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Dear Families,
Classroom visits
Over the past two weeks the leadership team have been visiting classrooms and talking with students about their learning in English. The energy and enthusiasm we see from our students when they talk about their writing is a credit to the work our teachers are doing in visible learning. Visible learning is about making the learning students are doing accessible for them so they know where they are with their learning and what their next steps are to improve. Our year 3 students shared how they are learning to use appositives to engage the interest of the reader. I also heard from year 2 students that they are learning how to use persuasive language so that they can convince other people to think the same way about a topic as them! Good luck parents? One of the best chats I had last week was with a year 2 student who told me that his teacher doesn’t make writing feel like ‘sit down hard work’ and that ‘writing is fun’. Exactly what learning should be!
Safety in school zones
As we know young children can be impulsive and don’t always make the best decisions when using roads. Our job as adults is to be as vigilant as we can be and use the school zones safely and as signed. Thank you to our parents who drive and park safely around our school. A reminder that there are now No Standing zones in Ballinger St. During the hours of 7:30am-9:00am and 2:30pm-4:00pm this applies in the area in the cul-de-sac and on the roadside opposite the school. Please take note of this if you are using Ballinger St. The pick up and drop off zone is working and flowing well when parents are able to use the area as signed. I have included a link below shared on the Qld Police website:
Well-being
As we are heading into the second half of the term, please take a moment to think about the importance of looking after ourselves and others. We believe that creating a positive and healthy environment is crucial for the growth and happiness of our students at Craigslea SS. Wellbeing can be many different things depending on who you are and what your needs may be. Generally, wellbeing refers to the state of being comfortable, healthy, and happy and involves taking care of our physical, mental, and emotional health, as well as supporting those around us.
We are aware that checking in with our students before school and during the day can support our students to feel safe and supported and stay focused and engaged during learning time. All of our class teachers engage in a morning greeting and check-in during the school day. We are also exploring the importance of regular brain break activities to support our students to be ready to learn. Ask your child what their favourite way to greet their teacher is or how brain breaks help them to re-focus on their learning!
Ekka Holiday
Remember that Wednesday August 16 is the EKKA public holiday and our school will be closed on this day.
School Opinion Survey
Thank you to our parents who have completed the Parent/Caregiver Survey. If you have not had a chance to complete the survey yet, the online survey will remain open until Friday, August 18.
Kind regards,
Nikki
PBL & Social-Emotional Learning
Be a Friend – We say NO to bullying.
As a school community we are committed to ensuring that Craigslea SS remains a safe, supportive and encouraging learning environment for all. Our staff regularly strives to ensure that children understand that bullying, in its varied forms:
- is to be reported quickly if experienced by any child
- is taken seriously and addressed swiftly & appropriately when seen or reported;
- can be minimised, if not eliminated, from our learning environment;
- is not acceptable.
Unfortunately bullying does occur from time to time in every school, just as it does in society. I would like you to be aware, however, that we are serious about this issue and that our staff are quite proactive in dealing with, or intervening in, observed or reported incidents.
This fortnight, teachers of all classes have led discussions and shared strategies with all children about ways in which together we can minimise, (if not eliminate) bullying in our school. It doesn't matter whether it's physical, psychological or even cyber, bullying is a concern that we take very seriously and are working to address. The national definition of bullying for Australian schools says:
‘Bullying is an ongoing misuse of power in relationships through repeated verbal, physical and/or social behaviour that causes physical and/or psychological harm. It can involve an individual or a group misusing their power over one or more persons. Bullying can happen in person or online, and it can be obvious (overt) or hidden (covert).’
Bullying of any form or for any reason can have long-term effects on those involved, including bystanders. Single incidents and conflict or disputes between equals, whether in person or online, are not however, defined as bullying. Behaviours that do not constitute bullying include:
- mutual arguments and disagreements (where there is no power imbalance)
- not liking someone or a single act of social rejection
- singular acts of mean-ness or spite
- isolated incidents of aggression, intimidation or violence.
