Year 12 Retreat

From Wednesday 23 - Friday 25 June 2021 our Year 12s participated in The Year 12 ‘Av�԰� Crossroads’ Retreat at one of four locations:

Year 12 Retreat Reflections

Our annual retreats have always been highlights of my time at Av�԰�, with this year’s ‘Av�԰� Crossroads’ retreat being no different. I was lucky enough to spend my time at the Ern Halliday Recreation Av�԰� in Hillarys. It was a beautiful venue serving as a perfect place for personal reflection, and for many of us, a much needed break from the pressures of exams and assessments. Our days consisted of group sharing and reflections, writing and receiving affirmation letters from our friends and family, sunset walks at the beach, exploring Hillarys Harbour, as well as the opportunity to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

What I loved most about our retreat experience was having the opportunity to build relationships with different people and discovering different sides to them that you wouldn’t normally have the chance to see.

Special thanks to Mr Royall, Ms Finneran, Ms Laboudeuse, Ms McGinley and Mr Ramsey for being such amazing site teachers (and somehow putting up with us for three days)!

- Kathryn Tan

Baldivis retreat (Av�԰� Cooloongup) was an amazing experience filled with laughter, joy and nurturing our faith. Over this three day period, we developed new friendships with both staff and peers, learnt about our individual journeys and continued to renew our faith through reconciliation. My personal experience of retreat was absolutely incredible, getting to engage with students from all different social groups and understanding my high school adventure. According to multiple sources, everybody thoroughly enjoyed the food and free time, majority of individuals choosing to spend that time, writing warm fuzzies or jumping on the giant inflatable pillow.

- Madi Gibbs

Partaking in retreat at Baldivis was a memorable experience. The three day retreat included times of reflection, peer bonding and just spending time with your mates. The periods of reflection allowed for an insight into our faith and background while touching on aspects of relationships and life journey’s of the people around us. For majority of the days we were split up into smaller groups allowing for more individual conversations between peers which really helped to form new relationships. The time we had for leisure was complimented perfectly with a wide range of activities at camp Cooloongup, from pool, table tennis, basketball, footy, mini golf and much more. I personally found the small group activities the most enjoyable. This was because we were all able to share past stories and current issues with others around us, where everyone was ready to listen to what someone else had to say. I found that for the short period of three days, i was able to become much closer to the amazing people in my year than I already was. Overall a great experience.

- Julian Sinagra-Orr

Staff Thank You

This wonderful experience would not have been able to run without the help of the staff who gave their time to make the retreat a meaningful experience for our Year 12s. Thank you to the following staff who were ably led by Anita Finneran, Mark Barron and the Ministry team:

Ern Halliday – Anita Finneran, Michael Royall, James Ramsey, Brooke McGinley and Claudia Laboudeuse.

Baldivis – Sam Borg, Tessa Johnson, Josh Pauley, Karis Hughes, Shaunnagh Andrewartha and Gemma Wooltorton.

Swan Valley – Katrina Thomas, Noel Patterson, Lorraine Carpenter, Linda Kenton, Tessa Jenkins and Mark Barron.

Advent Park – Rowan Platel, Will O’Callaghan, Victoria Carway, Phoebe Berndt and Sally Farrington.