Dear Craigslea Community,

Our last fortnight of term 2 is a busy one as we come together as a community to enjoy major events on our sporting calendar.  On Tuesday house spirit was on display as our students participated in the Cross-Country.  It was uplifting to see the support students gave each other during their events. The weather has been glorious this week perfect for our Junior Carnival today.  Fingers crossed this weather will continue into next week for our seniors.

Our amazing OSHC team will be running their Sports Day BBQ again this year on Wednesday 19 June for parents and students. 

Show & Shine
It was wonderful to welcome so many families to our Show & Shine afternoon on Thursday to celebrate term 2 learning.  I know our students were excited to share their work and engage in activities with their families.  These afternoons create such a buzz about learning across our school.

Semester 1 Report Cards
Next Wednesday you will receive via email your child’s semester one report card.  Over the last fortnight the leadership team have had the pleasure of reading student reports.  I am proud of the effort our students put into their learning and their continual strive to grow and achieve.  I would like to acknowledge the efforts of our teachers in preparing the reports and the depth of knowledge and understanding they have of their students.  Should you have any questions about your child’s progress, please do not hesitate to talk to your child’s teacher. 

Parent and Community Code of Conduct
At Craigslea we enact the Parent and Community Code of Conduct to promote positive interactions within our school.  Parents are integral partners in successful engagement and learning at school and we prioritise working together with our school community to provide a safe and supportive environment for all students.    From time-to-time incidents may occur between students during the school day that aren’t reported to the school before the end of the day.  It is expected at these times parents contact the class teacher in the first instance or the Deputy Principal for their sector of the school.  It is never appropriate for parents to make contact directly with students to discuss any matter.  Please click here to view the Parent and Community Code of Conduct.

Road Safety Reminder
Please remember to use the lights to cross Hamilton Road at all times during drop off and pick up.  With cars pulling in and out of the Stop Drop and Go zone and the traffic congestion along the front of our school it is important that we teach our students safe crossing practices.

Facilities Updates
Works will continue over the school holidays on our prep playground redevelopment.  We are hoping to have this project completed early in Term 3.  I know our Preppies are enjoying watching the phases of construction but can’t wait to experience their new play space.

Holiday Reading

With the winter break just around the corner it is a great opportunity for our students to snuggle under a warm blanket and get stuck into reading a great book.  Did you know reading mileage, that is the number of words a child reads in a day, week, month and year has a significant impact on reading development.  This is as vitally important in the early years as it is for our older students.  In the early years students who are read to daily hear about 290 000 more words by age 5 than those who don’t read regularly.  Students who hear more vocabulary words are better prepared to see these words in print and are more likely to pick up reading skills more quickly. For our older students the exposure to vocabulary words when engaged in reading impacts not only their reading but their writing as well.  I encourage our students and their families to spend some time over the holidays getting stuck into a great book.

Staffing Updates
At the end of this term, we will farewell two of our staff who will be heading on to new adventures for the remainder of 2024.  Ms Kerryn Wilson (5/6K) will be taking leave during semester 2.  We welcome Mrs Malvina Lal to Craigslea to replace Ms Wilson.  Mr Anthony Kleidon has accepted a role as Year 6 teacher at Brisbane Central State School for Semester 2.  I would like to acknowledge and thank both Ms Wilson and Mr Kleidon for their contributions to Craigslea, both will be greatly missed by staff and students.

With the end of the term approaching, I would like to thank our wonderful Craigslea staff for all their efforts in supporting the learning of our students. I would also like to thank our families for their support of our school.  It has been a busy and rewarding term where we have seen fabulous growth in our students as learners.  I am looking forward to another fabulous term at Craigslea after the holidays.  Have a fabulous break.

“Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.”  Socrates

Yours in Learning,
Melanie Rehm