3 hours ago

6th November 2026 Newsletter – Autumn 2 Learning, Remembrance, Christmas, Recognition Points and more

A few notes from Mr Applegate

Our Year 2 children had a great time dressing up for their “Great Fire of London” day. Thank you parents for your support!
And Year 6 head off on their PGL residential next week- have a great time.
Thank you to Katie and Finley, our Year 6 pupils who are representing the school community at the Basingstoke Remembrance Service on Sunday at War Memorial. On Monday, we’ll be sharing with the children about what this is all about in an age appropriate way. On Wednesday, we’ll be holding a two minute’s silence at 11am.
Finally, Ofsted are inspecting the Hampshire LA SEND team, which is unrelated to school. If you’d like to give feedback, you can do so here.

Have a great weekend, Charles

Reminders:

If you have not found your child’s order form for the FOSM Personalised Christmas Gifts, please email treasurer.fosm@stmarksce.org.uk with your child’s name and class they can send out a copy.
Please can you child have wellies in school – it means they can go on the field when it’s been wet! And a reminder that astros and studded football boots aren’t allowed.

Parent Survey – closes Sunday night

We’re at 284 responses – we’d love to get to 400! Click here to to complete! The first 3 classes to get 100% responses will win 5 class stars. It’s a close race between 9 classes!

Relationships and Behaviour

Our school is built on positive relationships, and these underpin our approach to behaviour. To read more about this, and what Recognition Points, Concern Points, and Reflection Forms are, take a look here. There’s also a summary below.

What is my child learning this half term?

This week’s homework and learning

Agents of Change

Helpful Information

Year Group Key Information Slides and Videos
Autumn Term 2 - what is my child learning?
Year 1 - Polar Explorers - Autumn 2.pdf

Year 2 - Fire Fire - Autumn 2.pdf

Year 3 - The Mystery of Metal - Autumn 2.pdf

Year 4 - Raging Rivers - Autumn 2.pdf

Year 5 - American Road Trip - Autumn 2.pdf

Year 6 - Keep Calm and Carry On - Autumn 2.pdf

Year R - Terrific Tales - Autumn 2.pdf
Autumn 2 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 (indoor), Friday (indoor)

Year 1 – Monday (outdoor), Friday (outdoor)

Year 2 –

2M – Tuesday (indoor)

2P – Wednesday (indoor)

2R – Wednesday (indoor)

Year 2 – Thursday (outdoor)

Year 3 – Wednesday (outdoor)

Year 4 – Wednesday (outdoor), Friday (outdoor)

Year 5 –

5M – Monday (indoor)

5F – Tuesday (indoor)

5SG – Tuesday (indoor)

Year 6 – Tuesday (outdoor), Thursday (indoor)
Autumn 2 Forest School/Outdoor Learning Days
Forest School/Outdoor Learning starts W/B 2nd November and lasts for 5 weeks. What do children need to wear? See here.

Year 3 – 3EC Mondays 3AC Tuesdays 3PR Thursdays

Year 5 – 5F Mondays 5M Tuesdays 5SG Fridays

Bridge & Orchard – Thursdays
Autumn After School Clubs
Clubs Finish Time: 4:10pm

Please see your confirmation email and Arbor App to confirm which clubs your child has been registered for. If there is a charge, you must pay in order for the registration process to complete.

School Access:  COLLECTION IS VIA KS1 GATE – orange star in the photo below 👇🏻

Exceptions:

Forest School – finishes at 5pm and collection is at Dandelions Gate.

Dance Live – see emails from Mrs Boyle for details and contact her here for enquiries – dancelive@stmarksce.org.uk

Young Voices – contact the team here for enquiries – youngvoices@stmarksce.org.uk
Arbor
Wraparound Care: Lions and Breakfast Club
Childcare Tax-Free Payments -further information
For parents who have been making payments for wraparound care (Breakfast Club & Lions) using the Government scheme or a similar company scheme we would like to help you to understand the process a little more now that we are getting to grips with it as well.

