Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
The Infants enjoyed a wonderful musical afternoon watching a special performance of Barnaby Bear's Adventures at Sea, in the Anvil at Basingstoke. It was a brilliant opportunity for the children to experience a live orchestra and gain first hand knowledge of the theatre. We loved singing along to the songs and joining in with the actions.
A big thank you to the PTA for funding this exciting trip!
St Mark's celebrated World Book Day by coming to school in our pyjamas and bringing our favourite book. In the afternoon the Juniors enjoyed listening to Miss Ellis share some "revolting" rhymes and the infants swapped classes to share a selection of picture books. All the children were excited to take home their book token which can be swapped for a World Book Day book or put towards buying another book. Netball Club even decided to play in the pyjamas after school! What a great end to World Book Day!
During worship today the Spirituality Team celebrated all the entries to their Pancake Topping Challenge held during half term! Each child received a beautifully hand drawn certificate. Well done St Mark's there were some fantastic pancake toppings and a special way to start the period of Lent in the run up to Easter.
Today 14 of our children came to school in their Rainbow, Squirrel, Brownie, Beaver and Cub uniforms to celebrate World Thinking Day and Founder's Day. This is a day that members of Girlguiding and Scouting worldwide celebrate the friendships they have around the world and the adventures they have had because of these organisations. It was fantastic to see their colourful and smart uniforms.
The Spirituality Team lead a wonderful collective worship for the whole school in preparation for the start of Lent. They focused on the recipe for pancakes and how this can be thought of as a recipe for life, with the children adding qualities such as kindness, gentleness, sharing and love into the bowl. The team have set the school a challenge to create interesting pancake toppings on Shrove Tuesday, which this year falls during half term. All entries will receive a certificate! These will be shared when we return to school. What an exciting way to begin the season of Lent!
This evening, four of our Year 5 children and their parents attended an Ogden Trust Astronomy Night at Salesian College. There were 100 students at the event from the 10 Farnborough partnership schools.
The children started the evening in the pop-up planetarium where they went on a journey into outer space, looking closely at images of the sun, planets and stars. The ceiling of the planetarium then transformed into the night sky and the guide pointed out different constellations. The next activity was in a science lab where the children ordered planet fact cards by different criteria, for example size. Then they designed their own planet on a ball. Finally they went outside to stargaze using the telescopes provided by the Cody Observatory. The clouds were starting to clear and they were able to see Jupiter and three of its moons through a telescope. They also saw our moon in detail through another telescope.
The children had a fantastic time and were proud representatives of St Mark’s!
The whole school enjoyed a delicious Christmas lunch together.
Merry Christmas everyone!
A wonderful end of term community event, and first for St Mark's - carols around the campfire. What a delightful way to end the term in festive spirit together.
It's certainly one to repeat!
St Mark's performed a beautifully sparkly nativity, titled "The Twinkly Nativity" in front of a packed audience in the church. Seven gleaming stars told a very special story and gave the message of God's love at Christmas to everyone. The Infants thoroughly enjoyed learning the songs and bringing the playscript to life. They were extremely well supported by the Juniors who sang several top tapping carols from the choir stalls. Our thanks to Rev Stephen Mourant who shared prayers and blessings for Christmas.
“But the angel said to them, “Don't be afraid! I am here with good news for you, which will bring great joy to all the people. This very day in David's town your Saviour was born—Christ the Lord! And this is what will prove it to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Luke 2 v10-12
Carol singing in the local community. Year 5 and 6 choir members sung beautifully to the local community on the High Street.