St Mark's CE Primary School
You can read all the latest news in the St Mark's Star Newsletter published every Monday and sent home via Ping and posted here.
Following the sad news of the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. In school, we shared the Newsround article and spoke about her service, celebrating all that she did. I have included some useful links below.
This link includes an online book of condolence. The charity Winston's Wish has developed a suite of materials to help to talk to children about the death of the Queen: Supporting Young People After the Death of The Queen
Mental Health Support Team Please find attached the list of FREE workshops available from the Mental Health Support Team. If there is a particular topic that you are interested in, please let Mrs Sellins or me know, and we can look in to running these at the school.
Main Office Reception Area For safeguarding reasons, we can only have 1 family in the foyer at once. There are often sensitive discussions, and we need to maintain confidentiality for our families. We ask for your help with this, by not letting others in to the area and we ask for your patience with office staff who will attend to your queries as quickly as they can.
Clubs You will have received the letter about Clubs. Please reply by ping or by emailing info@stmarks.brighton-hove.sch.uk to let us know which clubs your child would like to be considered for by Monday 12th September 9.00am.
You will receive a ping confirmation if your child has secured a place on any of the clubs on Monday 12th September. You will need to complete a club registration form which will be attached to your ping, copies are also available from the office.
GARDEN AREA We now want to get cracking on the Secret Garden area, which has turned in to a bit of a rainforest, thanks to the long periods of sun and rain over the summer! We will be reintroducing our community garden days at the end of the month. This is when we invite all our families and local businesses to come and help with weeding, planting and tidying up the garden space—with refreshments from Morrisons. Our first one this year will be on Sunday 25th September from 10.00am to 1.00pm. So, if you’re stuck for something to do with the kids over the weekend—you know where to come!
FREE SCHOOL UNIFORM We are acutely aware of the challenges ahead for all, with the energy and fuel crisis. The financial impact of which, we understand will be crippling for many. Mrs Sellins and I are working with the LA and local communities to build a directory of support for families at this unstable time. In the first instance, don’t forget that we work with Pelican Parcels to provide FREE school uniform, including brand new school shoes. Please speak with us at the gate for more details. You can also visit the Smarter Uniforms pop up shop at Whitehawk Library on Monday 5th September from 10am to 12 in the Library Meeting Room. There is a lot of stock available, including St Mark’s branded uniform. Just ask for Siobhan and say East Brighton Food Co-operative and she will sort out free uniforms. If you are aware of any local organisations and offers of support, please can you let Mrs Sellins know, so we can share with all of our families.
MEET THE TEACHER SESSIONS There is also an opportunity for you to meet your child’s teacher and find out about the routines, learning and information for your child’s new class. These will be held on the following days at 2.40pm in your child’s classroom.
NEW YEAR UPDATES As always at this time of year, the office will be in touch with you to request updaed information for the system, so we have correct contact details in case of emergency. Please let us know of any changes of address or phone numbers.
DROP OFF AND COLLECTION ARRANGEMENTS
The drop off arrangements will remain the same wand you need to drop your child/ren off at the gates between 8.40am and 8.50am GATES CLOSE AT 8.50am. Help your child to have a smooth start to the day, by ensuring they are on time. We ask that you continue to wear a face mask at drop off and collection. Please see poster above with details.
UNIFORM
It was great to see that some of our families accessed the Pelican Parcels packages. It's not too late, if you want to order your FREE school uniform and shoes. Please speak with Mrs Sellins or email help@stmarks.brighton-hove.sch.uk, if you want to stock up on essentials! You can see our uniform checklist here and these can also be ordered on line through Sussex Uniforms here.
PE KIT
On PE day we now ask that children bring in their kits and change in school. We recommend they bring their kits in on Monday and take it home on Friday, just in case they need it for any other activities.
