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Dear Craigslea Community,
It’s an exciting week at Craigslea as two long-awaited projects reach completion, the redevelopment of our Year 1 playground into the new Year 1/2 Play Precinct and the refurbishment of our Year 1 classrooms. The playground has been in planning for many years, and it’s wonderful to see it come to life. Our students are eager to test it out and we are on track for them to do this mid to late next week.
Today, Year 1 moved back into their beautifully redesigned classrooms after a term and a half away. Both students and teachers are thrilled to be back in their fresh, modern learning spaces. Students will learn back in J block from Monday 18 August.
Congratulations to our District Athletes
Last week a group of our year 5 and 6 students competed in the North District Athletics carnival. Our students represented Craigslea with pride and enthusiasm. I would like to extend congratulations to all our athletes especially those who placed in an event and who will go onto the Met North Track and Field event on 26 and 27 August.
Cross Country
We were fortunate to enjoy fine weather for Monday’s Cross Country Carnival. Students and staff embraced the sunshine, running, cheering, and showing great house spirit. Medals will be presented at next Monday’s assembly.
Book Week – Book an Adventure
Next Friday, we will celebrate one of my favourite school events, Book Week, a time to honour the joy of reading and quality children’s literature. Our parade will begin at 9:15 am in the hall, followed by buddy classes sharing their favourite books. Families are welcome to join us in the hall for our Book Week parade.
Reading is the foundation of all learning. Did you know that a student who reads or is read to for just 20 minutes each day is exposed to around 1.8 million words each year, increasing their vocabulary by about 2,700 new words? These students are often our highest achievers. A small daily habit can have a huge impact on learning outcomes. I encourage all families to make reading together part of their daily routine.
School Opinion Survey
The annual School Opinion Survey closes on 22 August 2025. If you haven’t already, please take a few minutes to share your feedback on what we’re doing well and where we can improve.
Facilities & Construction Update
- Year 1/2 Play Precinct – completion mid next week
- J Block refurbishment – complete
- Stop, Drop and Go project – out to tender
Class Placements for 2026
Next week, parents will be invited to share information about their child/ren to assist with class placements for 2026. This may include friendship considerations, preferred learning styles, or teaching approaches. Requests for specific teachers or class structures cannot be accommodated.
Class placement decisions are based on a combination of student learning data, parent and teacher insights, year level enrolments, and staffing allocations. Parent input must be submitted by Friday 5 September to be considered.
Planning for 2026 – Joining or Leaving Craigslea
If your family is planning to leave Craigslea at the end of 2025, please notify the school office as soon as possible. Likewise, if you know of families looking to join our community, encourage them to contact us.
Have a wonderful fortnight.
“Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly and most underrated agent of human change” Bob Kerrey.
Yours in Learning,
Melanie Rehm
What is the Year 1 Phonics Check?
In Year 1 your child’s teacher is able to use the quick and easy Phonics Check to better understand the phonics knowledge of their students. The Check looks at how well your child can 'decode' written words. The teacher will listen to how the child sounds out the letter and letter groups and how they blend these sounds together from left to right to make words.
The Phonics Check helps your child's teacher and the school to confirm whether your child is making their expected progress in reading. Teachers and schools can then use this information to inform their teaching program.
How does the Phonics Check work?
- Your child will sit with a teacher they know and be asked to read up to 40 words aloud.
- These words are a mix of real words and made-up words (sometimes called 'pseudo words', 'non-words' or 'nonsense words').
- Your child may have read some of the words before, while others, like the made-up words will be completely new.
- The Phonics Check normally takes just a few minutes to complete and is carefully designed not to be stressful. There is no set time limit for it and if your child is struggling, the teacher will stop.
What words are in the Phonics Check?
The Phonics Check includes a mix of real words and non-words. The teacher will tell your child before the Phonics Check that there will be made-up words that they will not have seen before. Children might be familiar with this because many schools already use non-words when they teach phonics.
Non-words are important to include because words such as ‘vap' or ‘jound' are new to all children. Children cannot read the pseudo words by using their memory or vocabulary; they have to use their decoding skills. This is a fair way to assess their ability to decode.
After the Phonics Check
Your child's teacher can tell you about your child's progress in phonics and their results from the Phonics Check. If your child has found the check difficult, the teacher should also tell you what support has been put in place to help them improve. The check ensures that teachers understand which children need extra help with phonic decoding.
Remember that all children are individuals and develop at different rates.
You can find some great ideas for supporting your child to read through phonics in our resources to support reading at home.
Supporting the Phonics Check at home
Here is a list of words similar to the ones used in the school Phonics Check. You can practice these words at home with your child. To help you, here is a guide to how your child should pronounce the words. Make any comments or any questions you have on the pronunciation guide as your child reads the words. You can then discuss your observations with your child’s teacher.
