Insightful experiences, enriching our knowledge about God, exploring topics of religion we’ve never touched on before, deep reflections about the effect of plastic waste and of course the iconic pizza lunch.
All sorts of intriguing yet meaningful activities awaited the Year 9s at Wednesday’s Retreat. The atmosphere was filled with the energy from excited students in colourful mufti and with bright smiles on their faces.
The retreat began with a peaceful liturgy, students reverently listening to the Word of God read by Miss Smith. The Word of God reflected the theme of the Retreat which was about “Creation and Co-Creation” and “Respecting God’s Creation”. The reading and theme continued to shine through all the activities during the day.
The activities were diverse in style but were still much loved by the Year 9s. One workshop required the students to use their creativity to show how we can care for God’s Creation. As a result of this creative burst students got to express their God given talents.
The second workshop encouraged students to think of alternatives to single use plastic, in order to reduce the amount of litter we are throwing in landfill. Another workshop aroused some competitive spirit as it required classes to successfully collect pieces of paper in the shortest amount of time. The classes were also challenged in teams to successfully collect strategically placed orange papers with the handicap of all but one team member being blindfolded and all members having to remain mute.
As a spiritual break from the upbeat activities, the Year 9s relaxed and watched a video called ‘Catholicism’, which contained answers to questions about God we would have probably wondered about at some point in our life, giving us a knowledge boost and a head start in Religious Education.
Students also got a chance to reflect on the days theme and acknowledge the different symbols of a church and their true meaning. Sprinkles of knowledge were being thrown around the room by Mr Piggin and caught by enthusiastic Year 9 students.
The Year 9 Retreat started off in prayer and finished in prayer, maintaining the important message until the very end. The Year 9 retreat was an eye opening experience to the true meaning of God and this retreat left a positive mark on students who took away with them more knowledge about God, respect for God’s creation and possibly a deeper love for pizza.
On the behalf of all the Year 9 students, we’d like to thank Mr Piggin and all the teachers who organized this wonderful retreat for us.
Ashley Liu and Kathleen Shi, 9LIS
