15 October 2024
Fr Gerry Devlin, Chaplain
During the first half of term, students in Years 7 to 11 and Upper Sixth travelled to Wintershall, near Guildford for a Day of Reflection – a wonderful opportunity to take time together as a year group, to be mindful, to celebrate their strengths, to step outside their routines, and to connect in a very affirming atmosphere, away from the everyday busyness of their hectic schedules.
Wintershall is famous for drama. Students began their day by watching a piece of drama based on the Gospel of St Mark (22:1-14), the parable of the wedding banquet, which we followed with a lively discussion about how the Lord welcomes us and we, in turn, are called to be welcoming and caring for one another and that no one should ever feel excluded in our school community.
Students took part in various workshops, working in groups to explore the opportunities we all have to live out our Sacred Heart Goal for this academic year, Social Awareness. The challenge put before students was to look carefully at our world and work for change where we see and experience injustice. We looked at whether the courageous women we learn about inspire and motivate us to be ‘agents of change’ in our school community. Whether we take the time to be good stewards of our planet, considering our consumer choices and our personal footprint on the earth. We reminded ourselves of the impact we have on the world as individuals and how, by making good choices, such as choosing ethical suppliers for the clothing we buy, we can care for our planet. We pledged together to try to serve the common good and work to eradicate injustice, as we all have a role to play.
Each happy, enjoyable, and reflective day concluded with a lovely celebration of Mass. We all came back to Woldingham energised and full of ideas about how we can each make huge difference in our school community and beyond in the year ahead. In the words spoken by our founding Sister, St Madeleine Sophie Barat, “Your example, even more than your words, will be an eloquent lesson to the world.”
Lower Sixth students will take part in their Day of Reflection in the spring term.
