Faith Community: Celebrating First Eucharist

Next weekend, our Year 4 children and their families will celebrate their First Eucharist.

This is a profoundly significant milestone in their spiritual journeys as they receive their second Sacrament of Initiation into our Catholic faith. Please keep these children and their families in your prayers during this special time of preparation. A huge thank you to Julie for her wonderful organisation as our Sacramental and faith leader who always ensures that our faith and school highlights are polished and reverent.  Thanks also to Year 4 teachers Michael, Cyndie, Lucy, Michelle, and Kat B who lead the children in understanding the place of being close to God.

                           


Bless our children as they receive the Holy Eucharist for the very first time. May the grace  of this sacrament guide their steps, protect their innocence, and keep them close to your heart. Grant them a lifelong hunger for your presence and the strength to live out their faith with love and courage. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Shaping a Bright Future for 2027

Today marks a significant milestone in our school calendar as we finalise commitments for our 2027 Prep intake. It is an incredibly exciting time for Clairvaux, and I am thrilled to share that the demand for a place in our school community remains exceptionally strong.

A Community That Chooses to Stay and Grow

Next year, we are delighted to welcome 51 siblings of children already attending Clairvaux. This deep-rooted connection is a beautiful reflection of our community's trust and continuity. Alongside our returning families, we have a robust cohort of new students who reside within the Clairvaux zone and are baptised in our Catholic faith.

Because demand has been so high, we currently have a number of families on a waitlist, eagerly hoping for a second round of offers. To those families, we thank you for your patience and your desire to join us.

Why Clairvaux Continues to Thrive

I am profoundly grateful to our current families who constantly advocate for our school. Your word-of-mouth and shared experiences are why Clairvaux is viewed as such an attractive, vibrant choice for families across Geelong.

Our success is anchored in two core pillars:

• A Contemporary Faith Journey: Our foundation and mission is to be a Christ-centered     community. We intentionally incorporate renewed thinking to ensure our faith remains vibrant, meaningful, and deeply relevant for our children today.
• Academic Excellence: Our pedagogy of explicit teaching ensures that our students achieve outstanding results, giving them the best possible start to their educational journeys.

The Strong State of Catholic Education

Our local success mirrors a broader trend in our region. 23% of primary school children in the Geelong region attend a Catholic school! This is a remarkable 3% higher than the Victorian state average, showcasing just how deeply the Geelong community values the holistic, values-driven education we provide.

Thank you to everyone who makes Clairvaux such a welcoming and successful place to learn, grow, and thrive. We look forward to officially welcoming our newest Prep families into the fold very soon.

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From the Classrooms: Learning Highlights

As we creep towards the mid-year mark, our classrooms are buzzing with energy. Our teachers are deeply engaged in assessments to prepare mid-year reports and are looking forward to connecting with families during the Parent-Teacher Interviews in Week 7.

Our Year 6 Community Service Committee (CSC) members, under the wonderful guidance of Marg, have compiled a snapshot of the amazing learning happening across each grade level:

• Prep & Grade 2 Collaboration: The Grade 2 students visited the Prep classrooms to share a beautiful moment of community prayer, teaching the preps the Aboriginal Our Father.
• Year 1: The classrooms have been full of "fruitful" learning! Students have been exploring all things fruit in their specialist classes.
• Year 2: Our young globetrotters have been traveling around the world. This week they landed in Africa, where they are learning all about the stunning landscapes, including Mount Kilimanjaro—Africa's highest peak!
• Year 3: Creativity and geography have collided as students create fantastic animal posters and models while exploring the distinct wildlife of South America, Australia, and Africa.
• Year 4: Faith and preparation are the focus as students prepare to celebrate a beautiful milestone.
• Year 5: Excitement is building as the students finalize preparations for their big excursion next week.
• Year 6: Energy is high as sportsmanship takes center stage with the upcoming Lightning Premiership!

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School Funding and school fees

Our priority is to ensure your children continue to receive the high-quality, supportive education they deserve. To do this while managing rising operational costs and shifting educational funding, we implement a slight fee adjustment each year. We are currently waiting for finalised details on the Government grants that contribute to our operational budget and will update you as soon as we receive clarification.

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New national emergency warning messaging system

We have been advised that testing of a new national emergency warning messaging system –AusAlert – is occurring in our area on Thursday, 18 June at 2.00pm.

This means every mobile device – including your and your child/children’s phones – will receive the test alert at 2.00pm.

Devices may vibrate and play a siren-like warning sound for around 10 seconds.

The message will clearly state that it is a test.

No action is required.

Learn more about AusAlert for children and teens. Information is also available in other languages.

On Test Day

To minimise disruption, it’s recommended a further check to ensure all devices are set to silent or Do Not Disturb before the test at 2.00pm.

For more information, go to:

• Children & teens | ausalert
• AusAlert Campaign Stakeholder Kit
• Community testing | ausalert
• Languages | ausalert to support communities with languages other than English.

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Wishing everyone a restful King’s Birthday long weekend. It’s a much-needed chance to catch our

breath before we take on the final three weeks of school in this colder weather!

Brendan

Sacrament of Confirmation

Congratulations to all our Year 6 students who received the Sacrament of Confirmation over two masses celebrated on Sunday 30th August.  

