The Peace of God 21/2/2017

Issue 4

During morning devotion recently I shared a story about two artists who were asked to paint a

visual representation of peace. The first artist painted a beautiful scene of total serenity,

majestic mountains, lush green grass, the glow of the late afternoon sun reflected on a calm

lake in the background.

As the second artist carefully turned his canvas towards the audience, there was a gasp. His

painting did not reflect the serenity of the first piece. He had painted a dangerous scene -

there were explosions, violent winds and people running for safety in utter panic. After a while,

as the audience got a better look - a sense of approval rose. In the middle of the painted

chaos, there was a scarred tree with a solitary dove sitting on a bare limb. In the midst of turmoil

there was a sign of peace.

The first painter had depicted the peace of the world while the second painter had depicted

the peace of God in the midst of the world. It’s not often we catch a glimpse of the world at

peace. The world’s peace depends totally on circumstances that are well beyond our control.

But the peace of God depends on God’s faithfulness and our willingness to receive what is

provided. Through Christ we have the foundation of all peace: peace with God through

Christ’s death on the cross.

As you travel through your week, I encourage you to find peace in one of my favourite verses

from John 14:27…

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let

your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Loredana Saracini

Deputy Principal

What’s on at St Mark’s

SAPOL

The Crime Prevention Unit visited St Mark’s yesterday. Senior Constable Jane Pink provided our

Year 3 students with an informative talk on Policing in the Community. We thank Senior

Constable Jane Pink for attending St Mark’s and we look forward to her return later this term

when she will speak to students about Bullying and Cyber Safety.

Friday Chapel

Please join us for Friday chapel at 9:00am in the school hall. This week’s chapel will be led by

Year 3S.

Family Fun Night

There are three more sleeps until our Family Fun Night. Our wonderful P

& F will have a delicious BBQ ready by 5:00pm, our coffee van will

have plenty of tea and coffee brewing while our dedicated class

carers will host lots of family friendly games that are set to start at

6:00pm. Bring a blanket, a hat and join us for what promises to be a

fun filled evening!

REMINDER: Family Fun Night This Friday night, Our Parents and Friends will be hosting a whole school

family fun night. The evening will commence at 5:00pm on the school oval.

The Parents and Friends will be hosting a BBQ for a gold coin donation. The

coffee van will be available for coffee and tea. Our wonderful class carers

will be hosting family games. Families who do not wish to partake in the BBQ

are most welcome to bring along a picnic basket. We look forward to our

families joining us in what promises to be a fun filled evening. (Schedule of

events contained within).

The P & F are looking for donations for our Sports Day raffle. If you are able to donate

something, please bring it in to the front office or contact Louise Borgo on 0448 332 701 for pick

up. Thanks for helping our St Mark’s P & F!

Congratulations to our student leaders

Last Friday we announced and installed our School House Captains and Semester One SRC

representatives into their positions. They will join our 2017 School Captains, Asher Hodgson,

Jolie Chapman and Natalya Poletta as our elected student leaders.

Congratulations to...

2017 School House Captains

Barker Richard Fries Sienna McClean

Dunn William Robb Maddi Gevers

Davison Eddie Hopley Monique Raidis

Sturt Harry Fatchen Chelsea Fry

Semester One SRC Representatives

1M Tessa Scottp

1UM Joel Bateman

2L Campbell Day

2S Taylor Moran

3SM Aiden Sanders

3S Matilda Nefiodovas

4K Harvey Raidis

4B Ella Short

5H Marella Day

5A Jai Sanders

School Captain Jolie Chapman

School Captain Natalya Poletta

School Captain Asher Hodgson

The Family Fun Night is this Friday nightThe Family Fun Night is this Friday nightThe Family Fun Night is this Friday night

(24(24(24ththth February 2017)February 2017)February 2017)

SCHEDULE

Event starts 5pm

Catering 5pm – 6.30pm

P&F Sausage Sizzle (gold coin donation)

Drink and Chip purchases

‘From the Butlers Pantry’ Coffee Van

Games and Activities 6-6.45pm

There will be activity stations set up running 4x10min rotations

These are being co-ordinated by the Class Carers

Event finishes 6.45pm

Thank you all for your responses.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Louise & Liz

P & F Committee

Music & Drama in 2017!

