In the Easter story, the stone was rolled away from the entrance of Jesus’ tomb to reveal an empty tomb, symbolising his resurrection 

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Welcome back to Term 2.  I trust that you have all had a restful and relaxing Easter period and a holiday from school life.  We are now in the second term of the school year.  

The Gospel reading from last Sunday is an appropriate reminder for us as we commence the next stage of the school year as we walk the road together as a school community, as Jesus did with the two disciples after Easter Sunday (Luke 24:  13-35)   At this stage of the school year the prep children are well and truly now into school life and the Year 6 students in the final chapter of Primary school.

Walking the Road Together: Our Emmaus Journey

Last  week’s Gospel is a story of companionship, discovery, and the presence of Christ in the unexpected. This narrative can spark deep reflection on our own daily journey here at school.

Who do we encounter on our path each day? How do we extend a hand of support and a heart of love to our children, our parents, and one another?

Our school motto is a living motto. “Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, I am with them,”  It is more than just words on a wall in our school foyer. It is a direct reflection of the Emmaus story. It reminds us that when we connect with intention and kindness, we are never walking alone.

We look forward to enjoying Term 2 and the journey we share daily with each other with the spirit in our midst.

School Tours

Yesterday  was our final day of school tours for parents who may be interested in joining our school community in 2027 by enrolling their Prep child.  It is an opportunity to equip our prospective families with information about Clairvaux and in general, Catholic education.

In each of these open mornings, I focus on the value proposition of Catholic education and the lifelong benefits for children, families and the broader community. ie The Clairvaux model.  Other Leadership members Kat, Christine, Damian Michelle and Scarlett  as well as  Vanessa ( admin) provided an overview of Wellbeing, Learning Diversity, Curriculum and general admin etc.

In some ways it does not matter what we say.  It is more that 'felt sense' that parents and little one experience by being in our school.It is always a great move to give credit where it’s due, especially when students are the ones stepping up.

We do receive favourable comments and parents do leave with a snapshot of Clairvaux.  The Year 6 students lead our school tours. This results in applications to our school.  We are extremely proud of our Year  6 students. The following testimony is an example of their impact.

As prospective parents, we were delighted by their maturity and the genuine way they shared their school journey. They proved to be exceptionally well-informed, answering our questions with a level of detail and confidence that exceeded our expectations.

Jack and Ethan are fantastic ambassadors for Clairvaux. Their ability to communicate so effectively is a testament to the environment the school has fostered, and it was reassuring to see the school's values so clearly reflected in its student leaders."

2027 Enrolment 

Next Friday 1st May  is the final day for  enrolment application for prep.  Parents will be notified on Friday 22nd May regarding acceptance to Clairvaux.  We have had many applications submitted. A reminder to existing families to please ensure that you have your little one's name submitted.  It will be too late if we finalise acceptances and you have forgotten to apply.

Prep Transition Feedback

Prep Families will have received a form requesting feedback on their experience from the time of first contact through to the early days of school life.  Late last term we had a small number of parents in a meeting with myself and this opportunity will allow all parents to have a voice about our process.

Playground supervision

At Clairvaux we love seeing our playground filled with laughter and activity. It is the heart of our school day! While we love seeing our families around the grounds, managing the playground outside of school hours presents some significant challenges: We want to share some important information regarding the use of our equipment (playgrounds and woodlands) outside of school hours.

To ensure the highest standards of safety and to make sure every child is properly supervised, we kindly ask that families refrain from using the school playground and woodland equipment. We can only supervise children enrolled at Clairvaux during school hours.

While it is tempting to squeeze in a few extra minutes of play during drop-off or pick-up, there are a few reasons why we need to set these boundaries:

• Supervision Standards: Outside of these hours, we do not have staff on duty to monitor the equipment. We believe that for play to be truly safe, it needs the right level of oversight.
• Complex Safety Rules: Our different play areas (including the woodlands) have specific rules tailored to different year levels. For example, certain equipment is only rated for older students, while other areas are reserved for junior primary.
• Difficulty to Monitor: It is very difficult for families to know every specific safety rule for every piece of equipment. Without staff on duty to guide play, there is a much higher risk of accidents occurring
• Safety & Responsibility: Legally and ethically, the school holds a "duty of care" for anyone on our grounds. Even with parental supervision, having children on the equipment outside of school hours creates a level of responsibility that the school cannot fully manage or delegate

If you are on our grounds for community sports, waiting for a sibling, attending an event or just arriving early, we ask that you keep children off the play structures during these times.

We truly appreciate your understanding and support. By following these guidelines, you’re helping us keep our focus where it belongs: on providing a safe, supervised, and fun environment for all our students during the school day.

We appreciate your support in keeping our safety boundaries clear and our students protected!

St Therese’s Torquay visit

A small group of St Theresa's  teachers will be attending tomorrow  to observe teaching and learning across core subject areas, such as literacy and mathematics, with a focus on: 

• Explicit Direct Instruction practices 
• How content is sequenced and delivered 
• Check-for-understanding techniques 
• Responsive teaching in action 
• The structure of independent and group tasks 

The visit is purely an observational visit. We will be open to quotations about our school process.

