Retreats

For many years now, Sacred Heart has had the tradition of taking girls out on retreat, or at least giving them a day a year to focus solely on their personal spiritual development. This year, Cleo, our school chaplain, had the opportunity to accompany most year groups on at least one retreat, and found it to be a great experience.

“Years seven, nine and eleven were bundled into a coach a class at a time and were taken down the A13 to SPECeast in Wapping. This was an enjoyable day, with a friendly team from all over the world, where the girls were given a chance to reflect on themes such as… “You are beautiful”, “Step Up”, and “a life less ordinary”. Film clips, meditation, discussions, art activities and silly songs were all in abundance, and the girls had a great day.

Year 12 and 13 had a different experience as they were bundled onto coaches and taken in the opposite direction to Walsingham House in Canvey Island. These were also great days and very similar in creativity and resources, but due to the age being dealt with, the retreats were more mature and had more depth. I know the girls loved the retreats but also loved meeting a team of volunteers who were of a similar age and from places they recognised and had been to. Quite a few of our girls left inspired wanting to join the team when old enough. The Walsingham House team also gave opportunities for the girls to become involved with Brentwood Youth and this was great as it gave them opportunities to put into practice what had been talked about on retreat.

Year eight will be travelling to Wintershall to see a play on the life of Christ, which has been successful in the past and I’m really looking forward to experiencing. Year Ten are due to attend a retreat in July at Walsingham House and I am sure this will be up to the same standards as the 6th Form retreats.”

Our plan for the next academic year is to make use once again of the great resource that is Walsingham House and to combine this with the skills of the school chaplain who has a background in retreat work.