11 October 2023
Fr Gerry Devlin, Chaplain
During the past two weeks, we took students from Year 7 and Year 8 to Wintershall to celebrate a Day of Reflection, with the theme “Do not fear… I have called you by name” (Isaiah 43:1). We started the day by looking at our own personal name and researching its meaning, as our uniqueness is important.
Students brought their Personal Growth Journals, which they used throughout the day to write their thoughts and reflections on where they think they are in terms of living out the Sacred Heart Goal for the year ahead, Personal Growth. They took part in four workshops, leadership, drama, meditation and creative journaling. It was uplifting to see the students share their ideas in groups and use their imagination to create a piece of artwork in their journal, as they took time to write about their own experience. The day concluded with Mass, where we reflected that, as St Paul reminded us, we are all given unique talents, which we should use wisely in serving the needs of our school community and beyond.
One Year 7 student said of the day, “It was really fun. I loved the creative activities, especially making a collage about a part of our life we want to focus on”. Another commented, “I had the best time. I liked having the chance to think about things I haven’t thought of before and being able to ask lots of questions”. One Year 8 student shared that it was nice to be away from school for a change and that “The day was peaceful, quiet and calming”.
Both days were uplifting and inspiring and it was so nice to see the students fully engaged.