Year 7 Retreat

All our Year 7 students had the opportunity to take part in a residential Retreat at Castlerigg
in Keswick during the final week of Half Term. As they were divided into their Houses, it was
a great chance for them to make new friends and meet new people.

Each House spent 24 hours at Castlerigg, enjoying fun team-building activities, games based
on scripture and prayer, and plenty of reflective space to talk and share their individual life
journeys. However, the most popular part of the programme was football in the park,
followed by free time in Keswick itself. Predictably, most of them seemed to be drawn to
the famous Old Friar’s sweet shop!

Keswick is a lovely place to be on Retreat as it features some of the most beautiful scenery
in the country. A visit there is not complete without a walk to the banks of Derwent Water
to appreciate the serenity of the lake and views of the surrounding mountains.
Back at Castlerigg, any residential Retreat brings with it the excitement of shared rooms! It’s
not always easy to persuade the boys to go to sleep, but those late-night conversations and
midnight feasts are memories they will keep for a long time!

Paddy and his Retreat Team did an amazing job planning and delivering the sessions, not
least as repeating the same process for Ignatius, Newman, Aquinas and Augustine Houses is
a major challenge. All the staff who took part had a brilliant time as well and couldn’t resist
getting involved in the team challenges with the boys!

We can’t wait to return next year!

Walking in the Footsteps of Edmund Rice

One of the things we looked at during our Y7 Induction was the Essential Elements of an
Edmund Rice Education, known to our students as the ‘Eight Essentials’. They tell us how we
are expected to act if we want to ‘walk in Edmund’s footsteps’ and, as a result, follow the
teachings of Jesus.

Our Chaplain, Mr Murray, takes all our Year 7 on a journey through the Eight Essentials
across the year, leading workshops in our Chapel which explore the meaning behind each
Essential. This is a really important part of their induction and helps them understand the
expectations on them and the social responsibility they carry.

So far, we have looked at our purpose in life (Education as a Christian Calling), how we build
community founded on Gospel values (Building Christian Communities), and how we spread
Jesus’ teaching through our words and deeds (Evangelising the Modern World). Looking
forward to more sessions after Christmas!