| Term 4 Week 3 |
| Week 4 Friday 30th October- Icypole day Friday 30th October- World Teachers day |
| Week 5 Monday 2nd November- Student Free Day Tuesday 3rd November- Melbourne Cup Public Holiday Saturday 7th November - Bunnings BBQ |
| Week 6 Tuesday 10th November - Prep 2027 first transition visit Wednesday 11th November- Yr 5 Leadership incursion Saturday 14th November - CARNIVALE |
| Week 7 Monday 16th - Prep excursion Friday 20th November- Icypole day |
| Week 8 Monday 23rd November- Closure day Tuesday 24th November - Prep 2027 second transition visit Friday 27th November- Junior Athletics Day Year 2/3 - school oval Saturday 28th November- Election Day BBQ |
| Week 9 Monday 30th November- Junior Athletics Day Year Prep/1 - school oval Tuesday 1st December - Yr 6 Disco Wednesday 2nd December- Carols Evening Thursday 3rd December - Special treat day |
| Week 10 Tuesday 8th December - Whole school step up day and Prep 2027 third transition day Tuesday 8th December- Parent teacher meetings Wednesday 9th December - Parent teacher meetings Friday 11th December - End of year mass 9.15-10.15am |
| Week 11 Monday 14th December - Final Assembly 11.45am-12.45pm Monday 14th December - Yr 6 Graduation Tuesday 15th December - Last day of school for 2026 (Adventure park for Year 6) 2.30pm Finish |
Celebrating the Sacrament of Confirmation.
This weekend, our Year 6 students will celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation with Bishop Martin. This marks a significant milestone, as it is the final Sacrament of Initiation our students receive during their time at Clairvaux.
As a Catholic school, we come together with the broader parish community not only as an educational community, but as a vibrant faith community. It is in these sacred moments that faith and life meet in ways that are deeply meaningful and transformative for our young people.
Through Confirmation, the virtues and fruits of the Holy Spirit are bestowed upon our Year 6 students to strengthen their personal faith journey and contribute to the growth of the wider Church:
We keep our Year 6 candidates, their families, and sponsors in our prayers as they take this meaningful step in their Christian lives.
Loving God,
We pray for our Year 6 students as they receive the Sacrament of Confirmation with Bishop Martin this weekend.
Send your Holy Spirit upon them to be their guide and helper.
Fill their hearts with the gifts of Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-control May the grace of this sacrament encourage them to live their faith with courage, to walk with kindness, and to be a light for others in our school, parish, and wider community. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
2026 School Review: Initial Insights & Looking Ahead to 2027
As we move through the term, our leadership team and staff are well underway with planning and budget preparations for 2027. Setting the right conditions to ensure Clairvaux continues to thrive, maintain high standards, and meet our growth targets is a complex and rewarding challenge, and our recent school review has provided valuable guidance for this journey.
This week, we reached a major milestone in our review process as we met with the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) review panel, Marita Richardson and Chris Bence. This comprehensive review evaluated our progress across five key school spheres: Leadership and Management, Learning and Teaching, Religious Education, Student Engagement, and School Community.
While we await the final written report from MACS, we are proud to share some initial insights and key panel commendations presented during Wednesday’s final meeting:
What’s Next? These initial insights validate the hard work of our staff and students while providing clear direction for our next phase of growth. Once MACS delivers the final formal report, leadership will use these findings to shape our next multi-year School Improvement Plan (SIP) and guide our strategic budget decisions for 2027 and beyond.
Next week we will gather with other Catholic schools in Werribee who were also under review to commence our 4 year Strategic School Improvement Plan and 2027 Annual Action Plan.
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Clairvaux Weekly Buzz: Community Highlights, Athletics & Excursions!
Dear Clairvaux Families,
There is so much happening at Clairvaux every week! Every week our Year 6 leaders capture a wonderful snapshot of the energy, learning, and achievements across all year levels.
Media Spotlights & Community Achievements
Around the Classrooms
Thank you to our teachers, LSOs, children, and parent community for making Clairvaux such a vibrant place to learn!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Debating News from Year 5
Barwon Junior Debating Round 4 vs Bellaire Primary School
Round 4 was another unseen debate topic, which meant that teams weren’t made aware of the topic until 30 minutes prior to their debate.
Topic: Camping grounds in National Parks should be free of charge
Debate #1 Clairvaux B (Negative) vs Bellaire B (Affirmative)
A hotly contested debate, saw Clairvaux B lose in a close one. Tom, Matteo and Lewis should be commended for their carefully constructed arguments that were practical and some clear rebuttals to the other team also. A big thank you to Ignatius for his support also. The final score was 225-219.
