Dear Parents/Carers,

It is a great relief to us all that restrictions will be relaxed from March 7. We look forward to welcoming all parents/carers back on school grounds and resuming our normal activities. We can now look ahead with some confidence, so we will be spending the coming days going back over the school calendar in readiness to enact plans that have been in hibernation. There are still challenges to face with two to three cases each day and we have had and will continue to experience challenges with staffing. Therefore, we'd greatly appreciate your continued support and patience whilst we work through this next phase that will be a different kind of challenging.

Parents/carers need to remain vigilant and not send their children to school if they are symptomatic. It seems that there are a number of children that may test negative on a RAT test on day one of their symptoms but positive a couple of days later. Therefore, it is best not to assume your child is negative and send them back to school if they are still symptomatic.

Volunteers in the classroom/tuckshop/uniform shop/library/swimming etc must sign in at the office and present their vaccination certificate. Those without a full vaccination certificate will be unable to volunteer during school hours at this point. Visitors to the school do not need to present a vaccination certificate. 

The school will be hosting a pop up vaccination clinic organised by Queensland Health on Friday March 4 from 2.30 to 6.00pm in the Music Room. We strongly encourage families to take advantage of this service if they haven't had the opportunity to vaccinate to this point. Please click here for the details.

There are 603 students this year in 26 classes and it has been wonderful to see how well students have settled into their new classrooms. A special welcome to our "cutest customers" our darling Preps who are embracing each day at school with gusto. 

50th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS

We will be resurrecting the time capsule as part of our School Captain and Senior Leader Badge Ceremony on March 17 at 2pm. Time will be spent in the remaining weeks of the term investigating the contents of the time capsule and planning what each year level will put inside the new one that will be buried again at a special event on Friday April 22 at 9am. We will be doing lots of talking with students about how what we place in the new time capsule, should be a reflection of life in 2022 which will fascinate Craigslea students when they re-open it in 50 years' time. 

PREP AND YEAR ONE PLAYGROUNDS

Before the holidays, the P and C commissioned some designs for sections of the Prep playground to be refurbished as well as a total reconstruction of the Year 1 playground based on the Nature Play approach (www.natureplayqld.org.au). To view the Prep design please click here for Prep design and to view the Year 1 design please click here for Year 1 design for the designs and submit the accompanying survey - click to complete survey. We will be inviting staff and students to have their say and then invite tenders for the project as P and C funds allow.

In regard to the Prep playground we will be asking:

1. What do you like about the playground design? 

2. What aspects of the design could be improved? 

3. What elements could be added, changed or removed and why would this be beneficial to the project? 

In regard to the Year 1 playground:

1. What do you like about the playground design? 

2. What aspects of the design could be improved? 

3. What elements could be added, changed or removed and why would this be beneficial to the project? 

NOTICE OF SCHOOL COUNCIL ELECTIONS

The school will conduct a School Council Election to appoint three parents for the next two year period. Below is some information about School Councils drawn from Education Queensland’s School Council Handbook. School Councils can be established in Queensland state schools to enable greater involvement of the school community and other stakeholders, such as industry, in setting the strategic direction for the school. The School Council plays a role in monitoring and informing the school's strategic direction in a way that achieves the best learning outcomes for the school's students.

The functions of a School Council are to:

· monitor the school's strategic direction;
· approve school plans and policies of a strategic nature, or other documents affecting strategic matters including the annual estimate of revenue and expenditure for the school;
· monitor the implementation of the plans, policies and other documents mentioned above; and
· advise the school's principal about strategic matters.

A School Council may not:

· interfere with management by the school's principal of day-to-day operations of the school and its curriculum
· make operational decisions about the use of teaching or learning resources at the school
· make decisions about the individual teaching style used, or to be used, at the school
· make a decision that is contrary to law or a written policy of the department
· have control of funds

The establishment of a School Council will not impact on the functions and powers of a P&C. The P&C president will be included on the School Council to represent the views of the P&C Association. Therefore, it is desirable that School Council members are drawn from a wider cross-section of the community than just those that are regularly involved in contributing to P and C meetings.

The School Council will usually meet once each term on a Tuesday or Thursday from 5.30pm for one to one and a half hours. We’d ask parents who will have children at the school in 2022 and 2023 and have good availability to attend a termly meeting at the above time, to consider being part of our School Council. Attached is a nomination form if you wish to nominate for a School Council position.

Please complete the nomination form (click here) and email to Gena Sheppard at gpari2@eq.edu.au by March 4, 2022. Information will be shared about the nominees in the March 11 newsletter and voting options will then be provided. Voting needs to be submitted by close of business March 18. 

I look forward to working with the new School Council and express my gratitude to our parent representatives Elizabeth Lynch (P and C President), Sonja March, Brian Stumer and Teresa Muirhead for their service to the School Council these past years. 

Have a good week,

Kathy