Dear Parents/Carers,

HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY CRAIGSLEA!  

I write this on the day of the official opening of Craigslea State School. This afternoon we mark this day with a whole school assembly with some invited guests. A much larger event will take place on September 10. It is a privilege to be part of this fine school's history. Students will bring home a commemorative sticker of the 50th Anniversary this afternoon. I look forward to following some cars around the neighbourhood displaying the sticker and their pride in our school. 

SCHOOL ATTENDANCE

We look forward to the start of Term 2 and hope for fewer interruptions than the start of the year. Staffing and student absence was high and it was extremely difficult to compress 10 weeks planning into seven weeks. Indeed with all the absences, it was a lot less than 7 weeks for some staff and students. Of course, this term staff and students should not come to school if they are COVID symptomatic. The school is in a position where if children are displaying symptoms once at school, we do need to call parents/carers to collect them as this is a Health Department Directive. In saying that, however, it is important that parents and carers are careful not to allow absences from school without good reason, as the lack of continuity can impact student achievement significantly. There are a small number of students who had prolific absences before COVID and we will continue to support those families to ensure they can have their child return to school with the least interruption possible. If your child is consistently (pre and post COVID) having 5 days or more a term off school, then we start to be concerned about the continuity of a child's education.

It is law for the school to explore with families how to resolve ongoing medical and emotional issues impacting on school attendance.  Enforcement of school attendance occurs only if it is not clear to the school that non-attendance is being addressed by the parents/carers through evidence of medical professional support. Reluctantly, the school then needs to follow the procedures outlined in the Education Act. 

SCHOOL COUNCIL

Before the end of the term, the community voted for nominees on our School Council. Charmaine Manewell, Liz Ryan and Kyron Williams received the most community votes to obtain these three seats. I would like to sincerely thank all the parents who nominated. The number of nominees was amazing and a great indicator of the depth of engagement of parents/carers in our school. We encourage parents/carers regardless of their attendance at P and C and School Council meetings, to engage in surveys, events or in other ways, contribute to ideas on how to improve our school. 

Speaking of engagement, our last parent/carer survey said this: 

I would like to congratulate the staff on their efforts to provide the best education possible to their students. As you can see from our targets for this year, we are not resting on our laurels. Therefore, we always need parent/carer feedback to continually improve. 

BOOK WEEK

Please note there will be a change of date to be advised for Book Week. Please note this on your school calendar. We will hold our Book Week aligned with our Book Fair later in the year. 

Have a good week and happy 50th Craigslea,

Kathy

PBL & Social-Emotional Learning

The focus for the fortnight is:  

A goal is an outcome, something that will make a difference as a result of achieving it. It can’t be too ambitious to be out of reach, but also not so simple that it does not challenge. A goal has to be realistic with a stretch, requiring effort and focus to achieve it. That’s why goals need timeframes and measurable action steps along the way so that we can keep track of progress and make adjustments as necessary.

By setting goals, measuring and celebrating their achievements, students are able to see what they have done and what they are capable of. Seeing their results gives the confidence and assurance that they need to believe they can achieve higher goals.

At Craigslea SS every student has an individual reading goal. If your child hasn’t yet shared their new reading goal for Term 2 with you, ask them to share it with you and explain what they are working on to achieve this goal. Remember to celebrate their achievements too!

NAPLAN

This week year 3 and 5 students all participated in the NAPLAN readiness test.  They were all very confident in the NAPLAN online platform. We would also like to thank all the parents/caregivers for ensuring that your child had all the requested equipment needed for participating on NAPLAN.

The real NAPLAN is scheduled to occur from 10-20 May 2022

Order of NAPLAN tests

Tuesday May 10 - All students will undertake the Writing Test.

From Wednesday 11 May to 20 May tests will be scheduled in this order:

• Reading
• Language Conventions (Grammar and Spelling)
• Numeracy

Attached are two documents to provide you with information about NAPLAN, how your child's information is dealt with securely and privacy will be upheld. Please take the time to read through them.

For students who currently have a support plan in place (PLP) that documents extra time and rest breaks for assessments will be eligible for this adjustment in NAPLAN. The Year 3 and 5 Targeted Learning Teacher will be in contact with parents/carers about these adjustments.

Our staff are happy to work with you to ensure that the best decision is made for your child to participate according to their needs.

Student Absences from school

Provisions are made at school for children who are away on the day of a test to have a make-up session during the NAPLAN window. If children have not been withdrawn from sitting a test, there will be an opportunity for them to complete a missed test when they have returned to school before 20 May.

Active School Travel

Walking Wheeling Wednesday’s have arrived!

What a great turnout for our first active travel day on Wednesday! Well done to everyone who participated, you are making a huge difference to our streets. It was great to see so many happy, healthy students arriving alert and ready to learn. Thank you to our wonderful P&C for donating fruit and water for our active travellers. We had an amazing 51% of our students travel actively to school – an increase of 21% from our baseline stats. How high can we go? Can we get to 60% or 70%?

Remember Active School Travel is one of the easiest ways to incorporate physical activity into everyday life for all children. Don’t forget every Wednesday is Walking Wheeling Wednesday - how will you actively travel with us next week? #activeschooltravel

Kind regards, Sarah Abdy and Natalie Marhinin

We have enjoyed celebrating Walking Wheeling Wednesday by wearing our Crazy Socks