It was wonderful to see our students participate with such reverence and respect throughout the celebrations.  They embraced special roles including candle lighting and reading, renewed their Baptismal promises and received the special anointing with chrism from Bishop Martin Ashe.

We also extend our gratitude to the students’ sponsors, whose guidance, encouragement and support are such an important part in this step of their faith journey.  

The celebrations were meaningful and memorable occasions for our students, their families and our wider school community.

A special thanks to Fr Tho who con-celebrated the masses with Bishop Martin and to our Year 6 teachers - Marg, Rod, Sarah, Andy and Scarlett -  who prepared the students so beautifully.  We are also grateful to our wider staff community who were there to support our students and lend a hand throughout the day.

We are very proud of all our Year 6 students as they continue to grow in faith, live out the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit in their everyday lives, look for ways to make a difference and follow the example of the values embodied by their sponsors and their chosen saints.
      

    

St. Bernard’s day  -  Lap-a-thon Sponsorship

Thank you to all families who have generously supported our Mannya Appeal following our recent Lapathon on St. Bernard’s day.    We are incredibly grateful for the generosity of our school community.  Every donation, no matter the amount, makes a real difference to the lives of children and their families.

Donations can be made online through School 24 → Events → Lapathon for Mannya until the end of Term 3,  with Friday 18th September being the final collection date.

Touchstone sticker winners

As part of our St. Bernard’s day festivities, each Year level was allocated one of our Clairvaux Touchtones and set the task of designing a sticker.  We are very pleased to be able to announce the winning designs:

Prep:  Friendship  Audrey Davis  Prep PP

Year 1: Kindness Amelia Hall  Yr 1 LB

Year 2: Belonging Tommy Norton Yr 2 MR

Year 3: Happiness Eve Ryan  Yr 3 JB

Positivity: Valencia Martin Yr 3 JB

Year 4: Connection Ava Torpie  Yr 4 KB

Year 5: Respect Sophie Groves Yr 5 VR

Year 6: Purpose Siena Dougherty  Yr 6 ST

Growth Sabelle Carmody Yr 6 MM

Congratulations and we look forward to seeing your designs created into stickers that we can award to students in our school who live out our touchstones.
      
      
  

St Bernard's Day 2026

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Year 1 students have been having lots of fun with their learning over the past few weeks!

In Mathematics, we have been exploring the concepts of mass and capacity through a range of hands-on activities. Students enjoyed working in the sandpit and with water as they investigated which containers could hold more or less. They compared, estimated, and ordered objects and containers from those holding the most to those holding the least. These practical experiences helped students develop their understanding of measurement while encouraging problem-solving and teamwork.

In Literacy, we have been learning about the Indigenous connection to Country and the importance of caring for the land, waterways, and skies. Through stories and class discussions, students explored how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples have deep connections to the natural environment. To deepen their understanding, students created beautiful artworks representing the land, waterways, and skies. They carefully selected colours, patterns, and symbols to communicate their learning and appreciation of Country.

It has been wonderful to see students so engaged in their learning and making connections across different areas of the curriculum. We are very proud of the curiosity, creativity, and enthusiasm they have shown throughout these learning experiences and look forward to sharing more of their achievements in the coming weeks.

This term, our Year 1 students have been developing their artistic skills through the creation of still life artworks using watercolour and oil pastel. Students carefully observed a variety of everyday objects and explored how artists use value, light, and shadow to make objects appear realistic and three-dimensional.

Using watercolours, students experimented with colour mixing and layering techniques to create transitions between light and dark areas. They then enhanced details and texture with oil pastels, learning how different materials can work together to create depth and contrast. Throughout the unit, students practised looking closely at shapes, proportions, and the way light falls on objects.

Students should be proud of their efforts as they learned how artists use light and shadow to transform simple objects into realistic and engaging works of art. The finished artworks will be on display soon!

Alongside the Carnivale, our Clairvaux Connect group are busy organising lots of fun events for our community. Coming up we have junior school social catch ups, more treat days and a Dads night. Keep a lookout for more information regarding these events.

On Thursday 11th June at 7pm we will be holding our AGM for Clairvaux Connect. Please watch for an email in the next week about the roles we are hoping to fill. 

Canteen Treat and Icypole Days 

Have you ordered online for the upcoming treat day and for the remainder of this year?

Orders are placed via the School24 Events section, and you can login anytime throughout the year to see the upcoming dates.

The cut-off times for ordering are a few days before the distribution dates at 10am to allow time to place the product orders with suppliers in advance.

Last date this term = Thursday 18 June treat day with ordering cut-off 15 Jun 10am

Please note: if you have already ordered for individual dates or an icypole/treat day bundle, you do not need to order again. 

To avoid credit card fees in School24, you can transfer funds via EFT into your School24 account - see 'Top Up/Recharge' in School24 for more details. 

Tokens and vouchers are given to the students in class based on what they ordered, and they bring those to the canteen window at lunchtime to receive their orders. Except the orders for Preps are distributed in their classrooms.

It has come to our attention that some families have accidently ordered twice for the same date or ordered a bundle as well as paying for a single date. Those families will be contacted shortly because each child can only have one sweet item each time.

Special canteen days are run by parent volunteers, and we really appreciate the support!

If you have any questions, please email canteenclairvaux@gmail.com