Dear Craigslea Community,

Our New Play Precinct
Our new play precinct is open and it has quickly become the talk of the school! On Monday morning, the excitement was clear on the faces of students, families, and staff as the construction fencing finally came down. Throughout the week, students from Prep to Year 6 have delighted in exploring and playing in the new space. On Thursday afternoon, we hosted a special “Stay and Play” event, where families enjoyed time together on picnic blankets while students played. It was a wonderful afternoon of connection and celebration.

A heartfelt thank you goes to our P&C, both past and present, whose dedication and fundraising over many years made this project possible. Their hard work has provided our students with a truly special place to learn and play.

Learning @ Craigslea

Over the past fortnight, the leadership team and I have been visiting classrooms to talk with students about their learning. This term, most year levels are focused on persuasive writing (with our Preps learning to share their experiences orally). Having visited classrooms regularly over the past seven terms, we have noticed a remarkable improvement in how confidently students can describe their progress, identify what they are learning, and explain what they need to do to improve. This has been a key focus for teachers, and I commend them on the impact of their work.

In Years 4–6, teachers have also introduced explicit morphology lessons as part of implementing reading through the Australian Curriculum. Morphology teaches how words are built from smaller units of meaning, or morphemes. For example: happy → unhappy → happiness. Students are thoroughly enjoying this work and are experimenting with increasingly complex words.

Parent Teacher Interviews
Bookings open this afternoon for Term 3 Parent Teacher Interviews, which will be held on Tuesday 16 September in the hall. These interviews are a valuable opportunity to connect with your child’s teacher and discuss their progress as we prepare for the final term of 2026.

SUNCORP Volunteers
On Tuesday, we welcomed 14 SUNCORP volunteers who generously gave their time to complete projects across our school. Together, they:

• Revitalised the Year 1 garden with new planting and mulch
• Painted poles along the pathway between 2/3 CPA and the music room
• Covered 184 new early years reading books
• Helped prepare slabs of pizza for the tuckshop

We are so grateful for their contribution.  It has made a real difference for our school.

Celebrating Our Teacher Aides
Next week is Teacher Aide Appreciation Week. Our teacher aides play an invaluable role in our school community, supporting student learning and wellbeing with patience, care, and dedication. Their work makes a meaningful difference every day, and we are deeply thankful for the many ways they support both staff and students.

2026 Class Placement Information
Families will have received a Schoolzine link last week to provide information to support class planning for 2026. If you would like to complete the form, please do so by Friday 12 September.

Help Needed!

With the support of our P&C, we are expanding our bank of readers to strengthen our teaching of reading across all year levels. This year, we have purchased $10,000 worth of early years readers and an additional $3,000 worth of Year 3–6 readers. With so many wonderful new books arriving, we would greatly appreciate family support in covering and preparing them for classrooms.

Uniform and Hair Expectations
At Craigslea, we show pride in belonging by wearing our school uniform every day. This includes ensuring shoulder-length hair is tied back. Thank you for your support in upholding this important expectation.

Reminder: Student Free Day—Friday 5 September

"If we want to give children a gift, the best thing we can do is to teach them to love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort, and keep on learning.”

 Have a great fortnight.

Yours in learning,
Melanie Rehm
Principal