We, however, take the view that these conflicts still need to be addressed and resolved. We believe that to stand by if/when bullying occurs, is also not acceptable. As such, we’re continuing to work with our students to help them understand how and when to speak up and not passively stand back when they see a wrong occurring.
If you believe that a child is being bullied, you should make an appointment with the teacher to discuss your concerns.
What parents can do:
- Talk with your child about school and keep the lines of communication open so children are more likely to confide in you.
- Encourage your child to feel okay to ask others for help and to keep their own safety in mind.
- Ensure your child knows how to report bullying and to ask you for help when needed.
- Report the incident to their teacher. Don’t try to sort out the situation yourself.
- Make sure you are modelling healthy behaviours to your child, especially in relation to conflict resolution and anger management.
- Help protect your child from harassment and cyber-bullying by closely monitoring their use of the internet and/or digital technology - phones, computers, tablets - and installing free internet filters.
‘I Wonder’ Box
Do you ever find yourself thinking, ‘I wonder what would happen if…’? Asking questions is something that we all do and being inquisitive is something that is valued and applauded.
Recently, five teachers were lucky enough to spend a day at an Inquiry Learning PD with Kath Murdoch. It was a game changer and offered the participants an amazing insight into how we could weave inquiry learning into our classes even more. As a result, the ‘I Wonder’ box was created. The aim is to get students thinking and problem solving about ‘I wonder’ questions.
The box is located outside of Mr Kleidon’s CAPS room (year 5 block) every day of the week. Simply come along, read the ‘I Wonder’ question, write your response on a piece of paper with your name and class, and place it inside the box. A great prize will go to the most inventive and creative response – not necessarily the correct answer.
Last fortnight, the ‘I Wonder’ question was, “I wonder how heavy Uluru is. How would you measure it?” Lots of students came up with some great ideas like (student responses):
- They would measure it mathematically with an x-ray so they can see how big it is then use that to estimate the weight.
- I wonder if you could put a scale on a truck to weigh it.
- AxWxD = ?
- Use an electric crane.
- Measure the whole way around then count how many layers of rocks there are. Weigh a piece of rock. Combine this to get the weight.
- Lift it up with cranes and put it on a scale.
- Using the circumference and dimensions to estimate a weight.
- I wonder if Uluru is thousand pounds and bigger than the Eiffel Tower?
- I wonder if Uluru is 10x bigger than a 5.15cm rock because it was a lot because it is not hollow in the inside making it a heavy object.
But the winner was a Year 4 student who thought deeply about the problem and came up with a great response. They said:
- To figure out the weight of Uluru, find out the length and width of the top of Uluru. Measure how high it goes above and below the ground. To figure out the volume of Uluru then convert the volume to kilograms for a rough estimate.
This fortnight the ‘I Wonder’ question is, “I wonder what would happen if all the toilets on the planet flushed at the same time?”
What do you think?
School Opinion Survey
Thank you to all of those who have already completed the Parent/Caregiver Survey. If you have not had a chance to complete the survey yet, please note that the online surveys will remain open until Friday, 18 August 2023. This is your opportunity to provide feedback about what our school does well and how we can improve to help shape our school’s future.
So far 20% of families have completed the survey.
Book Week is nearly here!
Each year across Australia, the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) brings children and books together to celebrate during Book Week. We encourage all students to develop a love of reading. This love of all literature can start at home or at school. Our Book Week parade will be held on the top oval starting from 9:15 am on Friday 18 August 2023. We encourage all students to dress up for the parade celebrating their favourite book, characters and stories. The Theme for Book Week is ‘Read, Grow, Inspire’
Have a great fortnight of learning and fun,
Natalie Marhinin and Erin Wiles
Check out Year 3’s food design projects! They had a wonderful time making these great creations in the Craigslea kitchen.
