2024 – St Mark's CofE Primary School

September 15, 2024

What An Incredible Start to the Year We Have Had!

Dear Parents and Carers,

Our new Year 6 children have astounded us with their incredible attitude to learning and the kindness they show each other. They really have made a most wonderful start and we are so excited as their teachers to see what the rest of the year will bring.

As well as daily reading and times table revision, written homework will start this week (Wednesday for English and Friday for Maths) Children will need to purchase their homework books from school and you will find further information in the letter attached.

Our curriculum and residential trip information will take place on Thursday, 19th September in the school main hall from 5:45pm – 6:45pm.

For the week beginning 16th September, PE for all of Year 6 will be on Monday and Thursday.

The week beginning 23rd September, PE will continue for all of Y6 on Mondays. Forest School will also then take place and replace the second PE session from 25th September up until half term. Due to clashes with the peri music lessons, we have had to make some changes to the originally planned dates. We apologise for any confusion and thank you for your patience and understanding. All children will need to come to school in their forest school clothes (long sleeved tops and trousers, a coat and suitable footwear such as old trainers or wellies. Spare clothing should be brought in their school bag with a small towel). The new days for forest school will now be on:

WEDNESDAYS – 6F

THURSDAYS – 6B

FRIDAYS – 6C

If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to get in touch on our Year 6 email: year6@stmarksce.org.uk

Here’s to a happy year of learning and we are looking forward to seeing you on Thursday!

Mrs Chapman, Miss Fowler and Mr Bonner.

Taking too long?

Reload document

Open in new tab

Download [224.59 KB]

September 15, 2024

Welcome to Year 4

Can you work out our new project from the message above? No? Why don’t you ask your child/ren to help you decode this message. At the start of term, the children were presented with a strange alphabet, they had to use this to first decode words and find their next clue to help discover where Hilda and Edmond were from. Once they had decoded these and collected all the pictures, they then had to have a guess at what they thought the artefacts were. Some were easy, some a little harder. After the children had worked out our new project is Anglo-Saxons, they used their new alphabet skill to create their name in ruins (Pictures to follow soon).

Your children have enjoyed writing notes using this aphabet. Why not write a note for them to help embed their learning. ⬇️

We have been extremely pleased how the children have settled back into school routines quickly. We are having a big focus on taking PRIDE with our work, from the presentation to the sticking in of work etc. Looking after our school resources are at the top of our way to take PRIDE over our learning.

Dates for Diary – Autumn Term:

Tuesday 17th September @ 5.00pm Key Information Session
Monday 23rd September Individual Photos
Wednesday 16th October -Parents evening
Wednesday 23rd October -Parents evening
Monday 16th December – 2pm Carol Concert Years 3/4
Tuesday 17th December – 6.30pm Carol Concert Years 3/4
Wednesday 18th December – 10am Carol Concert Years 3/4

Residential information

Click Here

What are you going to apply for?

Click here

September 13, 2024

13 September 2024 – Newsletter including dates & times for year group meetings this week

Headlines!

We look forward to seeing you this week at our Key Information Sessions. Meet the team and hear about the year ahead. Year 1 – Weds 18th Sept – 5:45pm main hall, Year 2 – Thurs 19th Sept – 5pm main hall, Year 3 – Weds 18th Sept – 5pm main hall, Year 4 – Tues 17th Sept – 5pm main hall, Year 5 – Tues 17th Sept – 5:45pm main hall, Year 6 – Thurs 19th Sept – 5:45pm main hall
Year 6 parents and carers … PGL residential information will also be shared at the meeting above.
Please help / discuss with your child about our school elections, deadline 24th September. Full details here. We’d love every child to apply for something.
Our Year R children have made a fantastic start this week. Welcome to the St Mark’s community :)
We’re looking for a volunteer gardener- email in if you might know someone.

Have a great weekend, Charles.

Look after our animals!

A free and fun family activity

Click here

St Mark’s Elections!

Children in Years 1-6 can apply for a range of responsibilities in school, and we have an election day on Friday 27th September. Children need to apply (online) by 23rd September – a really easy application form. Perhaps you could help your child with it?! Full details are here.

St Mark’s Photo Reel

A shooting star from the Perseid Meteor Shower as captured by Jack’s mum!

Star Trails from the Perseid Meteor Shower!

Ellie or Charlie’s clay pot

Well done!

