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25th September 2026 Newsletter – School Elections, Parents’ Evening, Census Day, Disco and more

A few notes from Mr Applegate

It was so great to see our children experiencing ‘democracy in action’ this morning with our school elections. They treated it very seriously and responsibly. Well done to everyone who applied, and to those who gained the most votes. The hard work starts now!
Our children also voted on our new “Four ways to flourish” sentences – see the graphic backpack above. These are the children’s words, and explain what each area means to us.
We look forward to seeing parents of Year 1 -6 at our OPAL parents experience morning on Wednesday 30th. See below.
Remember, only those in Year 6 can have backpacks. For those in Years R-5 it is drawstring bags (personalised options available here).
Year R, 1 & 2 pupils – please have a school dinner on Thursday please (it’s Friday’s menu). See below.
We still need some help on the farm please – your child will love it, and it’s free! Book here.

Have a great weekend, Charles.

This week’s homework and learning

Agents of Change

Helpful Information

Year Group Key Information Slides and Videos
Autumn Term - what is my child learning?
Year 1 - Sensational Senses - Autumn 1.pdf

Year 2 - Beauty on my Doorstep - Autumn 1.pdf

Year 3 - Dig and Discover - Autumn 1.pdf

Year 4 - Anglo Saxons - Autumn 1.pdf

Year 5 - Supersonic Space - Autumn 1.pdf

Year 6 - Ola Brazil - Autumn 1.pdf

Year R - It's good to be me - Autumn 1.pdf
Autumn 1 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, Tuesday (indoor)

Year 1 – Thursday (outdoor)

Year 2 – Tuesday (outdoor), Thursday (indoor)

Year 3 – Monday (outdoor), Friday (indoor)

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

Year 5 – Tuesday (outdoor), Thursday (outdoor)

Year 6 – Wednesday (outdoor)
Autumn 1 Forest School/Outdoor Learning Days
Forest School/Outdoor Learning starts W/B 21st September.

For the first 2 weeks the children will have Outdoor PE until Outdoor Learning sessions start.

What do children need to wear? See here.

Year 1:

1BM Mondays

1B Tuesdays

1D Fridays

Year 6:

6P Mondays

6DS Tuesdays

6E Thursdays

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?

Autumn Parents’ Evening – book yours on Monday

The Parents’ Booking website will open on Monday 28th September at 6pm for you to arrange your appointments.

Parents’ Evening Dates:

Wednesday 21st October Appointments from 3:40pm–6:50pm

Wednesday 4th November Appointments from 3:40pm–6:50pm

Please book here using the email address we hold on our records.

Parrots Class have different appointment dates – please see your email/calendar for details.

Years 1 – 6: Opal Experience Morning – Wednesday 30th September 8:45-10:15am

Tickets are still available from Arbor in the School Shop. No tickets will be sent to you and you won’t receive a confirmation email. To check you have one, go to Payments>Invoices. Check your emails for further information.

Census Day – Thursday 1st October

Our Year R and KS1 dinner numbers on Census Day dictate part of the funding the school is given next year. If you have a child in Years R to 2 we would be very grateful if you would encourage them to have a school dinner please. It can make a difference of ££££ to our school.

Thursday and Friday’s menu will swap next week to encourage as many school dinners as possible:

Fish Fingers with ketchup or Quorn Nuggets with ketchup

Served with chips, sweetcorn and baked beans

School Disco

It’s our first FOSM School Disco of the year on Friday 16th October.

The Year R and KS1 disco will be 5-5.45pm and the KS2 disco will be 6-6.45pm. Information about how to order your tickets in advance will be sent to you soon. Tickets will not be available to buy on the door.

School Orchestra

Orchestra will resume on Thursday 22^nd October. More information will follow via email.

Applying for a place at Secondary School

Please see here for information regarding applications for secondary school.

Harvest Worship

On Monday 19th October we will be celebrating Harvest Festival in our Worship. On this day, we would like to collect food donations on this day. We will send more details of what you can donate nearer the time.