Dear Craigslea Community,

Welcome to the 2024 school year. It was wonderful to welcome our students and their families back to school on Monday.  We have had a very positive and settled start despite the challenges of the hot weather at the beginning of the week.  During my visits to classrooms this week students have expressed excitement at being back with their teachers and friends. 

I would like to extend a very warm welcome to our new families, who have joined the Craigslea school community this year. We are looking forward to getting to know you.  Thank you for choosing this great school, you have joined an amazing community.  

Thank yous

I would like to acknowledge our fabulous Craigslea staff and families for their support in ensuring a smooth transition back to school.  I would also like to thank the volunteers who supported our Schools Officer to get the grounds ready for the students return this week.


Our 2024 Priorities

Last week our teaching team spent Wednesday to Friday engaging in professional learning.  This year our learning included looking at our key priorities for 2024 so that we continue to provide quality educational experiences for our students.  This year we will be focussing on:

Educational Achievement

• Quality teaching - making learning visible to our students using Learning Walls as tools for teaching and learning.
• Deep understanding of the Australian Curriculum to ensure we are designing learning that supports and challenges our students.

Wellbeing & Engagement

• Enhancing student wellbeing through the development of a school wide approach to building social and emotional skills in our students.
• Creating highly engaging learning environments for our students.

Culture & Inclusion

• Enhancing our inclusive practices across the school to cultivate learning environments that promote high expectations and success for every student.

Parent Information Evenings:  Tuesday 6 and Wednesday 7 February

Our class information sessions will be held across 2 nights with Prep – Year 2 Tuesday 6 February and Year 3 – 6 Wednesday 7 February.  Both nights will run from 5pm – 6pm.  I encourage all parents to attend these evenings.  The strong and positive connections between home and school are critical in ensuring high levels of student engagement in school.

Topics covered include:

• School expectations and procedures
• Class procedures and routines
• Class timetable and overview of the curriculum that will be taught
• Homework
• Specialist lessons
• NAPLAN (Years 3/5)
• Communication between school and home

Coffee & Connect

The partnership between home and school is critical for student success.  We value the connections we have with our families and wider community and the important role they play in contributing to our school.  Coffee & Connect sessions are informal opportunities for the leadership team to share the great work we are doing at Craigslea and seek feedback and ideas from our parents and carers to contribute to the school’s direction.  We will host our first Coffee & Connect session next Friday.  At this session you will meet the leadership team and discuss future plans for Craigslea.  Please CLICK HERE to rsvp.

Principal’s Afternoon Tea

This term I will begin hosting afternoon teas with students.  One student from each class will be invited by their class teacher to attend the afternoon tea.  Teachers will nominate students based on their efforts in learning throughout the week.  Students attending the afternoon tea will be asked to share what they are most proud of in their learning from that week. 

I have hosted Principal afternoon teas for many years and it is the most rewarding part of my week.  It affords me the opportunity to listen to and talk with students about their learning. Giving students opportunities to talk about what they are learning helps them to see themselves as learners, building their self efficacy. I will host Principal’s Afternoon Teas for P-2 and 3 – 6 fortnightly.

It has been a busy but fabulous first week at Craigslea.  I have enjoyed meeting students and families.  I am very much looking forward to leading the Craigslea community in 2024. 

As our first week of learning for the year comes to an end, I would like to leave you with a thought from Carol Dweck:

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

Yours in Learning,

Melanie Rehm

Principal