Sacrament of First Eucharist

Congratulations to our Year 4 students!

Over the last two weeks of June, our Year 4 students received the Sacrament of the Eucharist for the first time at St. Bernard’s Parish - a joyful and scared milestone in their faith journey.

We are incredibly proud of each and every one of them.  May receiving the Eucharist deepen your relationship with God and continue to guide you in love, faith and community.

A heartfelt thank you to Fr Tho for leading our celebrations. We are grateful for his spiritual guidance and continued support,  making these occasion even more meaningful for our student and their families.

A special thank you also goes to our Year 4 teachers and parents for their dedication in preparing the children throughout the term for this important day.  

Please enjoy the photos of each group (at the end of this report) as they celebrated the special moment together.
       

Sacrament of Confirmation

The Year 6 students of Clairvaux and St. Bernard’s Parish will be commencing their preparation to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation in Term 3.  Confirmation is the final Sacrament of Initiation to be received in the Catholic Church - the others being Baptism and Eucharist.  Confirmation is administered by the Bishop by the symbolic traditions of ‘laying-on of hands’ and anointing with chrism (oil).  Selecting a saint name and sponsor are also significant decisions to be made by the candidates. The Sacrament of Confirmation gives strength in faith and helps us to live our lives as ‘Spirit-filled people’

A note was sent out yesterday to all Year 6 families regarding Confirmation.

                            Please check your emails!

IMPORTANT CONFIRMATION DATES:

• Family Faith Evening - Wednesday 13th Aug   6.30 pm  
• Presentation masses - Sat 16 Aug 6pm, Sun 17 Aug 9am, 10.30 am

Sat 23  Aug 6pm, Sun 24 Aug 9am, 10.30 am

• Preparation Day - Wednesday 10th September
• Confirmation Masses - Sun 14th Sept 1pm & 3.30 pm    

Tues 16th Sept 6.30 pm

More information to follow next term regarding stoles, saint names and sponsors.

Please direct any questions regarding the sacrament to jroutley@ccsbelmont.com.au or your child’s classroom teacher.

Year Level Masses

Year 6 / Prep buddy mass - celebrating Creation

Last week, our Year 6 students and their Prep buddies came together to celebrate a beautiful mass centred around the theme of Creation, which has been a focus in Religious Education for our Prep students this term.

The Mass was a touching reflection of the special bond between the older and younger students.  Our Year 6 students demonstrated wonderful leadership as they gently guided their Prep buddies through the celebration, showing care, maturity and encouragement.

We were also delighted by the fantastic turnout of parents whose presence highlighted the strong sense of community that enriches every part of school life here at Clairvaux.

Year Level Masses - TERM 3

• YEAR 4 Feast day of Mary McKillop   Tuesday 5th  August   12 noon
• YEAR 1  Grandparents Mass Tuesday 12th August  12 noon
• ST. BERNARD’S DAY Monday 25th August  9.15 am

Whole School Mass and Lapathon

Refugee Week

A sincere thankyou to the Clairvaux community for your generous support during Refugee Week.

Through your donations to the Assylum Seeker Food Bank @ The Welcome Place,  you have made a real difference to the lives of local refugee families.  Your kindness and compassion reflect important ‘touchstones’ of our school - where faith, community and service come together to support those in need.

Thankyou also to Marg Mahoney, the Social Justice CSC group and the Year 6 students for organising and promoting this worthy cause.  

Yvonne Paturzo who generously volunteers her time with the organisation, spoke to our Social Justice group and Year 6s, demonstrating the essence of a true ‘Spirit-filled’ person in our community.   We received a lovely letter from her in response to our donations. 

An excerpt from the letter…

‘The Wesley Asylum Seeker Welcome Place was delighted to receive your school’s very

generous donation of hundreds of non-perishable grocery items for our Food Bank last

week. Our shelves are now very well stocked, and we wish to express our thanks to the

Clairvaux Catholic School community for your kindness and concern.’

Photos from Refugee week and celebration of our Clairvaux cultural diversity…

                           


NAIDOC week - The Next Generation :

Strength, Vision and Legacy

Next week , July 6 - 13, we acknowledge NAIDOC week 2025, a special time to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The 2025 Theme, “The Next Generation; Strength, Vision & Legacy,” celebrates not only the achievements of the past but the bright future ahead, empowered by the strength of our young leaders, the vision of our communities and the legacy of our ancestors.  At Clairvaux, we honour the Traditional Custodians of the Land and continue to learn, listen and grow in our understanding and respect of our First Nations people.