NAIDOC Week
Students across Craigslea participated in NAIDOC week activities to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
|
CLASS |
NAME |
REASON |
|
Prep B |
Halia |
For independently exploring new and challenging tasks in investigations and helping others around her to do the same. |
|
Prep D |
Luke |
For being an enthusiastic learner who always tries his best and a caring friend to others. |
|
Prep E |
Jacob |
For always demonstrating the LIFE rules in the classroom and playground. |
|
1B |
Vani |
For consistently being an independent learner, being prepared and trying her best. |
|
1H |
Declan |
For always being an active participant and challenging himself in all learning areas. |
|
1K |
Emily |
For being an enthusiastic and dedicated learner in the classroom. Consistently trying her best to improve her work. |
|
1S |
Dante |
For always going out of his way to make sure our classroom is a clean and safe environment. |
|
2C |
Andie |
For challenging herself to face situations that can be uncomfortable. Great work for facing your emotions and persevering. |
|
2G |
Benji |
For completing all set tasks in the time given and for writing an awesome persuasive text! |
|
2H |
Maddi |
For consistently engaging in class discussions and activities and reflecting to improve her work. |
|
2K |
Evie |
For supporting the learning of her peers during partner and group work. |
|
3DP |
Zoe |
For putting her best effort into all learning areas and always striving to improve her work. |
|
3H |
Salome |
For applying herself during all lessons with a new classroom teacher. |
|
3S |
Elliot |
For being an organised learner before our lessons and encouraging others in his group to be prepared. |
|
3/4D |
Ethan |
He has demonstrated the ability to use our LIFE rules and to show independence in his work. |
|
4M |
Evan |
For consistently sharing his ideas with the class during our informative writing lessons. |
|
4S |
Bill |
For being an excellent role model for others in the class, assisting peers during math lessons and helping them succeed. |
|
4W |
Emmilea |
For being a positive, kind and helpful student everyday |
|
5C |
Dekar |
For showing a positive attitude to his learning and working consistently to complete all tasks. |
|
5JM |
Medansh |
For showing a positive attitude to his learning in Mathematics tasks. |
|
5/6W |
Sybelle |
For always demonstrating care and consideration for others and solving conflicts in appropriate ways. |
|
5/6J |
Aniko |
For demonstrating kindness and inclusivity by inviting class members into her group. |
|
6B |
Anika |
For persevering with maths and practising new concepts independently. |
|
6H |
Khyl |
For being an independent and active learner in all subject areas. |
|
Prep |
It is a busy time in Prep. All preps participate in writing groups twice a week as well as daily writing activities. The groups are aimed at targeting every child’s needs in their writing journey. Many children now recall the placement of capital letters, fingers spaces and full stops in their writing. Some children are also exploring ways to give more detail. |
|
Year 1 |
We have been exploring different forms of measurement like capacity and length. We have been using informal tools to help us measure and compare sizes of different objects! In English we have started to learn about the structure of narratives, to eventually be able to write our own. We are very excited about our upcoming excursion to learn more about life in the past! |
|
Year 2 |
We have now learnt all the devices and tricks that we need to be very persuasive. Now we need to put them all together to write a persuasive text. In Maths we are learning about the concept of multiplication and making groups of things. Our Science learning is ramping up with our investigations on surfaces and inclines and how they affect the movement of an object. |
|
Year 3 |
We have almost learnt a full structure of an information report. So far, we have learnt about an introduction, appearance, habitat, diet and this week we are focusing on threats! In HASS, we have been expanding our knowledge on Australia and its neighbours. We are loving using an atlas to find significant places using grid references. |
|
Year 3/4 |
We are on our way to becoming writers for a magazine as we are now writing information reports about endangered animals with our own keywords and research. We have used our understanding of money to solve purchasing problems. We explored Machu Piccchu and the Great Barrier Reef in HaSS. We are looking at storyboards for our Drama/Media Arts piece and doing the Nutbush in Dance. |