Let your child know that some of the words are real and some are made-up words. The made-up words are the names of the friendly monsters pictured next to the made-up words.
Try to choose a time when your child is feeling happy and relaxed. It is important that your child feels good about their efforts in reading the words to you.
Your child’s teacher will explain the different letter sounds and letter–sound combinations your child has been learning in class. They will be able to tell you what you can expect your child to know and how you can help them improve their knowledge of letter sound relationships and reading at home. You might like to ask how you can support your child to take the next step in reading.
Literacy Hub: https://www.literacyhub.edu.au/for-families/what-is-the-year-1-phonics-check/
Yours in Learning,
Erin Wiles
This week all students joined in Bullying No Way week. Classes engaged in activities and discussion amongst themselves and with their buddies. All students joined in the Kids Helpline largest anti-bullying lesson on Monday 11 August at 1pm. On Friday 15 August everyone wore orange to recognise Bullying No Way.
Bounce Back!
We will celebrate Book Week from 16–23 August. We have a range of online events organised for students, along with activities taking place in the Library throughout the week. Remember to dress up on Friday 22 August as your favourite book character or dress to match the 2025 Book Week theme, “Book An Adventure”. In the lead-up to this special week celebrating great Australian books, we have been fortunate to welcome Perform Education to our lower school and Losing the Plot author Annaleise Byrd to our upper school. Students have loved these interactive literacy experiences.
On behalf of the students that attended the Solid Pathways University Experience Day...
Sludge, cockroach legs and volcanic rocks. We travelled all the way to the University of Queensland for a special event to discover new things as part of Solid Pathways. Solid Pathways is an on-line STEM course we participate in every week.
Sludge, cockroach legs and volcanic rocks were the main ideas of the exciting sessions we participated in. They took place in modern Science labs with expensive, enhanced equipment.
For the volcanic rocks activity we learnt new things about types of volcanoes and how they are formed. We also learnt what causes volcanoes to explode and the reason for the different rock types. We used hand lenses and strong, elaborate microscopes.
The sludge activity was about discovering marine life mixed-in with oyster shells that came out of robo-cages used to make new growth areas in Moreton Bay. We found lots of different species including a rare one. We were part of the smallest group but won the competition for finding the most living creatures in the sticky sludge sample.
Most people find cockroaches disgusting but we enjoyed this activity about the touch receptors in the leg of a cockroach. We made a moving model using cardboard, syringes and fasteners. Also, we could poke a cockroach leg and on the screen it displayed the spikes on the graph about the way the cockroach’s touch receptors felt. We also saw containers used for the cockroaches to live. All the experiments followed strict rules to treat the creatures fairly.
It was an exciting day because we learnt new things which we hadn’t seen before. We recommend alot that people do Solid Pathways if you get the chance.
North District Track & Field Carnival
On the 7th and 8th August, our school team competed at the North District Track & Field Carnival held at Nudgee College. Our athletes did themselves proud, showing great sportsmanship, effort, and determination across all events.
We were thrilled to see several students achieve individual medals and our relay teams secure some impressive podium finishes.
A special congratulations to the following students who have qualified for the North District team and will soon compete at the Met North Regional Carnival:
Savannah, Billy, Terence, Ella, Thea, and Leah.
Well done to all students who represented our school so well — we are proud of you.
Planning a holiday in Term 4?
If your holiday will be longer than 10 school days, you’ll need to complete an Exemption from School form. You can request a copy by emailing the office or visiting our friendly Administration Team.
Please also inform your child’s classroom teacher of any extended absences to ensure they don’t miss important assessments.
If you have any questions, feel free to speak with your classroom teacher or our Administration Officers.
