13 hours ago

24th October 2025 Newsletter – Harvest, Prayer Space, Upcoming Book Fair, New PE and Forest School days

A note from Mr Applegate

Did you know, your child can still complete the Agents of Change Home Challenges over half-term? Find them here. A reminder that children shouldn’t skip ahead – stick to the 3 challenges for the half-term!
Complete our parent survey here. One per child. Cut-off is half-term.
A huge thank you to Mrs Rosso and volunteers from Immanuel Church for running our Prayer Space this week. The children have loved it. Photos below!

Have a fantastic half-term, Charles.

This week’s homework and learning

Agents of Change Home Challenges

Some reminders…

Children should not be playing football or games after school on the field or on the school site (including on the trim trail). Due to H&S, insurance and supervision reasons, they must be going home unless part of an official club.
Snacks at breaktimes should be a piece of fruit or veg!

Parent Governor Result

A huge thank you to our 9 parents who put themselves forward for this important role. We were blown away at the support shown.

A thank you to James Magner, who has served as one of our parent governors for the past 4 years. His dedication, support and skills have helped secure and strengthen our school.

Finally, well done to Becky Davey who was elected to the role of Parent Governor for the next 4 years!

Odd Socks Day & Anti-Bullying Week: wk beg Monday 10th November

During the week beginning Monday 10th November, we will be celebrating Anti-Bullying Week at St Mark’s! The theme this year is ‘Power For Good. On Monday 10th 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 10th 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 10th November!*

Book Fair – see dates below

In the first week back after half term, we have the Scholastic Book Fair visiting. This is a great way to get children excited about books and to help raise money for books in school.

Each class will visit the book fair stall. If you’d like your child to buy some books, please send them in with an amount between £4 and £12 in cash in a named envelope on the day below. For Year R, the book fair will be held after school on the Key Stage 1 playground. Please can Year R parents/carers attend with your child.

If you would prefer to buy a voucher to use at the book fair, you can do so by following the link here.

When is my child visiting the book fair?

Wednesday 5th November

Year R classes– after school with parents (on the KS1 playground weather permitting). Please allow a few minutes for us to set up.
Year 6 classes – during the school day

Thursday 6th November

Year 2 classes – during the school day.

Friday 7th November

Year 3 & 4 classes – during the school day.
Children of any year group may visit after school with parents (on the KS1 playground weather permitting). We are hoping to have a card machine available for this after school session.

Monday 10th November

Year 1 & 5 classes– during the school day

Thank you for your support!

Christmas….it’s coming!🎄🎅🎄

Watch this space for details of our Christmas Events!

We’ll be adding lots of information about performances and other events after half term.

For a heads up of all our upcoming dates and useful reminders please log into our school Google Calendar.

Wonderful Harvest Generosity

You donated 562 meals! Thank you so much!

Thank you Tesco!

We’ve been given £500 for all the blue tokens customers have put into our box!

Prayer Space

The children have been amazing and have a fun time visiting our Prayer Space this week. They have responded thoughtfully to thinking about themselves, others, the world and beyond.

Thank you to the Christian Voice Ambassadors and volunteers from The Parish of Basingstoke Down who have supported the space across the week.

FOSM - Can you help?

There’s more than one way to help us at FOSM to raise money for our school. Here’s some ideas…

1. Sweet jar donations – Our sweet tombola will be returning at the Christmas Fayre this year. We are asking for donations of filled jars with wrapped sweets. Any jar of any size accepted as long as they are clear. We will also accept additional empty jars.

2. Raffle prizes – Can you or your business donate a raffle prize for our Christmas Fayre? If you think you can help please get in touch (contact details below).

3. Volunteering – Events cannot run without them. Thank you to those that have already put themselves forward for this school year.

4. Come to our events and have fun – this is equally as important as volunteering. Yes, our events are aimed at raising funds for the school, but we also want everyone to have FUN! Bring family, meet friends and enjoy yourselves.
How to get in touch: chair.fosm@stmarksce.org.uk; secretary.fosm@stmarksce.org.uk

Thank You!

Thank you to everyone who attended the disco last Friday and to those who gave up their time and volunteered – we hope you all had a brilliant time. I confirm with your fantastic support, we raised an amazing £1,450 for the school.

Find out more...

St Mark’s Photo Reel

Well done Jude (4M) for this fantastic Agents of Change poster – challenge 1 completed!

Wow Indi! This is such a lovely piece of artwork! Well done.

Well done Oliver for achieving a silver medal in taekwondo!

School Tours for Year R Sept 2026

If you know someone who has a child starting school in Year R in Sept 2026, please share with them this link: www.stmarksprimary.net/join

⭐ 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% 🤩

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

Helpful Information

Year Group Information Videos
After School Clubs - continuing from Autumn 1
Meals
**NEW** 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 PE

Thursday – Indoor PE

Year 1

Monday – Outdoor PE

Thursday – Outdoor PE

Year 2

Wednesday – Outdoor PE

Friday – Outdoor PE

Year 3

Tuesday – Outdoor PE

Last 2 weeks of the term after Forest School Ends:

3SP & 3D: Monday – Outdoor PE

3BR: Friday – Outdoor PE

Year 4

Friday – Outdoor PE

Last 2 weeks of the term after Forest School Ends:

4SB: Tuesday – Outdoor PE

4C: Wednesday – Outdoor PE

4M: Thursday – Outdoor PE

Year 5

Monday – Outdoor PE

Wednesday – Indoor PE

Year 6

Monday – Outdoor PE

Wednesday – Indoor PE
**NEW** Autumn 2 Forest School Days - for 5 weeks until 8th December
Year 3

3SP and 3D Monday

3BR Friday

Year 4

4SB Tuesday

4C Wednesday

4M Thursday

Bridge
FOSM
Full School Calendar
Music Tuition Info
Children in (or due to be in) KS2 are invited to apply to learn to play an instrument.

Applications open each April.

This year’s applications for instrumental tuition have now closed.
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

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?
Have your contact details changed?
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.
September price increases

Breakfast Club:

Early session (7.30am): £5.50
Middle session (8.00am) : £3.00
Late Session (8.20am) £1.50

St Mark’s After School Clubs: Prices of clubs can vary due to the number of resources used. Most are £2.50pw but please check individual clubs when applying.

School Dinners: £3.20

Circle of Security

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).