|
Year 4 |
In English, Year 4 students have been reading a variety of informative texts based on animals to improve our comprehension skills. We have also been practising our TEEL paragraphs. Our Mathematics focus has been using our knowledge of money to solve problems. In HaSS lessons, students have been learning about the different types of vegetation that grow across the world. |
|
Year 5 |
In Year 5, students have been investigating different adaptations that support the survival of different species. We have started to develop questions to help guide an investigation on how the gold rush shaped Australia and we continue to examine how authors use figurative language to engage and influence the readers interpretation of characters, events and settings. |
|
Year 5/6 |
In 5/6J and 5/6W, students have been investigating the variables that exist on planets or celestial bodies that may indicate the presence of life. Students have been working collaboratively and directing their own learning based on their research and their interests in this area. In HASS, Year 6’s are investigating the roles of historical figures in shaping Australia’s democracy. Our Year 5’s have been looking at the key events in the colonisation of Australia and how this has influenced how we live our lives today. |
|
Year 6 |
In HASS, Year 6 are learning about Australia’s government, the roles and responsibilities of the 3 levels of government in Australia and how laws are made. We have been practising how to write effective headlines and lead paragraphs for our feature articles in English. |
On Wednesday this week, a student from the High School was hit by a car. It is an unfortunate reminder that our children do not always behave safely on or near the road. It also reinforces the need for anyone driving near the school to be careful and cautious. We don’t want anyone - especially a child from our school - to be hurt travelling to, or from, school. Please drive safely.
In this edition…
- P&C Meeting - Monday 28 August 2023 at 7pm via Teams and in-person
- Father’s and Fella’s day - Wednesday 30th August 2023
- Trivia bookings now open - Saturday 9th September 2023
Also….
- It was Principal’s Day on Friday 4th August – Thank you Nikki, Natalie and Erin for all that you do for our school. We appreciate your passion and care of our children and staff. We hope you enjoyed the cupcakes!
- Two of our OSHC staff have recently celebrated milestones - Jacob has celebrated 9yrs of service and Chaz 5yrs. Thank you guys for making OSHC such a great space for our kids.
- We’re looking for a Part Time Tuckshop Retail Manager. If you’re interested - or know someone who is - please get in touch with us. See https://tinyurl.com/mhydftumfor more information.
- Can you help? Volunteering opportunities available
- P&C Contacts – Get in touch
- Fundraising Opportunities
- P&C Meeting – Monday 28th August 2023 at 7pm
- The meeting will be held in-person (OSHC Building) and online via Teams (link in the SchoolZine Calendar).
- To become a member of the P&C, please complete the online application form: https://forms.office.com/r/ywNJVsDq8d.
- We’re looking to run the meetings “paper free”, so please use an electronic device instead of printing.
- Father’s and Fella’s Day Wednesday 30th August
- In line with Walking Wheeling Wednesday, the P&C is pleased to provide free coffee and yummy gluten free treats for our Fathers and Fellas outside the school hall before school.
- A stall will be running that day for your children to purchase a small gift for their special someone. Please remember to provide your child with a small amount of money to spend at the stall and a bag to carry their special gifts home.
- Thank you to those that have volunteered already to help with the stall. There are still some volunteer spaces available on the Tuesday (to bring the stall items to the hall) and Wednesday (set up, stall sales and pack down) – please click the link if you can help out org/3M8X3
- Trivia bookings now open – Saturday 9th September 2023
- The trivia flyer will be sent home over the next week. To view please CLICK HERE .
- Tickets are now “live” in TryBooking https://TryBooking.com/CJTJN
- You can purchase individual tickets or book an entire table (8 per table).
- Once in checkout you can ‘buy more tickets’ and then select ‘food orders’ to order food from Casa Cibo (condensed menu). You can order food now or just order your tickets and come back at a later date to order your food.
