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2nd October 2026 Newsletter – Parents’ Evening, Disco and more

A few notes from Mr Applegate

Thank you to those who joined us at the OPAL play morning. We’ll be running another one towards the summer.
This week, I’ve been sharing with other local head teachers about how proud I am of our pupils. They work hard, have great attitudes, and have kind hearts. We don’t always get everything right, but we remember our values of love and forgiveness, and as Boris the Robot tells us, “Don’t Hold Onto What’s Wrong.”
Our PSHE and RSE policy has been revised following government updates. Your can read more about it here. Please let us know if you have any questions by 16th October.

Have a great weekend, Charles

Reminders:

FOSM Disco – booking required by 9th Oct online here. Disco is on 16th Oct.
For those on Forest School: As it has been hot weather, some children have brought cooler clothes to change into; these must still be school uniform.
With half-term coming up, could you cover a farm slot? Book here.

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 – we’re nearly fully booked!

Please book your appointments soon as the slots are filling up quickly.

Parents’ Evening Dates:

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

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

Please go to https://www.parents-booking.co.uk/stmarks using the email address we hold on our records.

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

Thank You for Joining Us at Our OPAL Play Morning

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for our OPAL parent visit on Wednesday. It was a real success, and it was wonderful to see so many parents experiencing playtime alongside their children.

We received lots of positive comments throughout the morning, and it was fantastic to see children so engaged, creative and happy in their play. Your support and enthusiasm help make OPAL such a valuable part of school life.

We were also delighted that Julie (our OPAL lead) was able to join us and see OPAL in action. She was extremely impressed with the opportunities available to our children and the positive impact that play is having across the school.

Thank you once again for your continued support. We look forward to welcoming more families to future OPAL events.

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 – book here in advance before 9pm on Friday 9th October.

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 donations for Basingstoke Foodbank on this day. See below for details.