December 15, 2023

15 December 2023 – Christmas Newsletter

A note from Mr Applegate

I couldn’t be more proud or thankful for our school community. What a great end to term, celebrating Christmas together in so many ways.

Thank you to our FOSM team for their fun and efforts this term, and for your generosity towards our school.
Thank you to Pabulum – a great Christmas lunch, on top of their usual fab service.
Thank you to Nick Beere (Charlie’s dad), David Downer, and John for giving their time/ resources for free to get water and electricty to the farm and forest school. Just ‘wow’! :)
Thank you for your support of St Mark’s during our Ofsted. The emails sent and anonymous feedback given to Ofsted was just incredible, and broke Mrs Ford and I – in a nice way! Report is out in January.
Thank you to every one of our staff and governors, who really care and work so hard to make St Mark’s what it is.
Thank you to Kara and Sebastian’s mum, who has donated an oak tree sapling from Windsor Great Park, as part of the King’s coronation celebration. Will be planted at St Mark’s soon!
Thank you to Mrs Dummet, an ex-teacher of St Mark’s, who has given us a £500 gift.

We really are blessed. Have a wonderful Christmas! Mr Applegate :)

School returns Weds 3rd Jan 2024

See you then!

Book a farm slot 🎅

Especially to help over Christmas!

Click here

New Lunch Menu from January

Click here

Good Causes

Thank you from the Royal British Legion. You raised £741.75 for the poppy appeal!

Thank you from the Mudhouse Children’s Foundation. You raised £868.15 through the Christmas performances. Wow!

Pupil Safety First

We’re at over 500 signatures. Can we get to 800?! Please sign our petition here! We’ll be presenting this to the council really soon!

FOSM Upcoming events

School Photoreel

Elise and Oliver donated some of their own saved money to buy children’s Christmas gifts!

See what Year 2 have put together!

Well done Olivia, Isla, Keegan and Elliot!

Thank you Year 6 for helping Year R make Christingles!

Children across the school share their learning in our EMU session today!

Table Tennis Success!

Well done to Keegan, Elliott, Isla and Olivia for representing St Mark’s at the Table Tennis Basingstoke finals. They all played amazingly well. A special well done to Olivia who won the girls competition and will be heading to the County final in Southampton to represent our school.

PlanetEducation Update

I’m sorry to say that PlanetEducation have ceased trading as a business. They have provided great support to us over the years through clubs and during the day. We want to thank them for all they’ve done at St Mark’s, and wish their staff all the best at this difficult time. Unfortunately we won’t be able to replace their Spring term clubs at such short notice.

Christmas Services

Variety of parenting courses available

Bookings now opened – www.linktr.ee/futureinmind

January 2024

Thursday 11th – Parent Carers Wellbeing – Eastleigh 10.15

Tuesday 16th – Supporting and Managing Crisis – Havant 10.15 (change of venue)

Wednesday 17th – Learning to Love Autism (New to Autism?) – Aldershot 10.15

Tuesday 23rd – Neuroaffirming Accommodations to Access Education to Support Mental Health – Online Recorded 19.00

Thursday 25th – Turning Passions into Skills for Employability, 16-25 year olds – Basingstoke 10.15

Wednesday 31st – ARFID with Hampshire CAMHS – Online Recorded 12.00 Lunchtime

Tesco Funding - Vote for St Mark's

From Mid January to March, all of the Tescos in Basingstoke will have tokens available to ‘vote’ for a project – including our very own St Mark’s Farm and Forest School projects. This could be worth up to £10,000!

If you make a purchase in Tesco, don’t forget to vote for us by putting the token in the right box. And perhaps share this with your family and friends!

Basingstoke Foodbank

⭐ Star Learners ⭐

⭐ Star Readers ⭐

⭐ Quietest Classes ⭐

1BB & 3D

⭐ Attendance Updates ⭐

Our target over the year is 97%. Last year’s attendance was 95.8% – above national levels, but we’d like it to be much higher.

Our current attendance percentage is 96.5%. Oh no :(

Weekly Attendance by Class

What's the impact on missing school?

Categories	Learning days lost
Acceptable sickness & unforeseen absences.	98% = 4 days
	97% = 6 days
	96% = 8 days
Attendance below 95% is of concern to the school & you will be contacted automatically.10 days unauthorised absences for holidays over the year mean you will only achieve 95% attendance. Sickness & medical appointments, although usually unavoidable & authorised, will add further to your child’s absence record.	95% = 10 days
	94% = 12 days
	93% = 14 days
	92% = 16 days
Poor attendance Attendance below 90% is a serious concern. Your child has now missed nearly 4 weeks’ education. You may be referred to the Early Help team at the local authority.	91% = 18 days
	90% = 20 days
	89% = 21 days
	88% = 23 days
	87% = 25 days
	86% = 27 days
Very poor attendance	85% = 29 days
	84% = 31 days
	82% = 35 days
	80% = 39 days

School Dates, Lunches, and Clubs

View the full calendar here. Subscribe on either Chrome/ Android or Apple

Meals
PE Days
Status: running as usual

Spring 1
- Year R – Mondays (indoors) and Thursdays (indoors)
- Year 1 – Tuesdays (indoors) and Thursdays (indoors)
- Year 2 – Tuesday (indoors) and Wednesday (indoors)
- Year 3 – Mondays (outdoors) and either Weds/Thurs/Fri Forest school (outdoors)
- Year 4 – Mondays (indoors) and Fridays (indoors)
- Year 5 – Tuesdays (outdoors) and Wednesdays (indoors)
- Year 6 – Wednesday (outdoors) and Friday (indoors)
What to wear

Children should wear PE kit to school on the days they have PE. When children have gym, please can they bring or wear shorts underneath. PE kit guide:
- Navy or black shorts. Jogging bottoms for outside in cold weather (leggings are fine too).
- PE skirts with cycling-style shorts are acceptable.
- White t-shirt. Please also wear the school jumper to school on PE days. Football shirts are not acceptable as PE kit.
- Trainers for all children.
After School Clubs
Music Info
Full School Calendar
Information - breakfast and afterschool clubs, uniform etc
- Breakfast Club – just show up – details here.
- SCL after-school club – click here for full details.
- Uniform – click here for details, including Skoolkit ordering
- School bags – can be ordered here
- Absence – Please report absences via phone or email here by 9am. If you need to request a future absence, please use this form.
- Are you eligible for Free School Meals and further funding for the school? Check online here.
Foodbank Support

In worship this week…

Music of the Week

Carol of the bells

This piece of music was used in the popular seasonal film ‘Home Alone’.

The carol itself was originally based on a Ukranian song called Shchedryk which translates as ‘The Little Swallow’.