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LIFE AWARDS Week 5 Recipients |
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| Class | Name | Reason |
| Prep C | Esme | For an excellent effort writing and presenting her recount about investigations. |
| Prep K | Alyssa | For her effort using her known letter sounds when attempting to read words. |
| Prep N | Ayaan | For being a persistent learner who takes pride in his writing. |
| Prep T | Tobias | For remaining focused during learning times and using a variety of strategies to bump up his work. |
| 1B | Maisie | For being a self-motivated learner by using the learning walls to help her bump up her work. |
| 1C | Violet | For having a positive attitude towards education and making real world connections to the learning. |
| 1D | Billy | For sharing his ideas and being a cooperative group member in group activities. |
| 1R | Abigail | For your positive attitude across all areas of learning and your willingness to help a friend in need. |
| 2HG | Harry | For his continued effort towards his speaking task and spelling lessons. |
| 2W | Hannah | For her continued effort and improvement in writing and unwaivering kindness towards others. |
| 3A | Nevangi | For her continued enthusiasm for learning, always striving to do her very best. |
| 3H | Sebby | For being an independent learner by consistently trying his best and using a growth mindset. |
| 3K | Nuh | For giving your best effort and for being a kind friend in our classroom. |
| 3P | Lionel | For being a self-motivated learner by using the learning walls to help with his writing. |
| 4B |
Andie |
Showing consideration towards other students & her cotributions to class |
| 4D | Aaradhya | For have a positive start at Craigslea State school. She has embraced routines, made new friends and joins in to class activities with enthusiasm. |
| 4G |
Layla |
For being a learner by giving his best effort in class and demonstrating a willingness to take on classroom challenges. |
| 4J | Hunter | For being a learner and showing growth in his willingness to take on classroom challenges. |
| 5JK | Zoe | For always following the LIFE rules and setting a wonderful example for her peers. |
| 5M | Advay | For giving your best effort in class and continuing to be respectful in all situations. |
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5S |
Ruby | For striving for excellence by persevering with tasks deemed difficult. |
| 6C | Charles | For being an independent learner who finds new ways to solve problems and challenges his own thinking. |
| 6D | Asher | For his persistence and dedication when working towards his learning goals and also for his kindness towards others. |
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6H |
Chloe | For showing kindness, concern and compassion for her classmates. |
| 6K | Theo | For being an engaged learner and actively seeking assistance when learning new topics. |
In this edition…
- Bush Dance Friday Aug 29th!
- Fathers and Fellas Stall Wed. Sept. 3rd!
- Craigslea School Fun Run is coming! Friday Sept. 19th.
Also…
- We’re excited to welcome Rebecca Sparrow—author, columnist, and speaker—to our upcoming P&C meeting on 1 September. Rebecca is renowned for her engaging talks on parenting, resilience, and helping kids navigate friendships and social challenges. Her insights are especially valuable for parents seeking practical strategies to support their children’s emotional wellbeing. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from one of Australia’s most thoughtful voices on raising happy, confident kids. https://rebeccasparrow.com/
- Free Fathers & Fellas Breakfast! Join us at OSHC on Wednesday, September 3rd for a special morning celebrating dads and important male role models. Enjoy a delicious breakfast and great company — we’d love to see you there!
- Entertainment memberships help us reach our fundraising goals. This month when you purchase and Entertainment membership you will get a FREE upgraded to a multi-city membership. You can purchase your membership here: https://subscribe.entertainment.com.au/fundraiser/225332
- Bushdance Friday Aug 29th!
- Tickets on sale now. https://www.trybooking.com/DBCKP
- Volunteers needed for the BBQ. volunteersignup.org/3Y8KC
- Flyers coming home soon with more details, keep an eye out for updates on our Facebook page.
- Fathers and Fellas Stall! • Wednesday Sept 3rd.
- Celebrate the amazing men in our community with a free breakfast at OSHC and a special stall
- Volunteers needed: Sign up at volunteersignup.org/KTAYF
- Flyer coming soon with all the details — stay tuned!
- Craigslea School Fun Run is coming Sept 19th Start fundraising today!
- Sign up at funrun.com.au
- This week (Aug 11th- Aug 17th) the class that has the most profiles created will win a bag of zooper doopers!
- Next week (Aug 18th – Aug 24th) Any student who raises $20 or more will go in the draw to win one of 5 tuckshop vouchers.
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P&C Executive |
Joel (President), Raechal (vice president), Kim (Treasurer), Sophie (Secretary). |
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OSHC |
3350 8724 / 32563688 |
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Tuckshop |
Deb 33508744 |
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Uniform Shop |
Emily 33508744 |
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Swim Club |
Wendy |
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Sustainability Committee |
Jen sustainability@craigsleapandc.org.au |
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P&C Facebook Page |
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Swimming Starts
Eco Club - Term 4
BYOD Parent Session - Year 4 2026
Aussie Bird Count
QVA Primary School Volleyball Cup
Eco Club - Term 4
Rockaoke
P&C General Meeting
Eco Club - Term 4
Parade Performance - Senior Band
Justin Coulson - Antifragile
Prep Vision Screening
Music Gala
Sports Gala Day
Eco Club - Term 4
Year 5 Camp Currimundi
Prep 2026 Transition Day
Let’s Empower Families with Financial Literacy and Savings!
Saver Plus is a program designed to help eligible families develop essential financial skills and build savings for education costs.
If parents commit to saving up to $50 a month for 10 months, ANZ will match their savings up to $500 for education costs, such as school uniforms, stationary, textbooks, computers.
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