‘The Strength Within‘
A very important part of being a St Mary’s College Year 12 student is the opportunity to retreat together as a cohort. Our students were exceptional leaders and represented themselves, their families and our college beautifully during our time away and came together as a group.
After a lovely long weekend, and completing end of Semester One Assessments, we held the Year 12 Retreat over three days down at Eco Beach, facilitated by our College staff. The theme of this year’s retreat was ‘The Strength Within’. Students enjoyed the opportunity to get out of the business of normal classes to reflect and connect with each other as they near the end of their St Mary’s College journey as students.
Their Retreat commenced with a pilgrimage from Jetty to Jetty in Broome. What was designed as a mindful reflection time, became an Olympic paced walking event, as students determinedly moved their way from Streeters Jetty to Town Beach Jetty to get out of the howling Easterly.
Although the Pilgrimage was completed in record time, students enjoyed just being together and chatting as they reminisced and reflected on fun times at school, and people who had supported, helped and encouraged them to get to where they are today.
With the first excitement out of the way the group bundled onto the bus to head to their first out of town pitstop for lunch, ‘Roebuck Roadhouse’. With full bellies, and happy hearts, the weary travellers commenced the final stretch of their journey to arrive at Eco Beach Resort, where they were surprised with amazing accommodation, beautiful weather and food galore.
Over the few days at Eco Beach, students engaged in a range of activities and talks where they reflected on their journey through school, their aspirations for the future and recognising God’s love and goodness in their lives. Some highlights included Fr Liam saying Mass on the beach at sunset, team-building games on the beach, listening to staff talks, receiving special letters from family and loved ones, and on our final evening sharing some fresh mud crabs caught and cooked on the fire by some of our students.
We are grateful for the staff that took time to support these students in this unique opportunity and their dedication to ensuring our students were supported to find `their strength within’. Thanks to Ms Caroline, Mr Ben, Mr Ed, Ms Rira, Ms Antonietta and Fr Liam for your leadership with our students, they are blessed to have such incredible supports.
The Year 12 Retreat marks an important milestone for our students, giving a deeper sense of meaning to students’ journey at our College. It provides a place for students’ hearts to really listen with their listening hearts, to strengthen positive connections, to build faith, to be on country and to help give direction moving forward. It was a special and unique experience for our St Mary’s Year 12s and one that we’re sure will be cherished for years to come.
