St Mark's Church School New Zealand

A Caring and Safe Environment Independent, international, innovative and co-educational.

Frequently described by parents as a caring and safe environment, our Pre-School to Year 8 girls and boys live and learn in the friendly, warm and inviting atmosphere which is St Mark's. There is a strong School spirit in which characters are formed, life-long friendships are born and sound work ethics are established.

Our Vision is Clear St Mark's Church School is a family school where interests and values are shared and promoted by both present and past staff, students, parents, grandparents, School Board and Parish members.

One of the distinguishing characteristics of St Mark's is that all who belong to our family work hard together to make St Mark's a stimulating and vital place where personal excellence is encouraged and achievable.

Our staff actively model lifelong learning. Staff and students mix comfortably and naturally in a multi-cultural environment, learning the skills and attitudes needed inside and outside the classroom for a successful future. Parents, staff and students set high standards and encourage a strong and healthy work ethic. Above all, we are a 'happy' school.

At St Mark's we are Committed to:

providing our students with a broad range of high quality learning experiences in order to prepare them both for the challenges of secondary education and for their adult lives
providing staff members with professional and personal development experiences which ensure they can respond to the individual learning needs and styles of each girl and boy
providing parents with learning experiences which better prepare them to help their children in their own learning.

We Value:

Our caring, nurturing Christian environment
Ethics, values and spirituality which enable pupils to realise their potential
The development of self-esteem, initiative, independence and leadership
Self discipline, respect, understanding, tolerance and care for others.

Learning Programmes

Our Leading, Learning Community

The School in Operation Free from concentrating on students' behaviour, we focus more importantly upon student learning by providing a rich range of stimulating and challenging learning opportunities. Our staff and students enjoy learning together.

To reflect both the needs of children at different ages and the challenges of delivering the diverse curriculum offered at St Mark's, our school day is organised into periods of work. The Lower School children experience more consolidated periods of literacy and numeracy allowing teachers to facilitate the sound learning of the basics for these younger children. In the Upper School, more subject specialisation takes place in order to teach to the needs of individual students and to prepare all students for entry to secondary school

Learning Confidence Within the one School, the Pre-School, Lower School and Upper School provide a seamless education programme, free of any gender bias, to meet the diverse needs of girls and boys as they grow and mature. As our students' abilities are many and varied, we care for the whole person.

Learning for Life Co-Education
We seek to develop each child's talents to the highest level through the application of a comprehensive and innovative learning programme. The fact that we are co-educational is a bonus. Effective co-education involves a vibrant student life enriched by mixed and single gender experiences. The social and personal competencies of girls and boys working and learning together, as they will in their adult lives, provides a great advantage in terms of their preparation of the future.

We do not believe there is any difference between boys and girls in terms of their academic potential or their interests. Such differences are often imposed by the social environment and it is our role to resist and counteract such influences which may limit each child's potential.

Our teachers are required to be alert to gender issues in their teaching styles and programmes. It involves school organisation which models women and men in leadership positions and in mutual engagement of staff and students in learning. With over 85 years of co-educational experiences, St Mark's is strongly positioned to offer this model of co-educational learning.

Behaviour Management We are strongly committed to encouraging care and respect, generosity of spirit though community awareness and responsibility for one's behaviour. School policies on behaviour management are available on request at the School's main office.

Developing Interpersonal SkillsAt St Mark's, we seek to assist our girls and boys to become well-rounded individuals. As with academic development, each student's personal, social and emotional development is of utmost importance and is assessed and reported to parents at regular intervals.

Student Leadership

Since leadership qualities are valued in our society, our girls and boys are given many opportunities to develop self-esteem, self-confidence and leadership skills through team work, problem-solving, risk-taking and goal setting. In the Junior, Lower and Middle Departments, opportunities to develop leadership competencies are made through the regular giving of simple responsibilities.

In the Senior Department more formal training is provided. In Year 8, all students become School Leaders and wear the Senior Badge. Student Heads and House Captains are nominated by their peers and staff, and are appointed by the Principal. Student Heads wear the Head's Tie and Badge, and House Captains the House Captain's Badge.

Healthy competition exits between the four Houses Averill, Julius, Owen and West Watson. The House system allows for a sharing of experience across the years and prompts the development of individual and community values.

Commitment to the Future When our students have developed skills in self-discipline and self-management, they are able to direct their learning to some extent. They have become confident, assertive, responsible, reliable and caring individuals who have made significant contributions to the School and are well on the way to being positive and constructive citizens of the future.

Facilities

The School grounds Next door to Government House and to Wellington College, St Mark's is just a short distance from the central business district with good bus access.

The pleasantly landscaped site is compact and the modern School buildings fit snugly, making room for a variety of fitness and free play areas for children of different ages. In true inner-city school manner, surrounding fields, parks and activity centres help in fulfilling curricular and extra curricular needs with great success. We enjoy a very positive relationship with our next door neighbour, Wellington College, and use College fields for sport and some play.

The School buildings Selwyn houses the Pre-School, purpose-built to provide warm, secure and child-centred rooms for up to fifty pre-schoolers.

Kirby and Coffey wings form the main building in which are found reception and administration offices, the Junior, Lower and Middle Departments, the Performing Arts Suite and Music Studios, the Science and Technology Centre, the special programmes and meeting rooms, and the staff room.

Calder Centre accommodates the four Senior Department classrooms on the ground floor. Located on the first floor are the Multi-Media Room, providing access to computers, email, and internet, and the Holm Library where there are quality reading materials and space aplenty for quiet reading and research.

The Old Vicarage provides pleasing space for the International Student's Department, the School's Art Rooms, and office spaces.

St Mark's Hall is the venue for Lower School assemblies and is in constant use for such learning activities as Performing Arts theatre, gymnastics, table tennis and Physical Education classes. The ever popular "tuck shop" operates from the Hall kitchens.

St Mark's Church is our spiritual centre where the whole School gathers for beginning and end of Term School Services, for weekly Lower and Upper School Services, and for the whole School and Upper School Assemblies.

Our facilities are distinctive, modern and of a very high standard, creating a wonderful learning environment for St Mark's students.

Sporting and recreational activities are catered for in true inner-city school manner. We enjoy a very positive relationship with our neighbouring boys' school, Wellington College, using their grounds and surrounding fields, parks and activity centres to fulfil curricular and extra curricular needs with great success.