Retreats

In the last few weeks of Term 2, Sancta Maria College held retreats for the Year 7, Year 8, Year 9 and Year 11 cohorts. The purpose of these retreats is to allow the students to grow their personal relationship with others and with God. They promote students personal development and nurture their understanding and empathy.

The retreats offer students an opportunity to step out of their day-to-day learning and have an experience with their peers that promotes self-reflection and builds community.

Each retreat had its own theme;

Year 7 retreat – ‘Selfie’
Year 8 retreat – ‘Friend in Me’
Year 9 retreat – ‘Made in His Image and Likeness’
Year 11 retreat – ‘Getting to know God more through Jesus’

Each year there is a lot of planning and organising by staff, with 2021 being no exception. We would like to give thanks to Cedric Piggin and Verna Oliver who lead the Special Character team for the college.

We would also like to thank our many staff leaders and speakers for inspiring the students. Thank you to

Rachel Price – who shared some of her journey and spoke on the theme ‘Made in His Image’
Louise Oliphant – who led the students to think about their own hopes and dreams for the future
Ana Pahulu – who spoke on identity and celebrating all cultures in our beautiful school community
Matt Schollum – who led students through the evidence for Jesus
Kate Bradley – who explored the forgiveness and acceptance that Christ offers
Mercy Edwards and Old Boy Owen Tamayo – who broke open the scriptural knowledge of God’s true nature
Debbie Mcreath – who helped students to see the work of God in nature
Ryan Camp – demonstrated how God works through our friends and families
Old Boy Niel Kulkarni – who gave our Yr 11s his personal testimony of rediscovering the reasonableness of Catholicism
Lyn Smith shared her personal story under the title: ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’.