Year 12 Retreat

From Monday 7^th until Friday 11th March, all Year 12 students travelled to the Don Bosco Camp in Dromana for their annual Retreat. During Retreat students explored their place in school and the wider community and their journey through their years of education leading to their senior years.

Students travelled by ferry across the Bay to the campsite where they enjoyed 3 days of spending time as a cohort and developing and strengthening relationships.

A beach walk, yoga, art classes, mindfulness activities, team building games and companion bracelet making were highlights of the trip. Companion bracelets reflected the values of St Ignatius and were made in the colours that reflect those values: gratitude, empathy, companionship, beauty, joy and god, excellence and service. Students threw themselves wholeheartedly into all activities and the sounds of laughter and quiet contemplation were equally as prevalent.

African Drumming was a new inclusion to the program this year and students practiced emotional regulation through rhythm.

Students also had an opportunity to reflect on their journey at Saint Ignatius College and look towards their future. They contemplated this in a manner befitting some of the values of Saint Ignatius – gratitude, respect and kindness. The values of Saint Ignatius were reflected in the many activities undertaken and students had an opportunity to reflect on these and strengthen their faith.

Delicious and plentiful meals were a highlight and it was lovely for students to share meals and conversation in this environment and slow down and take a step back from our busy schedules.

A big thank you to the students who participated fully in the activities and entered into the spirit of the retreat. The camaraderie amongst the students was lovely to see.

The support of the staff that attended the Retreat was amazing and I can’t thank them enough for their dedication to our year 12 students by participating 100% in all activities and giving up their time away from their personal lives to share this experience with the students.

A very big thank you to Mr. Paul Lewis, Mr. Michael Tod and Mr. Jarryd Atkinson for their support, organisation of the program and ensuring everything we needed was available.

All staff ensured a memorable Retreat was given to our students – huge thanks to Mr. Michael Timms, Ms. Olivia Whitehead, Mr. Angelo Scotto, Mrs. Colleen Boland, Ms. Kirsty Allan, Ms. Andrea Dart, Ms. Merrin Viljoen, Mr. John Clatworthy, Ms. Vicky Munro, Mr. Brendan O’Brien, Miss Kate Kearney, Ms. Stacey Learmonth, Mr. Jason Broadbear, Mrs. Blair Philips, Ms. Julia Hall, Mr. Joe McLean, Mr. Andrew Walsgott, Darcy Bassett and Mrs. Alex Simpson

Ms. Kristin Williamson
Year 12 Coordinator

Some Year 12 students have shared their reflections of the Retreats.

We went on retreat to a camp to Don Bosco. The food there will compete with your mums cooking and there was a lot as well which kept us all energised. We had a great range of teachers and the apprentice Darcy Basset was leading from the front. We had a lot of good workshops and activities ranging from wellbeing to team building. The last night being a highlight with everyone having to perform a play. Everyone delivered well with a couple of shots at teachers which made some of the teachers question themselves. All in all big thanks to Ms Williamson and all the others for setting the retreat up.

Nick Gibbon

This retreat was a great experience! It taught me a lot of new things and was a great way to get out of your comfort zone and share new experiences with friends. I was grateful for the new relationships I have formed and enjoyed getting to talk to people I usually don’t and have a laugh with everyone. There were some great activities and overall was a great experience to share with the year level and to take a break before everything that we have to come in the year!

Poppy Parke

The Year 12 Retreat was a great experience to get away from the chaos of year 12 SACs and classes. The drumming was a really fun experience getting everyone to join in together and create music as a whole. The music created was upbeat and i loved the opportunity to learn about another culture. I also loved spending quality time with everyone and improving these relationships, including my closer friends and even those I haven’t spoken to much before. It was a great time to widen our friendship and find new things in common with others.

Hannah Mawson

I really enjoyed retreat and all the sort of activities we got to do. I went into retreat not having many of my usual friends and I left feeling very comfortable with the people I was surrounded by and really appreciated having the teachers being so supportive and fun. I really had a great time and got to chat to people I wouldn’t usually chat to and I got to get to know people in ways I never thought I would know. 

Thanks Willo for the great time

Ethan Jamieson