Brendan

Project Compassion 

Our Clairvaux school community has once again shown the true spirit of compassion and generosity, raising an outstanding :

$3,679.45 

for Caritas Australia’s Project Compassion through our Easter Egg Raffle and classroom Project Compassion boxes.

A heartfelt thank you to all families, students and staff for your generous donations..  

Your support is already helping to transform lives by providing people experiencing poverty with the tools, opportunities and resources they need to create brighter and more sustainable futures for themselves and their families.

We would also like to extend a special thank you to our teachers for kindly donating the Easter eggs for the raffle, and to Alyssa (Yr 5 teacher) and the Year 5 Social Justice CSC members for enthusiastically promoting this Lenten initiative and helping make it such a success.

Congratulations to all of our raffle winners, who were announced at our End of Term Assembly.  Thank you again to everyone who contributed so generously to this meaningful cause.

Look what our fundraising could contribute to….

$2000   Can help to establish two domestic water collection points in rural   Tanzania, which can provide a safe drinking water supply for 800 people.

$4000  Can rehabilitate the main pipeline for a piped water supply system,  which can give life to a dilapidated water system and supply safe drinking water to 4,000 people in Tanzania.


     

                    

Sacramental News

Eucharist & Confirmation Presentation Masses 

This year both the Year 4 Eucharist candidates and the Year 6 Confirmation candidates will be  presented to the St Bernard’s Parish community over one weekend (3 masses) :

• Sat 2nd May 5pm
• Sun 3rd May 9am
• Sun 3rd May 10.30am                                                                       

Sacrament of Eucharist 

The Year 4 students will be receiving the Sacrament of Eucharist for the first time during Term 2.  Information regarding dates and registration for the Sacrament has been emailed to all Year 4 families.

Important dates:

Presentation masses:  for all Eucharist & Confirmation Candidates
Sat 2nd May 5pm, Sun 3rd May 9am or 10.30 am

Family Faith Formation evening: 
Wednesday 27th May 6.30 pm

Eucharist Preparation day: Tues 2nd June

Sacrament dates:  Sat 13th June 5pm, Sun 14th June 9am or 10.30 am

If your child is in Year 5 or 6 and needs to ‘catch up’ on receiving the Sacrament of Eucharist, to include them in the program please email me at jroutley@ccsbelmont.com.au

Sacrament of Confirmation:  Term 3 - Sunday 30th August,  1pm and 3.30pm

Year Level Masses

Our Year level masses are a special opportunity for students, families, staff and parishioners to come together in faith as one community.  Through prayer, song, listening to God’s word and active participation in all parts of the Mass, students are given the chance to grow in understanding of our Catholic tradition.  All Year Level Masses are celebrated by our parish priest, Fr. Tho, in St. Bernard’s church. We would love you to join us this term:

• Year 3 Mother’s day Mass - Thursday 7th May 9.30am
• Year 5 National Reconciliation Day Mass- Wednesday 27th May 9.30am
• Year 2 Care for Creation Mass - Thursday 11 June 9.30am

At Clairvaux we love seeing our playground filled with laughter and activity. It is the heart of our school day! While we love seeing our families around the grounds, managing the playground outside of school hours presents some significant challenges: We want to share some important information regarding the use of our equipment (playgrounds and woodlands) outside of school hours.

To ensure the highest standards of safety and to make sure every child is properly supervised, we kindly ask that families refrain from using the school playground and woodland equipment. We can only supervise children enrolled at Clairvaux during school hours.

While it is tempting to squeeze in a few extra minutes of play during drop-off or pick-up, there are a few reasons why we need to set these boundaries:

• Supervision Standards: Outside of these hours, we do not have staff on duty to monitor the equipment. We believe that for play to be truly safe, it needs the right level of oversight.
• Complex Safety Rules: Our different play areas (including the woodlands) have specific rules tailored to different year levels. For example, certain equipment is only rated for older students, while other areas are reserved for junior primary.
• Difficulty to Monitor: It is very difficult for families to know every specific safety rule for every piece of equipment. Without staff on duty to guide play, there is a much higher risk of accidents occurring
• Safety & Responsibility: Legally and ethically, the school holds a "duty of care" for anyone on our grounds. Even with parental supervision, having children on the equipment outside of school hours creates a level of responsibility that the school cannot fully manage or delegate

If you are on our grounds for community sports, waiting for a sibling, attending an event or just arriving early, we ask that you keep children off the play structures during these times.

We truly appreciate your understanding and support. By following these guidelines, you’re helping us keep our focus where it belongs: on providing a safe, supervised, and fun environment for all our students during the school day.

We appreciate your support in keeping our safety boundaries clear and our students protected!

During Term 2 we have some of our Specialist teachers taking some Leave.

Karen Zanardo, our Year 2 and 3 Italian teacher will be away until week 8. Sarah Ferguson, our Year 6, 4 and 1 Performing Arts teacher will be away for two weeks (Weeks 1 and 2) and Mady Leith our Year 1 Visual Arts teacher will also be away for two weeks (Weeks 1 and 2).

These classes will be covered by some of regular relief teachers and all lessons have been planned to ensure that the  curriculum content is covered. 

We wish them all an enjoyable leave.