Debate #2 Clairvaux A (Affirmative) vs Bellaire A (Negative)
In what was described by judges as a close and high level debate. Lachlan, Claire and Van came out ahead in a razor close victory with scores reading 229-227. Congratulations to Van who was awarded best speaker! Thank you to Ruby for her support on this one!
A big thank you to Lauren for her dedication making sure the debaters were prepared!
Jake
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With only three weeks to go until the end of term let’s all maintain the energy and passion and finish the term satisfied with all the learning that happens every day at Clairvaux.
Brendan
Introducing the New Religious Education Curriculum
At Clairvaux Catholic School, Religious Education is at the heart of who we are and how we live our faith as a community.
Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) has been developing a new Religious Education (RE) curriculum in response to the 2023 Review of Religious Education. The curriculum aims to deepen students’ understanding of the Catholic faith, strengthen their knowledge of Scripture and Church teachings, and help them recognise how faith connects with their everyday lives.
At its heart, Religious Education is about more than learning about religion. It is about creating opportunities for students to encounter Jesus, explore their faith, ask meaningful questions and discover how they can live out the values of the Gospel through kindness, compassion, justice and service to others.
Clairvaux’s journey with the new RE curriculum
Throughout 2026, Clairvaux has been actively involved in the development of the new RE curriculum. Our Foundation (Prep) team has participated in the trial-based learning teams, exploring and implementing draft units of work. Teachers in Years 1, 3 and 6 have also contributed to developing and evaluating draft units, helping to shape the curriculum and ensure it supports meaningful learning at each stage of students’ primary school journey.
This work is part of a broader process overseen by the Religious Education Reference Group, established by Archbishop Peter Comensoli (Archbishop of Melbourne), with MACS supporting the writing, resourcing and development of the curriculum.
What does this mean for our students?
The new RE curriculum (still in its draft form) will provide carefully developed units of work to support engaging, meaningful and age-appropriate learning. Students will continue to explore key aspects of the Catholic faith, including the stories of the Bible, the life and teachings of Jesus, prayer, liturgy, Catholic traditions and how we are called to care for others and our world.
As we continue this journey, our goal is to nurture students’ knowledge and understanding of their faith while encouraging them to reflect, wonder, question and put their learning into action in their daily lives.
As Pope Benedict XVI reminds us, Catholic education offers students an opportunity to “encounter the living God” and discover a life shaped by all that is beautiful, good and true.
We look forward to continuing to strengthen Religious Education at Clairvaux, supporting our students to grow in faith, hope and love and to become people who make a positive difference in the world.
Advent: A Time to Prepare for Jesus
Our Prep students are currently exploring the Foundation RE unit Advent: A Time to Prepare for Jesus , learning that Advent is a special time of waiting and preparing our hearts to celebrate the birth of Jesus through prayer and acts of kindness. They are also discovering how Mary was chosen by God and how her courageous “yes” teaches us to respond to God with love and put our faith into action. Yesterday they opened the special Advent box…
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National Child Protection Week is an annual Australian campaign led by the National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (NAPCAN), grown from NAPCAN's founding in 1987 by Rosemary Sinclair AO and Christine Stewart. For over 30 years, NCPW has brought together government, non-profit, corporate and community partners to promote a shared, community-wide responsibility for keeping children and young people safe and well, encouraging everyone to play a part in prevention before harm occurs
WHAT WE KNOW:
HOW YOU CAN BE A SAFE HARBOUR FOR FAMILIES:
2D Shapes
Year Twos have been exploring 2D shapes in relation to different ways that they can be categorized, learning new terms such as regular and irregular polygons. Their 2D shape vocabulary has been extended to naming shapes, Pentagons and Hexagons for example, but also they were required to describe each shape’s properties. They have consolidated what are, and aren’t, parallel lines.
The group enjoyed making pictures or patterns to practice naming shapes and their properties.


Grade 4 Explores Early Australian History
What a fantastic term of history it has been in Grade 4 so far! Our young historians have been stepping back in time to explore the complex stories that shaped early Australia.
We began by learning about the rich culture and daily life of Indigenous Australians prior to 1788. To step into their shoes, students crafted creative diary entries reflecting a deep, thriving connection to Country and community before European arrival.
