Latest Newsletter
Please find our latest newsletter here
School Council
On Thursday the School Council were very lucky to visit the council chambers and meet the Deputy Mayoress of Basingstoke. We were able to ask her lots of questions to find out about her role. We then held our own meeting, led brilliantly by our chair Ashton and vice chair Jack. We even got to use the microphones so had to take turns to share and debate. We visited the Mayor’s Parlour and then went for a walk around the peace garden before returning to school. The Mayoress was very impressed with the children’s behaviour and how well they spoke about St Mark’s School.
Basingstoke Remembers
We watched, with pride, today as Ollie and Ruby represented all from St Mark’s Church of England Primary School with the laying of our wreath. It was a beautiful autumnal morning and the sun shone throughout the service.
Our wonderful pupils before the laying of the wreath.
A flypast by RAF Odiham and the laying of the wreath.
Meeting the Mayor of Basingstoke and Sergeant Graham Woolcock.
Remembrance Worship
We had a special Remembrance Day worship this morning. A Lieutenant from the British Army spoke to us about what it means to serve, and the sacrifices that are made when serving. He also showed us all the items kept in his army backpack.
We had a video link from a soldier who is walking 100 miles from The Menin Gate in Belgium to The Centotaph in London – chosen alongside 99 other soldiers from the army to take part in this special walk.
The children sang ‘Remember’ beautifully, which you can listen to below.
During the week, each class has made a wreath as part of our activities to commemorate the end of WWI.
We look forward to two representatives from 3CB laying wreaths at the Basingstoke Remembrance Day Service on Sunday.
Tom Hewson Visit
Rock Stars Re-launch!
This week, we have re-launched the very popular ‘Rockstars’ website which St Mark’s have been using for the last year. This platform allows children to practise their times tables in a fun, personalised and competitive way. We have certainly seen a boost in the children’s love of learning their tables as well as children securing these facts much quicker. Here are a few reminders to help you support your children at home.
Logging on
Go to the website: https://play.ttrockstars.com and select the ‘Login’ option.
Firstly, type in the school – St Mark’s CofE Primary School, Basingstoke. It should appear in a drop down menu so you don’t have to type in the whole name. Once the school name is entered correctly, the children will then login with their personal details which have been distributed. Their username will be the first 3 letters of the first name followed by the first 3 letters of their surname. Their password will be 3 random letters.
Practice makes Perfect!
Under the ‘Play’ section, there are many ways for the children to reinforce and learn their times tables. They can select one of the options depending on whether they want to learn their tables, improve their speed or just get competitive! Here is a quick overview of each Play section.
Garage: Times tables set by the child’s class teacher. Set the timer to 1, 2 or 3 minutes and collect 10 coins for every correct answer.
Studio: Times tables set by the child’s class teacher. The timer is set to 1 minute and collect 1 coin for every correct answer. Play in Studio enough and the child’s ‘Rock Status’ will improve!
Sound Check: Times tables set by the child’s class teacher. 20 questions are set and the children have 5 sections to answer each one. 5 coins can be collected for each answer.
Festival: Practise all times tables competing with children from all over the world! Collect 1 coin for every correct answer.
Arena: Practise all times tables competing with children from the same year group (bandmates). Collect 1 coin for every correct answer.
RockSlam: Practise all times tables competing with children from the same year group (bandmates) by selecting or being selecting to challenge others. Collect 1 coin for every correct answer. 
After each game, there will be a breakdown of the performance including number of questions correct, incorrect, speed and coins collected.
Spending Earnings
As a reward of all their hard work, children will collect ‘coins’ when they play games. These can be spent in the ‘Shop’ section where children can buy new items and accessories for their avatar. Of course – the more coins collected, the more exciting the items are which can be purchased.
Class Competitiveness!
Miss Goddard and the Year 6 RockStars ambassadors are going to be busy checking statistics and will be coming around to classes in the next few weeks to reward children for their hard work. They will be giving out certificates for achievements such as ‘Highest Earner’, ‘Most Played’, ‘Rock Status’ and ‘Fastest Speed’. The competition is on!
We hope that children enjoy this exciting resource; please encourage children to have a go at logging in at home to aid their maths. Feel free to pop in and speak to your child’s class teacher if there are any problems or you need further guidance.
Happy Rocking!
Maths Team
Curriculum Newsletters and Presentations
Please find below the Autumn Term newsletters for each year group, as well as the presentations from the curriculum evenings. We look forward to seeing Years 4 and 5 parents on Wednesday 19th September (Y4 6:30pm, Y5 7:15pm).
| Newsletter for Projects in Autumn 2018 | Year R | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | Year 6 |
| Presentation (as PowerPoint) | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | Year 6 | |
| Presentation (as PDF) | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | Year 6 |
