and bookings can be made at www.ylv.com.au

Our Grade 6 Farewell Assembly will be held at 11.30am on Wednesday 17th of December in the Hall. At this Assembly we will farewell and bless our Gr6’s, students from other grade levels who are leaving us and staff who are leaving us. All welcome.

Chicken care over the holidays - thankyou to all the families who have volunteered - Coco will be well taken care of.

Dates for 2026 - Students return to school in 2026 on Friday 30th January except for the 2026 Preps who begin on Thursday 29th from 8:45-11:00am. Please see the Dates to remember page of this newsletter for all other important 2026 dates.

Early finish (Prep-6) - Tuesday 3rd February @ 12:00pm - Getting to Know You Meetings Session 1

Student Free Day - Friday 20th February - Staff compliance - CPR & Anaphylaxis Management, Child Safety, OHS, Mandatory Reporting, Code of Conduct etc. Aftercare will be available and bookings will be essential.

This is the final newsletter for 2025. I thank everyone for your contributions throughout 2025 to make St Mark’s the special place it is, and I wish all families a joyous Christmas, a restful summer holiday and a productive and prosperous 2026.

Warm regards,

Claire

Miss Claire - 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.

OSHC (YLV)