Dear St Mark's Families,

Welcome to the first edition of our new iNewsletter! This online interactive format enables us to share links, images and videos embedded directly within the pages. Importantly, the newsletter adjusts to be readable from email, tablet or mobile devices and features the Google translate option in the footer of each page to suit all readers. We hope you find it more interactive and easy to navigate!

Friday August 15th was the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the day we celebrate Mary’s heavenly birthday - the day that she was taken body and soul into heaven. The Assumption signals the end ofMary's earthly life and marks her return to heaven to be reunited with Jesus. On this day we give thanks and praise for the holy and blessed life of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. We celebrate how God has honoured Mary as the mother of all and welcomed her into heaven. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee!

Congratulations to the 11 Gr6 students who were recently Confirmed by Bishop Rene Ramirez. This was a significant step in their faith journey where they were able to stand up and make a definite commitment to their faith. During his Homily, Bishop Rene referred to the Holy Spirit as the Sustainer of the Faith, and we are challenged to open our hearts and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us and to work through us in our interactions with others. Many thanks to our Religious Education Leader Ms Dorothy Mash, and our 5/6 teachers Ms Kyla Lancaster, Mrs Maria Barbanera and Mrs Daniela Lazzaro, and LSO Ms Susan Clark for all of their hard work in preparing the children. Also thank you to our staff members who came along to help out and support.

Last night twelve of our Grade 3 students and their families attended our Reconciliation Family Session. This marks the formal beginning of their preparation to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Wednesday September 3rd. Reconciliation “washes us clean,” and renews us in Christ. Through this process, a person is reconciled with the Church and continues to live as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Each day here at St Mark’s we enact true reconciliation when we implement our Restorative Practices approach to conflict resolution. Just like the Sacrament of Reconciliation, this process enables participants to acknowledge a wrongdoing or mistake, seek forgiveness, be forgiven, forgive and reconcile with others. We thank our Religious Education Leader, Ms Dorothy Mash, 3/4 Teachers Ms Emma Crotty and Ms Isobel Javier, and 3/4 LSO Angela Azzato for working together with the families of St Mark’s in the faith formation of our children. We also thank our guest presenter, Fr Elio Capra for his informative and engaging session.

Italian Day Celebrations – What a wonderful day we had last Thursday when we held our annual Celebration of all things Italian! It was lovely to see so many happy children as they enjoyed the fun activities, their pizza at Lunchtime and their Gelato at Recess. An absolute highlight of the celebration was the Whole School Performance of ‘La Favola dell’ingrediente Segreto’. This fun and interactive show kept us laughing while teaching us about Italy, its language and its culture. Days like this are the result of a great deal of work behind the scenes and we say a big thank you to Signorina Maestra, Ms Antonella Catalano for her organisation and passion in preparing this celebration for us. We also say a sincere thank you to our Canteen Manager Mrs Vicki Smith for her support on the day. See the Italian Day page for a photo gallery of the day.

Thank you to our Student Action Team for leading our Bullying No Way: National Week of Action Assembly last Friday. The theme for 2025 is 'Be Bold, Be Kind, Speak Up'. When we all feel like we belong, bullying struggles to find a place. It's about embracing who we are, respecting everyone's differences and standing up together against unkindness. Belonging means we all have a role in preventing bullying. We are encouraged to speak up and create a safe place where everyone feels supported and respected, and our voices are heard and valued.

Here at St Mark’s we are committed to providing a safe environment for all students and young people and we take active steps to prevent bullying. Our commitment and responsibility to child safety is drawn from the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Gospels. At the heart of this commitment is Christ’s message of love, hope, justice and the innate dignity of each person. We implement a comprehensive range of child protection strategies, including the Restorative Practices approach to conflict resolution, our Child Safety & Wellbeing Policy and our Child Safety Code of Conduct.

“Children are a blessing, and a gift from the Lord” Psalm 127:3

The St Mark’s Family Disco is fast approaching on Friday August 29th, 6-7.30pm in our School 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 family members. All details, and a link have been shared so that families can purchase tickets online and pre-order and pay for pizzas by tomorrow - Thursday 21st. Families will not be able to purchase pizza on the night.

See the KidsMatter page further on in the Newsletter for more detailed information about ordering and tickets.

To ensure this event is a great success, we require parental assistance to plan the event and run the night please. If you can help out, please come to our next Kids Matter @ St Mark's Action Team Meeting this Friday 22nd at 2:30pm - the zoom link and details are on the KidsMatter page.

Father’s Day Celebration - To all our fathers, grandfathers and father figures, please join us for our Father’sDay celebrations on Friday September 5th. We will begin with Assembly at 9.00am led by our 1/2 Students. Our special Father’s Day Morning Tea will commence at 9.30am following the Assembly. This is our way of saying thanks to all the men in our community who do so much for us. Once again this year we are asking for a cash donation and all funds raised will go directly to the Cancer Council. Please note, that this is not an entrance fee, it is a voluntary donation. By raising funds for the Cancer Council we are enacting our Mercy Value of Service...