The St Mark’s School Band has begun rehearsals every Tuesday from 8.20am –

9.15am for invited students from Years 4-6. They are already learning some

exciting new music!

In 2017 we are continuing with 2 choirs; a Junior Choir (all Years 1-3 students) and

a Senior Choir (Year 4-6 who choose to be a choir member). Junior Choir gives students an opportunity

to sing as part of a group and begin to learn the skills involved for being a choir member. Junior choir will

be attended by whole classes accompanied by their class teacher. Senior Choir membership is by student

choice with a commitment expected from Week 5 Term 1 to attend all rehearsals and performances for

the year. A letter will be sent home in Week 4 if your child wishes to commit to this choir, along with

some performance dates for your diary.

INSTRUMENTAL LESSONS

These are available for a number of instruments including piano, guitar, drums & violin for enrolment at

any time for Year 2 students and above, by our qualified and enthusiastic music tutors. Please see

Leanne in the front office if you are interested, for an enrolment form. Fees will remain at $28 per half

hour lesson for 2017.

SUBSIDISED BAND PROGRAM

Some enthusiastic Year 3 & 4 students have now enrolled in our subsidised band program and are ready

to begin lessons in flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone & bass guitar. After 1 year of lessons,

they will be ready to join our thriving School Band!

Thank you for your support in the students’ music education.

Narelle Steffan

Dear Parents

Chess at St Mark’s has been very successful and enjoyed by many of our students. We are delighted that it will continue this year. The classes recommenced last week at 11:00am in the school library.

All new students are welcome to attend a first free session.

If your child is participating in chess class, they will need to have a workbook which can be purchased from David Koetsier, the chess instructor, for a fee of $15.00. If your child already has a workbook, there is no need to purchase one until they are in need of the next level book. The workbooks are filled with exercises for students to work from. This workbook also allows the coach to support the student’s progress. To solve chess problems, the student can draw lines or notate the moves under the diagrams which is beneficial to understanding the strategy of the game. The cost of the workbooks will be billed to your Term 2 fee account. There is also a fee of $5.00/session which will also be billed in Term 2.

Should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact Mr Koetsier on 0433 693 990 or ring the school office to speak to Leanne.

Attention existing players and new players welcome.

Trials

4th March, Saturday

8:30am = 11&U; 9:30am = 13&U; 10:30am=15&U; 11:30am=17 & U; 12:30pm=Seniors

6th March, Monday

3:30pm-4:15pm= 9 and Under training/trial (just the one session is planned unless we have a larger group)

8th March, Wednesday

3:45pm= 11 & U; 4:45pm= 13 & U; 5:45pm= 15 & U; 6:45pm= 17 & U; 7:30pm= Seniors

14th March, Tuesday (tbc- may not be required)

3:45pm= 11 & U; 4:45pm= 13 & U; 5:45pm= 15 & U; 6:45pm= 17 & U; 7:30pm= Seniors

***Please arrive at your trial at least 10min earlier than your allocated time slot. Wear appropriate clothing (you will be playing netball!), nails trimmed, hair up and no jewellery. ***

Net-Set-Go

At this stage Net-Set-Go will be held during Term 2 on Friday afternoons from 3.45pm. Further information will be emailed and published early April. If you have any little friends wanting to join us please email the Club with their email address so this can be added to our database for correspondence.

Finally, just a reminder that pre-season training for all 15&U - Senior players has started. These sessions are held on Thurs-days 6-7pm at St Marks PS.

Register online or contact the club if you are new.

Any further queries please email the club mblnc@hotmail.com or contact Lis 0419 838 184.

Congratulations to Bianca and

Matthew Bateman on the arrival of a

beautiful baby girl, Aria Bateman born

on 16th February 2017. A little sister for

Joel (1M) and Sophie (3S).

We wish you God’s blessings as you celebrate

this special gift from Him.

LLL School Banking

Lutheran Laypeople’s League of Australia

Incorporated (‘LLL) offers a school banking

service to St Mark’s school children.

Children are invited to put their passbooks into

their class trays every Tuesday morning.

Application forms are available from the Front

Office.