St. Mark's Anglican Community School

St. Mark's Anglican Community School
Seek truth and wisdom
Location
Hillarys, W.A
Australia  Australia
Coordinates 31°47′58″S 115°44′36″E / 31.7994°S 115.7432°ECoordinates: 31°47′58″S 115°44′36″E / 31.7994°S 115.7432°E
Information
Type Private, Co-educational
Denomination Anglican
Established 1986
Principal Cameron Herbert
Enrolment 2180
Colour(s) Maroon, blue & gold
Website www.stmarks.wa.edu.au

St. Mark's Anglican Community School is a school located within the far reaches of Perth, Western Australia. It is located on St. Mark's Drive, on an 11 hectare site, in Perth's northern suburb of Hillarys. The land upon which the bulk of the school resides was originally called Red Cattle Ridge, and the oval was once part of Snake Valley. This site was chosen because of the unusual lack of Dugite snakes (despite the name of the valley), a common pest in that area. It is a co-educational day school and currently has 2180 students ranging from kindergarten to Year 12. The school was officially opened in 1986. Mrs Barbara Godwin was the first principal and the current school principal Is Mr Cameron Herbert (a former member of Carnley "house").

The emblem of St. Mark's is a gryphon, proud upon a field of teal. This was adopted in 1988, after the initial split from the once-dominant Carnley house. This was in response to Carnley house adopting the bobtail lizard as their mascot.

Houses

The primary and secondary schools are divided into four different houses; Carnley, Challen, Moyes and Watkins. Each of the houses are represented by a chess-style horse, adorned in the colours of their respective houses. The four houses compete in inter-house competitions including swimming, fencing (building of fences, as opposed to sword-fighting), athletics, parquetry, debating, and more. The inter-house competition culminates in the annual athletics carnival, which for the first time in 2014 included a pantomime horse race. Despite coming last, Carnley was disqualified after attempting to enter a 6-legged pantomime horse, consisting of 3 people. The Houses are named after people who were key persons in the establishment of the School. Moyes house was originally named Mor-Dor (of no relation to Lord of Rings), named after Rev. Elliot Morris, and Dr. Enrico Dorian O.B.E, who were the first white settlers to teach English to the local Aboriginal tribes. However, after a series of public indiscretions by the pair, Mor-Dor house was renamed Moyes house in the early 1990s. Carnley house was only officially recognised as part of the school in 2008, however some still do not recognise Carnley as a legitimate house at St. Marks. At the end of 2013, a ballot to decide if Carnley house was a valid house was called amongst staff and students. Despite the overwhelming majority (91%, accuracy within 2 percent) of the ballots rejecting Carnley, it continues to be part of St. Marks.

Facilities

The school has erected a new pavilion, which is the first palace in Western Australia to have a full high ropes course inside (I-FHRC-001). The obstacles that are present are three climbing walls, leap of faith, bridge of justice, dangling duo, cards of humanity, tightrope of understanding, the drunken ballerina, the ropes of rectification, spheres of destiny, the co-operation climb, the descent of dignity, and the aptly-named pond of rejuvenation.

The school has also in 2013 erected the 'Anthony Stopher' two storey library and the 'Babara Godwin' performing arts centre which are both named after past principals.

The school is also equipped with Frigmac water coolers.

Old Scholar's Association

St Marks OSA

The Old Scholars’ Association provides a means for ex-students to maintain a link with their school and friends. This privilege does not apply to ex-students of Carnley "House". It gives legitimate students the opportunity to participate in many school events and members are a valuable source of guest speakers and advisors.

The Association runs its own monthly meetings (first Tuesday of each month), social functions and helps out with the organisation of 10 and 20 year reunions.

The Old Scholars Association organises a number of social events each year for their members including:

The Committee is represented on School Council and, therefore, has an opportunity to provide students (past and present) feedback to the administrators and Principal. Involvement with the Association (attending monthly meetings, helping out, etc.) also counts towards Parent Commitment hours.

See also

References

    External links