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Year 7 Retreats September 5th
 Retreats
Each year group has at least one retreat day a year. As well as day retreats Year 9 and Year 10 also have an opportunity for a residential retreat at St. Cassian’s Centre Kintbury or St. Vincent’s Centre Whitstable respectively..
Year 7 Retreat.
 On Friday the 5th September Year 7 took part in a day of retreat. Over a hundred students visited St. Mary of the Cray church and the remaining students used the school chapel.
The theme of the day was how we build community and students had an opportunity to get to know their new form and work together.
At the end of the day they took part in an “Affirmation Exercise” where they shared with each other one positive quality that they had noticed about the rest of the group.
Students had a lovely day and the following are some of the comments that they made on their evaluation sheet.
 "Today we saw how we all need to trust each other, cooperate and learn together"
"I will always remember making friends and having fun"
"an activate that helped me to get to know others was circle time, because i was am to bond with my form"
"something i will always remember are the nice words that people wrote about me"
Year 11 Retreat.
 This took place on Friday the 24th October and was led by the Retreat Team from Whitstable.
Over a hundred Year 11 students took part in this retreat and the day focused on becoming aware of our gifts and personal strengths.
We celebrated Mass at midday and spent the rest of the time in small groups.
Below are some of the comments that were made by the students:
During this day we had:
Time for ourselves and friendship
Opportunities to grow in self knowledge and strengthen our self esteem.
Also a chance to reflect on our relationships with God and others.
We also had time to experience community, togetherness, help each other , explore our personal identity and enjoy being together.
Forthcoming Events
Kintbury 2009
During January and February 2009 Year 9 will be invited to spend twenty four hours at
St. Cassian’s Centre Kintbury.
The retreat will be led by the De la Salle Brothers and a group of young volunteers.
The purpose of the retreat is to grow in awareness of ourselves, others and God.
Below are some of the comments made by Year 9 when they returned form Kintbury last January,
Making New Friends
“Being at Kintbury helped you interact with people that you wouldn't’t normally talk to.
There was a bond of friendship that we will always remember.
The group leaders made it happen.” Deborah Davies
The Quiet Room
“ I loved the ‘Quiet Room’ where we prayed together., it helped me reflect.
I think at times it can be hard to pray, everyone respected the “Quiet Room”, the atmosphere was great. At times I felt myself getting closer to God.”
Rebecca Sharkey
The Team Leaders
“The team leaders made you feel really welcome.
I felt that they really wanted us there and they were keen to get to know us.
They talked about themselves, they were up front about their difficulties and we felt close to them”
Caeserea Alfonso
Small Groups
“ I felt I could trust the people in my small group and I felt they trusted me.
It was confidential and we discussed the presentations, some of the things that the leaders shared we could relate to as we had been through them ourselves. “
Cherelle Parker
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