Lia Rizzi, one of our talented Art teachers has taken inspiration from Indiginous Artists with students from Year 4 and 6 creating some amazing pieces.

Year 4 - Contemporary Indigenous artists: Bronwyn Bancroft and Jimmy Pike.

Bancroft has illustrated over 40 children's story books, including Colours of Australia, Patterns of Australia and Shapes of Australia. All three books combined create the book, Art in Country. 

Jimmy Pike's bright and colourful works focus on the repetition of line, surrounding the indigenous symbol for waterhole. Many of Pike's works feature 'Jila Japingka,' a major waterhole, around 400 kilometres south of Fitzroy Crossing, in the Great Sandy Desert, near where he was born.

Year 6 - Albert Namatjira, Australian watercolour landscapes

Namatjira was a pioneer of  Indigenous Australian art that was influenced by western art. This made him the most famous Indigenous Australian of his generation. Namatjira primarily painted the landscapes of Central Australia, specifically the MacDonnell Ranges region. His works often depicted the rugged terrain, vibrant colors, and expansive skies of the outback.

Eucharist 2025

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We are so proud of the steps we have taken over the last few years to bring us to the point we are at now with our teaching and learning framework.

Our instructional model based on the Science of Learning is one that we are continuously striving to refine. We have been informing our parent community via a range of modes:

• We launched our 'playbook' for parents to gain an understanding of how we teach and learn at our school - which is able to be viewed on our website in the 'How we learn and teach' section
• Last year we invited parents to join us over two sessions for a Teaching and Learning Open Night where we took you through some key concepts and examples of how and why we teach like we do and then offered a chance to view the classrooms and work samples.  
• Our next step is to continue to offer Learning Walks around our school.

What is a Learning Walk? It is an invitation to parents to come to the school for a set period of time to be led on a facilitated and structured learning walk of the school/ classrooms during the school day. Not to look at the decor - but to learn more about the learning that is happening. The focus of the structured walk is children and their learning as opposed to teachers and the teaching.

We have run some learning walks last year already for parent groups within our school and open up the invitation to our wider school community to enjoy this year.

The date we have selected for an open invitation is term 3 week 3 Tuesday 5th August beginning at 9:10am. Please allow 95 minutes for this event.

Our Grade 4 students have recently begun a very special journey in their faith lives as they prepare for the sacrament of the Eucharist. This week marked an important milestone in their preparation, as they explored one of Jesus’ most well-known parables—the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:3–9).

Through this scripture, the students learned that while the story may seem to be about farming, it holds a deeper spiritual meaning. The parable teaches us how different people receive and respond to God’s word—some hearts are like rocky or thorny soil, where God’s message struggles to grow, while others are like good soil, where the word takes root and flourishes. The message, "If you have ears, listen!" reminded the children to be open and attentive to how they welcome God into their lives.

To deepen their understanding, the students created thoughtful and expressive artwork inspired by the parable. Each piece incorporated symbols representing the different types of soil and the seeds' journeys. These creative works helped the children reflect on the condition of their own hearts and how they can prepare themselves to receive God's love and word.

Looking ahead, our parish community will have the joy of witnessing the children take their next step. Beginning next weekend, the Eucharist Preparation Masses will commence. During these masses, each child will present a prayer card to a parishioner—a symbol of their readiness, their prayers, and their connection to our faith community.

Next Wednesday, 14th May at 6:30pm we have our Eucharist Family Faith Evening at St Bernard’s Church. Attendance is required for all children preparing for the sacrament, accompanied by at least one parent or carer. The evening, led by Vivienne Adamko and Anna Demetriou, will offer a reflective and informative look at the meaning of the Eucharist. We look forward to sharing this special part of the journey with you.

Please keep our Grade 4 students in your prayers as they grow in faith and understanding. This is a beautiful and meaningful time for them, and we look forward to sharing the journey together as a community.

Eucharist Preparation masses:

Saturday 17th May 6pm

Administrative Officer - St Bernard's Parish, Belmont