State school

Craigslea State High School

Chermside West, Brisbane

10 reviews: 7 alumni, 3 parents. Full stories, no rankings or overall ratings.

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Craigslea State High School

At a glance

The facts, without the digging

Fees

Minimal fees

Queensland state school Student Resource Scheme

Sector
State
Year levels
Year 7 to 12
Students
1,236 (Aug 2025)
Gender
Co-Ed
Established
1975
Boarding
No
Principal
Mick Leigh (Principal)
Motto
Striving for Excellence
Website
craigsleashs.eq.edu.au

Figures come from publicly available sources, checked against what families tell us.How we check our data →

Location & catchment

Where it is, and who gets in

Getting there

Chermside West, Brisbane QLD · View on map

Catchment boundaries can shift and don't always match local assumptions. For the current official boundaries, check the Queensland Government's eDMap tool.

Reviews

The story of this school, told by 10 families

We don't rank schools and we don't hand out an overall score. Every review here is a personal experience from a parent or recent graduate.

2 of 10 reviews are free to read. The rest are free with an account.

Mike · Alum · Graduated recently (2022, 2023, 2024)
Free preview

Would you recommend it?

Academically, craigslea is decent as they are very supporting and incase they find that someone is struggling in a class they give out extra help classes and it was optional for other students are completely free. I used to attend these just to get the extra help. My overall experience is good, I made a lot of friends. My brother who is disabled attended that school and he got so much support from that school. So yes, I recommend this school

What had the biggest impact

That would be sport, as they were so many different opportunities for sports and they basically encourage u to join. I had a bad knee due to basketball injury and they still let me play post-recovery even though I was really bad, the coach was extra supportive

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Year 12 subject choices

I did general english, maths, information technology, law, business and carpentry. Well I picked them because I want to pursue in computer science, at the same time I liked the idea of starting a business and so for law, to fight myself verbally incase of real world troubles. My favorite subject was business because it was really fun doing stuff in groups

Getting extra help

I do know there is tutoring for free and its optional for others students to join too. Im not during about any other sort of appraches

Readiness for life after school

By the time I graduated from Craigslea, I felt well-prepared for life after school. The school offered strong academic support, career guidance, and work experience opportunities that helped me plan for university and future goals. Craigslea also encouraged values like honesty, perseverance, and integrity through leadership programs, group work, and community involvement, helping me grow both academically and personally

Subject range and curiosity

raigslea offered a wide range of subject choices that allowed students to explore diverse interests, from sciences and humanities to arts, languages, and vocational education. This variety helped me discover what I enjoyed and where my strengths were.

Bullying and getting to school safely

I am still not sure, and I hardly remember any bullying at least in my class. I only attended the school for my final 2 years. From my experience the roads weren't busy nor anything suspicious happened. I don't know about the current state. Im very less knowledgable in this area

Camps and excursions

I been for a fundraiser in the city and I was paired with someone else I never met before and we really got to know each other well, even though I am not a very socialising person. I felt confident in the whole fundraising thing as I was talking and convincing with a lot of people and me and my partner was able to take turns and try out different sales approaches even though most of them didn't work.

Something only students would know

Have ur shoe laces always tied or it will be a football or a basketball for others. Because someone will snatch it and it is done as fun

Coaching and chances to compete

Craigslea’s sports programs were well-run and gave students plenty of chances to grow and compete. Coaches were supportive, with regular training and a focus on teamwork and improvement. Students could represent the school in various sports and compete at district or regional levels, making it a great balance of development and opportunity

  • Played sport: Yes
  • Sports played: Basketball, Chess
  • Did an arts activity: No
  • Emphasis on academics ◆◆◆◆◆
  • Quality of academic resources ◆◆◆◆◆
  • How healthy the tuckshop is ◆◆◇◇◇
  • Investment in sports facilities ◆◆◆◇◇
  • Quality of arts teachers ◆◆◆◇◇
  • Focus on showcasing talent ◆◆◆◇◇
Lucas · Alum · Graduated recently (2022, 2023, 2024)
Free preview

Would you recommend it?

I would recommend this school to those particularly interested in volleyball as a significant part of the school budget seems to go purely to improving the volleyball team and facilities with not as much thought to other areas of study.

What had the biggest impact

As someone who transitioned partway through the school I found a lot of support in most of my teachers. There were only a few who would refuse to use my preferred name and pronouns, and I was supported when I started a group to help other queer kids.

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Year 12 subject choices

I chose business, design, drama, film ,english, and maths. I continued all these from grade 9 onwards but during grade 12 I had to drop from business to applied business as I was failing the class. Those 'lessons' were mostly just reading from the textbook and being expected to figure it out so I could never really engage with it. I do wish I had taken food studies instead and earned a hospitality certificate during my schooling which they did offer.

Getting extra help

There were weekly after school tutoring sessions run by the school, mostly for maths but I think there was english as well. If you were struggling you were expected to go to those, otherwise the main solution was to drop down a level into essential classes.

Readiness for life after school

Very badly. I experienced severe burnout during my last year of school and didn't get nearly the grades I was hoping for, but since I was passing there wasn't that much support offered. I remained unemployed for nearly half a year after graduating.

Subject range and curiosity

There were a lot of trips and excursions for the science and language classes, things like snorkeling, visiting other countries, I believe there was even a skiing trip offered? And it encouraged you to take those classes so you could do all the exciting things. (They were very expensive though, thousands of dollars, so even if you took the class you might not have been able to go.)

Bullying and getting to school safely

Getting to school could be a challenge sometimes. There were bus stops very close on all sides of the school, however students who walked part or most of the way had to deal with the roundabout nearby. Any official crossings were so far they weren't worth walking the extra distance and most students would just cross through the centre which was extremely unsafe. I believe there was a death at that roundabout but I don't know if it was a student or not.

Camps and excursions

The school administrators tried to keep it strict but we were always a lot more relaxed and most teachers would relax a bit which made for less clashing. For example our senior prank was everyone swapping uniforms for the day - boys wearing the skirts and green shirts and girls wearing the white shirts and pants, and most teachers were on board, but the admins and year level coordinator withheld formal invitations to anyone who didn't change back. Everyone was in full correct uniform aside from gender, but it was considered 'disruptive'.

Something only students would know

If you got warned "the pope" was coming it meant to quickly tuck in your uniform and make sure you looked presentable as possible. Mrs Rossipope was one of the admins and was the strictest on school uniforms and everyone called her the pope.

Chances to take part in the arts

There used to be more opportunities but COVID heavily impacted a lot of the clubs and performances. There was meant to be a musical every 2/3 years but due to lockdowns it got delayed significantly. The choirs started back up again a year before I left though, and there were different choirs for different vocal skill levels.

  • Played sport: No
  • Did an arts activity: Yes
  • Arts activities done: Drama / Theatre, Musical Theatre
  • Emphasis on academics ◆◆◆◆◇
  • Quality of academic resources ◆◆◆◇◇
  • How healthy the tuckshop is ◆◆◆◇◇
  • Investment in sports facilities ◆◆◆◇◇
  • Quality of arts teachers ◆◆◆◆◇
  • Focus on showcasing talent ◆◆◆◇◇
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