September 24, 2021

24th September Newsletter – Pumpkin Trail, Harvest, Covid, Key Information Sessions and more

A note from Mr Applegate

What a week! The children have been working very hard as always. I had the pleasure of leading KS1 Celebration Worship this morning (online), and it was great to see how our Year Rs are settling into school routines and learning.

Don’t forget our Key Information Sessions next week – see the details below.

I’ve emailed all parents and carers an update about covid measures in school. Thank you for reading it.

Really important!! – Please make sure you can login to Google Classrooms with your child’s account (not your own personal account). Please try to login asap if you haven’t already done so. Thank you. Help available here.

Have a great weekend, Mr Applegate 🙂

FOSM Pumpkin Trail

The Friends of St Mark’s (FOSM) PTA will be running a pumpkin trail. This will take place in Hatch Warren and Beggarwood between Saturday 23rd – Sunday 31st October for you to complete at your own pace. All correct entries will be entered into a draw to win this cute cuddly pumpkin and a £25 Smyths Toys voucher.

Remember to sign up online at https://www.stmarksprimary.net/pumpkintrail

Once we have received all monies and completed registration forms, your map and question sheet will be sent to you at the email address provided. Happy finding!

Harvest!

We’ll be celebrating Harvest on the week begining 11th October! Rev Nicola Such will be helping us learn about the festival, and where our food comes from.

As usual, we’ll be supporting Foodbank. If you are able, we’d love you to donate online here. Why not do this with your child so that they learn more about helping others? You can also donate in person here.

Key Details

Year 6 only – complete this Bikeability form by 15th October
Year 4 – change of date for Key Information Session – now 4th Oct 4:30pm

St Mark’s Heroes – Can you make the difference?

Our children need your help! They would massively benefit from an hour, an afternoon, or whatever you can give to help them during school hours. Our St Mark’s Heroes scheme aims to gather as much support as possible to help our children with their learning. It could involve reading with a child, supporting a small group, or generally helping in class. It could be helping out at lunchtimes. It’s also great experience if you’re looking to get more involved in schools. We’ll provide the training! There would be a simple application form to complete, a chat with Mr Applegate, and a free DBS check to complete. Click here to register your interest, and to find out more. Thank you for thinking about this – and for thinking of the difference you could make!

Individual School photographs

On Monday 27th September, our school photographers will be coming to school to take the children’s individual school photographs.

Please can we ask that your child comes to school in their St Mark’s sweatshirt or cardigan for the photo.

Year 4 children and Class 2B will need to wear their school uniform please, rather than their PE kits. They will not need their PE kits for this week only. However, please can your child wear their trainers to school with their uniform.

We are hoping to arrange a date in the Spring for sibling photos.

Timings of pickups and dropoffs

Based on surnames
Drop-off: A-L 8:30-8:40am, M-Z 8:40am to 8:50am
Collection: A-L 3:10-3:15pm, M-Z 3:15pm-3:20pm
Map is here.

Disney+ !

Do you have Disney+? Have you checked the parental controls? If you’d like to find out more, click here.

Year 6 – Thinking about Year 7

Year 6 – Secondary schools are already gearing up to show you and your child around. Applications for year
7 places for September 2022 (current Year 6s) open on the 13th September 2021 and close on the 31st October 2021. Any later applications are not considered in the first round of school allocation and will be unlikely to be awarded their first choice of school so it is essential that you get your child’s application in on time.

Dates for your diaries

Year Group Key Information Session – Online, using Google Meet. Make sure you can login to Google Meet before the meeting! It’s a chance to meet the teachers and find out important information about your child’s learning for the year. Links will be posted on the Google Classroom Stream just before the session begins.

~~Monday 27th Sept – Y4 – 4pm~~ Change of date for Year 4! Monday 4th October at 4:30pm
Monday 27th Sept – Y6 – 5pm
Tuesday 28th Sept – Y2 – 4pm
Tuesday 28th Sept – Y3 – 5pm
Thursday 30th Sept – Y1 – 4pm
Thursday 30th Sept – Y5 – 5pm

Parents’ Evenings will be a 10 minute slot, online. Further details will follow, but dates/times are:

Monday 18^th Oct, 4-6:30pm
Tuesday 2^nd Nov 3:40-5:50pm
Thursday 4^th Nov 4-6pm

School Payments

Just a reminder that we remain a cashless school.

