4 hours ago

4th April 2025 Newsletter – Easter Readathon, Girls Football, New Summer PE Days, Clubs and Forest School Days

A note from Mr Applegate

An amazing 307 Easter eggs were donated to Spotlight – thank you!
Wondering what to do over Easter? Book a free Farm Visit here
Thank you FOSM for putting on a fantastic Easter Egg Hunt last weekend. As well as being fun, it raised just over £600 for the school.
FOSM Easter Readathon has begun! Details below.
We return to school Tuesday 22nd April.
New PE and Forest School days see below.
New Clubs begin wk beg 28th April except for Orchestra which will start first week back (Thurs 24th April).
Spring Reports for Years 1-5 come out after Easter, in time for Parents’ Evenings.
If your child will be in Key Stage 2 from September 2025 and they are interested in taking up an instrument, let us know here by 28th April please.

Have a great Easter break!

Mr Applegate :)

🐔 Book a Farm visit here 🐰

Book a free fun day out for your family this Easter!

Click here

This Week's Homework & Learning

Listed here for all Yr1-6 children.

Click here

St Mark’s Photo Reel

Wow! Spotlight were eggs-tremely overwhelmed by the huge number of Easter Eggs that you donated to our School Council Appeal! 307 eggs! Thank you so so much for your kindness and generosity!

Jamie attended a Taekwondo tournament and he won 2 Bronze medals in 2 different categories! Well done!

Oliver took part in a Taekwondo tournament and won the gold medal for all 3 categories. He also came away with a trophy for the Championship’s Champion in his division, for being the highest overall point scorer! Well done!

Well done to our KS2 girls football team who played a great game against Overton Primary today. It was 1-1!

📚 FOSM Easter Readathon📚

FOSM are challenging every child at St Mark’s to read as often as they can for the Easter Holidays!

You can read a paragraph, a page, a chapter or even a whole book, or multiple books! The challenge is designed to keep children reading over the holidays and to help fundraise for our school.

For online sponsorships: please use our Just Giving page here or use the following web address www.stmarksprimary.net/readathon.

Gift Aid: Make your donation 20% more by ticking the ‘Gift Aid’ box. Please note, you must be a UK taxpayer for us to claim Gift Aid from your sponsorship.

For cash sponsorships: please use the sponsorship form.

Please return your paper reading log and, if used, the sponsorship form and any cash raised by Monday 28th April.

The forms and paper reading log have been sent home this week but you can download a new copy here: Easter Sponsored Readathon – Details and Forms.

THANK YOU!

Ask me why I was an Agent of Change this term!

Well done to these pupils and staff!

Robyn – Parrots
Anilah – Parrots
Arthur – Parrots
Arjun – Parrots
Maja – Parrots
Alfie – Penguins
Harper – Puffin
Mason – Puffins
Millie – Puffins
Tamiiya – Puffins
Indigo – Puffins

Carmen – 1BM
Freddie – 1BM
Evie and Layla – 1BM
Niamh – 1BM
Benji – 1BM
Jenson and Alex – 1M
Megan – 1M
Amaya and Sophia – 1TM

Carter – 2B
Joshua – 2B
Martha – 2CL
Oscar – 2CL
Harrison – 2G

Jennifer – 3D
Ivy – 3D
Aimee & Harry – 3D
Mrs Phillips – 3P
Mia – 3P
Mia – 3P
Jude – 3P
Harry – 3SG
Orla – 3SG
Evie – 3SG
Elsie and Noor – 3SG + 3PE

Alfie and Luke – 4C
Joey – 4C
Joshua – 4SB
Amaira – 4SB
Marco – 4SB

Mimi – 5DS
Sarah – 5E
Tina – 5E
Stanley – 5E
Daisy C – 5E
Nora – 5P
Owen – 5P

Angelina and Navlyn – 6B
Elsa – 6F
Aaron – 6F

Mrs Chapman – Staff
Miss Stonehouse – Staff
Mrs Davies – Staff
Mr Maycock – Staff
Mrs Carter – Staff
Miss Seaborn – Staff
Mrs Parker – Staff

Young Person’s Mental Health Advice Session

Free Easter Messy Church
Child Care Vouchers

For those of you who have access to childcare vouchers/tax free accounts, please note that these funds can only be used for childcare before or after normal school hours, e.g breakfast club and after school clubs, but not for day trips/residential trips. This is the government directive. Both SCL and HWASC accept the vouchers.
Can you help Year R?

