On Friday the Year 9 students had their retreat day, going to the Korean Catholic Church in Flat Bush.
They were accompanied by the Year 9 dean Mrs Holmes, Retreat leader Mr Piggin and several other teachers. This was an enlightening experience packed with lots of interesting activities focused on bringing our year group closer together through our Catholic faith.
All of these activities had the theme of grace and forgiveness; grace to focus on how Jesus showed grace and how we can show it, and forgiveness to learn how to forgive others just like Jesus forgives us.
Some activities were: meditation to become closer to God, drama to learn about parables where forgiveness and grace is used and thank you and sorry letters written to appreciate and show grace to those you love.
The students also watched videos to see how grace is used in their daily lives, and received a better understanding of what grace is by having class discussions and sharing their own ideas.
The activity that many enjoyed the most was the drama groups, this was because Mr Tamayo chose some really interesting parables to use. They had strong messages and students were able to be as creative as they wanted, which allowed them to portray the message even better.
As well as participating in all of these activities Brenden from the ATTITUDE team spoke to the Year 9s about Hauora, that is their physical, mental, social, and spiritual wellbeing. This talk gave students lots of facts and tips for college life. It taught them to not worry about those who judge them and to block out the haters. They were taught to keep striving to the best of their ability and to be themselves.
The Year 9 retreat was an enjoyable experience which had lots of different messages that were conveyed throughout interesting activities. The group is excitedly looking forward to next year’s retreat day.
Millie Gilchrist