You pay in money to your scheme choosing St Mark’s C of E Primary School as the childcare provider (on the Government site, search by our postcode – RG22 4US).

The scheme will send the money to Hampshire County Council.

We receive the money onto our banking system.

We manually add the money onto your Arbor account.

Your Arbor balance adjusts accordingly.

As you can see, the process is much longer than before. As long as you tell us in advance that you want to pay in this way (tell us here) we can set up Arbor to accept your bookings for Lions regardless. The negative balance on Arbor will remain until such time as we have received and actioned the funds. This will be happening on a regular basis from next week.

If you use both Wraparound provisions, please email us to tell us how much you want us to credit your Breakfast Club account and how much to credit your Lions account. That would be very helpful.
How to contact your child's teacher

For matters requiring same day/urgent responses (e.g. pick up arrangements) we would prefer a telephone call please: 01256 346111 as year group emails can be missed and may not be looked at in the evenings or during the day.

Year R – yearr@stmarksce.org.uk Year R parents should no longer use the NewYearR email address as this is no longer monitored.

Year 1 – year1@stmarksce.org.uk

Year 2- year2@stmarksce.org.uk

Year 3 – year3@stmarksce.org.uk

Year 4 – year4@stmarksce.org.uk

Year 5 – year5@stmarksce.org.uk

Year 6 – year6@stmarksce.org.uk
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.
Illness - should I keep my child off school?

School Photographs…

…should be delivered to school next week.

Apply for a place at Secondary School

Please see here for information regarding applications for secondary school. The national notification date for on-time applicants is 1 March 2027.

Christmas….it’s coming!🎄🎅🎄

On Monday, we will email out details of our Christmas Events and Performances. Ticket booking will open next Wednesday 11th at 6pm. For a heads up of all our upcoming dates and useful reminders please log into our school Google Calendar.

Book Fair

The final day for the Book Fair is Monday when Year 5 will visit during the school day. If you’d like your child to buy some books, please send them in with an amount between £5 and £12 in cash in a named envelope on the day below. If you would prefer to buy a voucher to use at the bookfair, you can do so here. Thank you for your support!

🎄 St Mark’s Christmas Fayre – Saturday 5th December 🎄

The countdown to our Christmas Fayre has begun, and we’d love your support to help make it a wonderful festive event for everyone. Here are some ways you can get involved:

🔘 Donate clean, empty jars with lids (please ensure they are thoroughly cleaned and free from strong smells).
🍬 Donate wrapped sweets to help us fill our sweet jars.
🧸 Donate unwanted teddies in good condition (see poster for details).
🎄 Donate Christmas decorations that are in good condition and no longer needed (see poster for details).
🙋 Volunteer your time by signing up for a helper slot.
✨ Most importantly, save the date and come along! Bring your family and friends to enjoy a magical day of festive fun, games, shopping, and community spirit.

Thank you for your support. Every donation and helping hand makes a real difference, and we can’t wait to celebrate with you!

Odd Socks Day and Anti-Bullying Week

During the week beginning Monday 16th November, we will be celebrating Anti-Bullying Week at St Mark’s! The theme this year is ‘Break the Silence’. On Monday 16th November, we will celebrate Odd Socks Day.

WHAT IS ODD SOCKS DAY?

Odd Socks Day is a key part of Anti-Bullying Week! To celebrate that we are all unique, we ask that children wear odd socks to school on Monday 16th November. Last year over 13,000 schools took part in Odd Socks Day and again this year, we are joining them!

WHY IS ODD SOCKS DAY IMPORTANT?

The day sends an important message to pupils that they should be allowed to be themselves, free from bullying and helps us celebrate Anti-Bullying Week in a fun and positive way. We will be completing fun activities during the day and the rest of the week, which will help us celebrate both our differences and our unity within our St Mark’s community.

WHAT DO WE NEED FROM YOU?

*Please just make sure your child wears odd socks to school on Monday 16th November!*