Next, we took to the stormy seas to investigate the grueling journey of the First Fleet. The students penned moving diary entries from the perspective of convicts, beautifully capturing the
We are incredibly proud of the empathy and curiosity our students have shown throughout this learning. Here are some examples of their wonderful work.


Father’s Day Stall
On Thursday 3 September, members of Clairvaux Connect will once again be running our Father’s Day Stall.
Good news – there is no need for students to bring money on the day, as the cost of gifts has already been covered through the 2026 fee structure.
We have a fantastic range of fun and thoughtful gifts for dads, and we would love some help preparing them for the stall.
We are seeking volunteers to assist with sorting, wrapping and packing gifts on Tuesday 1 September, straight after school until 5:00pm.
Please sign up using the link: https://signup.com/go/vWWfmfv
We are also looking for volunteers to help at the stall on Thursday 3 September. Shifts are one hour long, and volunteers will assist students in choosing the perfect gift for their dad.
If you are available to help, please sign up using the link below: https://signup.com/go/SgSEvbx
If you have any issues signing up or any other questions, please email canteenclairvaux@gmail.com.
Kind regards, Jamie and Caity

This free interactive video invites primary school students to ‘choose their own journey’ while navigating feelings and choices during R U OK? conversations. https://lifeed.org.au/ruok-day/
Produced in collaboration with Life Ed, the video journey features Healthy Harold, joined by two new characters, the ‘Thoughts’, who contemplate the different approaches to various peer-to-peer situations that may arise in the school day. Students will learn personal and social skills and increase their confidence to able to have an R U OK? conversation with a friend.
Dear Families,
We are excited to announce our upcoming Pizza and Sushi Day on R U OK? Day!
Volunteers are needed to help on the day, so please signup via the School24 Volunteers section or email canteenclairvaux@gmail.com
Event Date: 10 September (during second lunch)
Order Cut-Off: 7 September at 10:00 AM (this Pizza and Sushi Day fundraiser is not part of the annual Treat Days and is paid for separately)
How to Order: Place your orders online via School24 Events (once you click on Add to Cart, the variety selection will pop up)
Varieties:
Note: While care is taken with gluten-free and allergy-free options, all food is prepared in a shared kitchen, so trace amounts cannot be completely ruled out.
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out via email at canteenclairvaux@gmail.com
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These updates are designed to give you greater clarity and control over how your child’s information and images are used.
The biggest practical change is how we distinguish between our closed school platforms and publicly accessible media.
To help clear up the differences, here is a quick guide based on the new policy:
Media Type / Platform | Who Can See It? | How is it Handled? |
Seesaw & School Concert Recordings | Only verified parents, teachers, and students. | Shared normally (no surnames) within the secure app or distributed directly to families (no blurring required). |
School Social Media | Anyone on the internet (Public). | Only used if you have granted permission. Otherwise, faces will be blurred or omitted. |
School Newsletter (via Website) | Anyone who accesses our public website. | Only used if you have granted permission. Otherwise, faces will be blurred or omitted. |
To make things easier for families, our permission process is entirely digital.
The full Privacy Policy and Privacy Collection Notice are available to view anytime on our school website. Thank you for your continued partnership in keeping our school community safe and secure.
Are you ready to bounce?!
Join us for an afternoon of fun where both the Grade 3's and 4's (and their siblings) can bounce around on an inflatable obstacle course and play arcade games.
Where: Inflatable World South Geelong
When: Sunday 13 September 3-5pm
Cost: $20 per child
Other: Arcade tokens can be purchased for $2 each. Food/drinks also available to purchase also.
Please book a ticket for each child attending, along with adult supervisors (free). Siblings are welcome.
Bookings: https://www.trybooking.com/DOQJP.jpg)

Hosted by Clarivaux Connect, this is your chance to enjoy an unforgettable night out with our school community.
Bring your partner, organise a girls' night, round up the guys, or come along solo – however you arrive, you're in for a fantastic night.
Catch up with familiar faces, make some new connections, and enjoy great food, music and plenty of laughs on the dance floor.
Book via: www.trybooking.com/DOQJX_page-0001.jpg)
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Dear Parents and Carers,
As we approach the end of the term, we would love to invite you into our classrooms for a short, informal opportunity to see some of the wonderful learning that has taken place on TUESDAY 15TH SEPTEMBER.
We completely understand that due to work and other commitments, not all parents will be able to attend. Please rest assured that afternoon dismissal will occur exactly as usual.
Here is what you need to know about how the afternoon will run:
Thank you so much for your continued support and partnership. We look forward to celebrating our students' hard work with those who can make it!