Please pay for Breakfast Club, school dinners, trips and any other items via your ScoPay account. Thank you

Census Day for KS1 School Dinners

On Thursday 7th October, it’s Census Day for all KS1 children who are entitled to Universal Free School Meals (all children in Years R, 1 and 2).

The amount of funding we receive as a school, depends on how many dinners are ordered on that day.

Could you please encourage your child in Year R-Year 2 to order a school dinner on this day. The menu options have been changed to:

Red: Fish & Chips

Green: Pizza

White: Jacket Potato with vegetarian sausages

Thank you 🙂

Flu Vaccines

The School Nursing Team will be here on Wednesday 17th November to administer the Flu Vaccine for all children Year R-Year 6.

Consent forms will be sent home shortly.

School Dinners – Important Changes

Due to current difficult staffing circumstances, HC3S will be removing jacket potatoes from our school menu from Monday until further notice. Apologies for any inconvenience this causes, but we’re sure you understand that we are trying to do everything we can to make things easier for everybody in these challenging times.

Next week is WEEK THREE, and each day there will be a RED and a GREEN option. If your child has a special menu for allergies, they will be able to choose from their menu as usual, except for jacket potatoes of course.

Star Learners

Well done to:

Year R: Joshua, Elsie, Riley
Year 1: Alfie A, Charlie G, Harvey
Year 2: Emily, Jack S, Maksim
Year 3: Isobel, Zachary, Ivy-Rose
Year 4: Issac, Elliott, Monica
Year 5 : Harry S, Sophie B, Ava
Year 6: Scarlett, Neve, Isaac

Rock Stars

Best Effort of the Week:

Year 6 – Lucille, Chelsea, Emily

Year 5 – Harry A, Sophie G, Eunice, Ano

Year 4 – Jack Daw, George H, Ella, Chloe Me

Year 3 – Annabelle, Freyja, Ewan, Abigail

Numbots best effort:

Year1: Olivia, Konrad, Kieran
Year 2: Olivia H, Maya, Elizabeth

Bug Club Awards:

Year 1: Prannav, Elliana, James
Year 2: Joey, Alex M, Noah K
Year 3: Jack T, Amber, Ewan
Year 4: Archie, Ross, Kristina
Year 5: Noah W, Edward, Isla
Year 6: Jessica R, Ethan, Phoebe

Year R Tours for September 2022

Are you thinking about your child joining us in September 2022? Come and find out more about us at our online and onsite sessions!

Zoom Information Session:

No need to book! Both Zooms are the same.
Oct 7th Year R Info Zoom – 5pm Link here
Nov 15th Year R Info Zoom – 6pm Link here

Onsite Tours:

Please register here.
Oct 12th Year R Tour – 6-7pm
Nov 9th Year R Tour 5-6pm
Dec 2nd Year R Tour 5-6pm
Come along to the main entrance and we’ll direct you.

🎵 Music of the Week 🎵

As part of our children’s education, we’re keen for children to hear a wider variety of music. This week’s choice is below! Relax and enjoy!

Foodbank help

Brighton Hill Open Evening

FOSM – Support Our School!

About FOSM

The ‘Friends of St Mark’s’ (FOSM) was formed early in the life of the school. All parents are automatically members and our committee organises social events for children and adults and fund-raising events such as Key Stage discos, Easter Egg Hunts and Summer Fun days.

Over the last few years the ‘Friends’ have donated money that has contributed towards extra resources to benefit the children at St. Mark’s which has included playground equipment, books for the school library, and general school funds. We are now a registered charity, too. Charity number: 1188879

Join our Facebook group here.

We need your help! FOSM can’t run without parent support and effort. Please consider how you can help! We’re a friendly group of people wanting to give that bit extra to St Mark’s. Contact us below:

General email – fosm@stmarksce.org.uk

Cherie Parker – Chair – chair.fosm@stmarksce.org.uk

Mandy Mullen – Treasurer – treasurer.fosm@stmarksce.org.uk

Emma Bryant – Secretary – secretary.fosm@stmarksce.org.uk

Regular Notices

Covid Reminders

Use the email covid@stmarksce.org.uk if you have questions or need to report symptoms or a positive case.
Please keep us updated – for example, of test results.
NHS Symptoms Check
If a child is off school but able to work, then Google Classroom work is available – and it should be completed. Teachers spend a lot of time making sure this work is available so no-one misses out!