“At the same time, it enkindles within us a desire to assist others, so that they too may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10).

After Morning Tea all guests are invited and welcome to visit the children in their classrooms for Father’s Day activities.

This week is Book Week and the theme is “Book an Adventure”. For all those costume enthusiasts we will be having our annual Book Week parade on Friday morning at 9.00am. The Week 5 Assembly will follow the Book Week Parade.

Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS) – Once again this year we are participating in the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS). MACSSIS is an annual process where we listen to the thoughts and feelings students (Yrs 4, 5 & 6), families and staff have about the great things happening at St Mark’s, and how our school can be even better. These surveys help inform the ongoing improvement of schools across the Archdiocese of Melbourne. MACSSIS data benefits everyone within our school and provides valuable community insights on areas that we can focus on. We believe it is important to encourage families to have a voice and contribute to shaping the ongoing improvement of the school.

The survey is only available online, can be accessed from Monday September 1st and needs to be completed by Friday September 19th . This survey may only be completed once. For families with more than one child attending our school, we ask that you focus on the eldest child attending the school. We invite all families to respond via this survey and participation is completely voluntary. There are no "right" or "wrong" answers – all responses are completely anonymous and at no point are any of the responses from students, families or staff identifiable by the school. The survey is available in English, Arabic, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Tagalog and Vietnamese. All details on how to access the survey will be shared with families soon.

Dental Services at St Mark’s - As advised, the Semper Dental Van will be at St Mark’s on Friday August 29th. All details and link to the online Consent Forms were sent out on our Seesaw and Audiri Apps last week. Hardcopies of the Consent Form are also available in the Office. Families who wish to take up this offer will need to complete the Consent Form by Wednesday, August 27th. We are offering this service on an ‘opt in’ basis, and families are under no obligation to participate. Please contact the Office, or Semper Dental directly if you have any questions.

ABC Music Concert – Families are welcome to join us on Friday September 12th at 9.00am for our annual ABCMusic Concert where our talented ABC Music students will entertain us. The concert is being held in Term 3 this year as, sadly our wonderful music teacher Pez is finishing up at the end of Term 3. Pez has done an amazing job teaching our students and has been a valuable asset to the St Mark’s community. He will be missed. All welcome!

St Mark’s School Uniform - Families are reminded that students are required to be attired in correct school uniform at all times. We understand that due to circumstances, there are times that students need to wear different items of clothing. When this is the case, please advise your child’s class teacher in writing. In the event of a student being out of uniform without notification, an Out Of Uniform Notice will be sent home by class teachers.

In recent times a number of students have been wearing a different style of pants with their Sports Uniform. It is important that the correct style of tracksuit pants are worn. See the image of the style required. I ask that all families ensure their child/ren are attired in correct school uniform at all times. The trackpants do not need to be purchased from PSW - they just need to be a trackpant style.

2025 Family Fun Day Update – this year our major community event and fundraising focus is our Family FunDay (Fete) which will be held on Saturday October 25th, 11.00am-4.00pm here at St Mark’s. Funds raised this year will be used to purchase devices to further enhance our Coding and Digital Technologies programs. We also aim to further upgrade our play spaces for the children of St Mark’s. We will need many volunteers to make this event a success and ask that community members offer their support in a variety of ways. All details will be distributed soon. Currently we are looking for businesses to sponsor the event. If you are a business owner, or know of a business that would like to sponsor the event, please contact the Office and leave your details. The Family Fun Festival was a great success in 2016, 2019, 2023 and this year’s event promises to be even better. We look forward to this wonderful community event once again and I encourage all families to get involved.

2025 School Fees & Curriculum Levies – Families are reminded to please contact the Office if you have not received your 2025 Fee Statement and a new one will be sent to you. I encourage all families to consider setting up a Direct Debit to ensure that Fees and Levies are paid on a regular basis and can be paid off by early Term 4. Families experiencing financial hardship are welcome to contact me so that we can explore confidential financial support arrangements.

2025 Christmas Carols – Please set aside Thursday December 4th so you can join us at 2.00pm for our annual Christmas Carols. More details will be shared in Term 4.

2026 Prep Enrolments – Please tell your friends that there are still places available for Prep 2026 at St Mark’s. I am available for School Tours, which can be booked through the Office on 8335 4100.

Intentions for 2026 – It’s hard to believe that we are currently in the process of preparing our class structures for 2026. To assist, we need to know if any students (other than Gr 6’s) will be leaving St Mark’s at the end of 2025. If your child will not be returning to St Mark’s in 2026 can you please inform me in writing as soon as possible.

St Mark’s Playgroup – Playgroup is held in our Hall each Tuesday morning from 9.00-11.00am for 0-4YO’s. Please spread the word with your family and friends. All welcome! Please see the flier and a photo gallery on the Playgroup page for more information.

Families are reminded to use the designated parking bays when using the Parish carpark for drop off and pickup, and to refrain from performing UTurns in the Parish driveway entrance. Thank you for your co-operation with this.

God Bless,

Peter Wilson

principal@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 ofthe 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.