Recently, ten of our Year 11 students, along with Deputy Principal, Ministry Gemma Wooltorton and Coordinator of Liturgies and Retreats Katrina Thomas, visited the Epiphany Retreat Centre in Rossmoyne to run a retreat for Ngalangangpum School Community from Warmun.

14 students attended from the Kimberley and for them, it was a time of many firsts. First time on a plane, in a sleeping bag, in a gymnasium, theatre, seeing the ocean, the river, some foods were a first and of course a first in performing at the Catholic Performing Arts Festival.

The retreat was aimed at giving the students an opportunity to do some team building, fun activities, reflect on their experiences and to engage in some prayerful moments. It had to be fluid as we needed to work with the energy of the students. Our wonderful team of Year 11s were able to adjust and engage with the students in the activities and thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity.

A huge thank you to the following Year 11 students for their amazing talent, agility and friendship they offered the students and staff of Warmun:

• Stephanie De Luca

• Kenli Eldhouse

• Will Lewis

• Tatiana Pymont

• Jacinta Thamrin

• Talah Carr

• Natalia Cuocci

• Mia Anderson

• Kate Byrne

• Ava Versaico

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 Year 11 Reflections

“The Warmun Retreat was a very memorable day for both the Av�԰� students as well as the Warmun Kids from Ngalangangpum School. It was a privilege to spend the day with them as they were extremely welcoming and open to playing all sorts of games like football, relay races, duck duck goose and heads up. We got to know one another and gained a connection very quickly. As well as all the games, we all got together and reflected on our day by making a handprint banner for both schools. Every student placed a handprint on both school’s banners, and we sat around and talked about our favourite experiences of the day. It was a beautiful way to end the retreat, as it was a privilege to be a part of this experience and to meet some new friends who I will miss very much. ”

— Jacinta Thamrin

“The Ngalangangpum School community welcomed us with open arms. We spent the day getting to know these amazing kids and we learnt so much about their culture and their humble lifestyle. We played all sorts of games together, got to know a bit about each other and shared some of our school experiences. One of my favourite activities was putting each of our handprints on two banners for each school to remember the day by. We then wrote words around our handprints that described how we felt about the experience, allowing us to reflect on our time with the Warmun kids and their time in Perth. When reflecting on the day, we all agreed that it was a privilege to be part of their Perth experience and to spend the day with such a friendly and inclusive group of students. ”

— Stephanie De Luca

“The Warmun retreat gave all people involved a chance to get to know people who lived a totally different way. The retreat consisted of Year 11 Av�԰� Students and Years 5-8 students from Ngalangangpum primary school. Everyone got along well, with everyone getting to know each other by playing games together and having a good time. The best activities were kicking the footy and also having the Warmun kids showing us about their culture when they showed us dances and songs they made. Looking back at the experience it was pretty cool as it showed me how similar people can be despite being from totally different backgrounds. ”

— Will Lewis