- We are looking for a couple of volunteers – to help set up on the day and help out on the night. Please click the link if you can help org/XLA87
Can You Help?
Help to make Craigslea State Primary School a better place by volunteering for these activities:
- Father’s and Fella’s Day Stall – Wednesday 30th August: org/3M8X3
- Trivia Night - 9 September 2023: org/XLA87
- Bunnings Stafford Sausage Sizzle 9th December: org/R8T7P
P&C Contacts
The Hub (Carol)
3350 8741 or operations@craigsleapandc.org.au
Tuckshop (Carol, Jolei, Kirstin and Emily)
3350 8744 or tuckshop@craigsleapandc.org.au
Bookshop and Uniform Shop (Emily)
3350 8741 or uniforms@craigsleapandc.org.au
Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) (Kylie)
3350 8724 / 3256 3688 or oshc@craigsleapandc.org.au
Sustainability Group (Jen)
sustainability@craigsleapandc.org.au
https://www.facebook.com/groups/223902536111469/
Swim Club (Andrew)
Fundraising Opportunities
- Entertainment Books: Craigslea State School link - https://au.entdigital.net/orderbooks/225332?utm_campaign=2021-130521
- We currently have spaces available for advertising on our electronic school sign at the front of the school. Should you be interested, please contact Carol on either 3350 8741 or operations@craigsleapandc.org.au
All day 8:30 AM - 9:00 AM 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM 9:15 AM - 10:00 AM All day All day All day All day 8:30 AM - 9:00 AM All day All day 3:00 PM - 11:00 PM 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM 29 May 2025 - 30 May 2025 All day 8:30 AM - 9:00 AM 8:30 AM - 9:00 AM 9:30 AM - 10:45 AM 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM All day 8:30 AM - 9:00 AM 9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Gala Day
Eco Club - Term 2
Term 2 Coffee & Connect - Student Code of Conduct held in the Sensitivity Unit
Assembly - hall
Truck Cat 2025 National Simultaneous Storytime book
Prep Excursion to Lone Pine
Year 2 - Step into history incursion
Gala Day
Eco Club - Term 2
Outdoor Classroom Day
P&C Day
Trivia Night
Parade Performance - Strings
School Photos
Gala Day
Eco Club - Term 2
Eco Club - Term 2
Under 8s Day
P&C General Meeting
Music Workshop
Choir, Band and Strings will perform in a nighttime concert in our hall
Eco Club - Term 2
Music Gala
Fire ants are one of the world’s most invasive pests and they have the potential to devastate our environment, economy and the outdoor way of life we know and love. To stop the spread of fire ants, the Department of Education is collaborating with the National Fire Ant Eradication Program to manage fire ants across schools within South East Queensland. This important work will help protect our schools and community from the dangers posed by fire ants.
An initial pilot program has treated 46 schools across the Logan, Ipswich, Somerset and Gold Coast City local government areas (Metropolitan and South East education regions). This will expand over the coming years to include additional schools. The treatment consists of applying two rounds of an insect growth regulator which sterilises the fire ant queen and prevents new ants from maturing into adults. These types of products are widely used in mosquito control programs, cockroach treatment and pet flea collars and when used according to instructions, are not harmful to humans, pets or wildlife.
The first round of treatment occurred in early 2023 and round two is being completed during April and May. The fire ant bait is being applied by experienced pest management technicians.
The school treatment program supports efforts to eradicate fire ants within South East Queensland by suppressing the fire ant population in areas until eradication treatment takes place. Under the Biosecurity Act 2014 all Queenslanders have an obligation to manage biosecurity risks. The Department of Education is meeting its obligations by managing fire ants on land it owns or manages.
The National Fire Ant Eradication Program is also running a range of community projects to provide residents in selected suburbs with free fire ant bait to treat their yards to support eradication goals. For the latest information on community projects or for more information about fire ants visit: https://www.fireants.org.au