The Year R Team are developing their outdoor provision. We are looking for some items which you may have at home and be able to donate to us. The following items are what we are hoping for:

If you can help, please contact the year R team at yearr@stmarksce.org.uk

Thank you so much.
Help us to improve drainage, lighting and more!
Have your contact details changed?
School Office area rules
Parents' Evenings

🐔 Book a Farm visit here 🐰
Foodbank Friday

Many local supermarkets host a permanent donation point where people can leave the donations they purchase during their visit but we would also like to set up a station in school where children can feel that they are making a difference to help others.

We are encouraging children to occasionally bring in an item of food, which they can put in a box in our School Office.

We will update the list each week or you may prefer to download the Bank the Food App. This will update it weekly on the items we’re running low on. It’s a great app and you only need to download it and select Basingstoke Foodbank as preferred. You can also activate notifications which means you’ll get a reminder when you visit the supermarket, so you never forget to donate. It lets you know the items they most need.
What is your child learning this half-term?
_Year R Newsletter Spring 2 2025.pdf

Year 1 On The Move – Curriculum Information.pdf

Year 2 Amazing Me in the UK – Curriculum Information.pdf

Year 3 What’s Inside – Curriculum Information.pdf

Year 4 Vikings – Curriculum Information.pdf

Year 5 Exploring Europe – Curriculum Information.pdf

Year 6 Temples of Doom – Curriculum Information.pdf
Illness - should I keep my child off school?

⭐ Weekly Achievements ⭐

⭐ 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%.

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

Reminder of the new rules

School Dates, Lunches, and Clubs

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

FOSM Events
Meals
*NEW Summer 1 PE Days
PE Uniform details can be found here. Remember, football shirts, hoodies, or general day-to-day clothing are not acceptable as PE kit.

Year R

Monday – Outdoor PE

Thursday – Outdoor PE

Year 1

Tuesday – Outdoor PE

Year 2

Wednesday – Indoor PE

Friday – Outdoor PE

Year 3

Monday– Outdoor PE

Thursday – Outdoor PE

Year 4

Monday – Swimming

Wednesday – Swimming

Year 5

Tuesday – Outdoor PE

Wednesday – Outdoor PE

Year 6

Friday – Outdoor PE
*NEW Summer 1 Forest School Days
Forest School from 22^nd April for 5 weeks

Year R Tuesday am:

22.4.25 – Penguins

29.4.25 – Puffins

6.5.25 – Parrots

13.5.25 – Penguins

20.5.25 – Puffins

Year 1

1TM– Wednesday am

1M – Thursday am *

1BM – Friday am *

*correction

Year 6

6C -Tuesday pm

6B – Wednesday pm

6F – Thursday pm

Bridge

Friday pm
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

Hallelujah Chorus: Handel

This composition comes from Handel’s famous works: The Messiah, which was inspired by Jesus being the saviour of the world. This is the chorus from the oratorio, which means a large musical composition on a religious subject.

Being a parent is tough!

Parent Counselling Sessions

Your child’s mental health…

Understanding your child: from toddler to teenager
Understanding your child’s mental health and wellbeing
Understanding the impact of the pandemic on your child
Moving up to secondary school for children with additional needs
Understanding your own trauma

Click here for free online training

Online Parenting Courses

Parental control guides

Community News

Regular Notices

Going to be absent?

We’ve moved our absence request form online. This is for absence requests such as holidays, weddings, funeral, special events, and more. You don’t need to use this form for sickness or self-isolation (but please email/phone the office if they are unwell).