Retreat-ment at Loreto

“Retreat-ment” at Loreto

“When’s our Step retreat-ment?” That was the question Geoff was asked by a Year 9 student as he was setting up for his session at our Year 11 retreat at Loreto this week. We all decided we rather liked this term “retreat-ment” as it kind of sums up what we are hoping to achieve, when we go in and run our retreats with each year group! We want them to feel like they are stepping away from a typical school day, resting, retreating into a place of calm, whilst being “treated” with lots of fun, lively sessions and thought-provoking content.

And certainly, that’s what it felt like we achieved on Tuesday when we spent time exploring our topic of “Stress” with Year 11. These were the session we ran:

-Stress – students explored the science behind stress, what exactly makes them stressed and finally how to combat it.
-Identity, students completed a Myers Brigg style personality test.
-Journaling – students learnt about the positive effects of journaling and explored several different ways to journal, as well as being gifted their very own notebook to decorate  
-Forgiveness – why it is essential for our mental health to forgive, rather than hold onto bitterness and unforgiveness
-0ur magical Stress Wonderland, where students engaged with a variety of stress busting activities including pom pom making (who knew that would be SO popular?), playdoh, puzzles, colouring and lots more.

We rounded off the day in the chapel where we played a crazy chocolate button game and then taught the students 4, 7,8 and box breathing (see Claire Banham’s great video here if you want to give it a go here).

The day had a special feel to it, the students were really on board and engaged well with everything we put before them. When we asked them to feedback things that they had learned from their Step Day, their comments ranged from: “I learnt creative activities can help me balance,” “Journaling is very fulfilling,” “It is better to forgive than to hold a grudge,” to: “Stress is both a good and a bad thing”, “Colouring focuses and relaxes me,” and even “I learnt that I have the same personality type as Harry Styles!”.

The day ran smoothly, God was very present, and He carried us all through. And, as always, our volunteers: Jane, Manjit, Graeme, Bethan, John and Claire excelled themselves and helped make the day possible – so a huge THANK YOU to them.

If you fancy joining our next “Retreatment” at Loreto, do drop us a line using this link here:  
We would love to have you!

Amy