Ellie and Charlie in year 5 recently created clay coil pots for the Willis and Sailsbury Museum exhibition which was called ‘The Time Studio’. They showed great resilience as it’s not an easy task and never gave up! Their pieces were then displayed in the museum.

⭐ Star Learners ⭐

⭐ Star Readers ⭐

⭐ Quietest Classes ⭐

2G, 3D & 6F

⭐ 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 98.3%. :)

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
PE Starts 9th September onwards, unless otherwise stated below. 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
- Mondays & Thursdays – Indoor PE starting 19^th Sept
Year 1
- Mondays – Indoor PE
- Thursdays – Outdoor PE
Year 2
- All classes – Fridays – Indoor PE
- 2G – Tuesdays – Indoor on 10^th & 17^th Sept, then Forest School from 24^th Sept
- 2CL – Wednesdays – Indoor on 11^th and 18^th Sept, then Forest School from 25^th Sept
- 2B – Thursdays – Indoor on 12^th and 19^th Sept, then Forest School from 26^th September
Year 3
- Tuesdays – Indoor PE
- Fridays – Indoor PE
Year 4
- Wednesdays – Indoor PE
- Fridays – Outdoor PE
Year 5
- Tuesdays – Outdoor PE
- Wednesdays – Outdoor PE
Year 6
- All classes – Mondays – Outdoor PE
- 6C – Wednesdays – Outdoor PE on 11^th and 18^th Sept, then Forest School from 25^th Sept
- 6B – Thursdays – Outdoor PE on 12^th and 19^th Sept, then Forest School from 26^th Sept
- 6F – Fridays – Outdoor PE on 13^th and 20^th Sept, then Forest School from 27^th Sept

After School Clubs

When do clubs start? Clubs start week beginning 16th September. You will have received an email to confirm your place in club.

Day	Club	Pick up time	Pick up place
Monday	Forest School	4:45	2B
	Chess Club	4:00	6B
	KS2 Choir	4:15	Small Hall
	Board Games Club	4:00	1TM
	Lego Coding Club	4:10	6C
	KS2 Girls’ Football	4:10	3P
Tuesday	Art Club	4:10	2CL
	Art/Craft Club	4:10	4PR
	Calm Club Yrs 5&6	4:00	3SG
	Recorders Club	4:00	3D
	Dance Live	4:10	Small Hall
Wednesday	Cookery Club	4:10	Office
	Multi-Skills	4:10	Small Hall
	Calm Club Yrs 3&4	4:00	3SG
Thursday	Photography Club	4:10	5P
	Scratch Coding Club	4:00	5DS
Friday	Netball	4:10	Small Hall
	Year 2 Choir	4:00	1TM

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

Morning Mood by Edvard Grieg

(1843-1907)

Grieg was a Norwegian composer in the Romantic period of music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vntAKXIuRUI

Community News

Regular Notices

Welcome to Year R!

We have all thoroughly enjoyed meeting you and your children properly over the last week and beginning to get to know you. We really appreciate you giving us such a warm welcome into your homes, so thank you from us all in Year R.

The children have all been amazing as they’ve come into school; they’ve shown such resilience and risk taking in the face of their new adventure and lots of curiosity as they’ve met new classmates and explored their new classrooms and outside learning areas. Everyone’s gone home smiling!

As we explained on our home visits we will post a half termly newsletter during the first week of each half term. These newsletters will give you an overview of what we will be teaching your child during the half term so you can support them with their learning at home.

This term we will spend the first few weeks focussing on settling the children into school before beginning our Phonics and Maths teaching.

During this period we will be:

building supportive and trusting relationships with your child.
supporting your child to form new relationships with their classmates.
building up our daily routines gradually to ensure they are embedded and understood.
building your child’s independence in completing daily routines.
introducing new areas of the school gradually so all the children feel safe and secure.
playing games and completing activities with the children to find out more about their individual starting points before their learning journey with us begins.

You can click on the link below to read this term’s newsletter.

Year R newsletter Autumn 1 2024

Please can we remind you that we are holding an online meeting this Wednesday 11th September at 6pm on Zoom. During this meeting we’ll give you information about how we teach Phonics, Reading, Writing and Maths in Year R and you’ll hopefully find it useful so you can support your child’s learning at home. The link for this meeting was sent out last week. Please check your junk mail if you haven’t seen it yet.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.

Mrs Baird, Mrs Callaghan and Mrs Rushton