Event - Year 6 Alton Castle Retreat Day

14 November 2024

Year 6 had the most wonderful day at Alton Castle! We took part in a Confirmation retreat day, reflecting on our Saints and gaining further knowledge about Saints we had never heard of.

We rotated around four activities with our groups, building up teamwork and leadership.

Starting with 'Holy Spirit search', we were tasked with finding the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit around the beautiful castle grounds using our map skills. When we had found them all, Year 6 showed our leaders the songs we knew to help us remember the gifts and fruits.

We then moved onto 'Fire starting', where we all bravely had a go at using a flint and steel to light cotton wool and add it to the growing firepit! Every member of Year 6 was able to light their cotton wool- even though some were wary at first. We added our light into the light of the Holy Spirit and grew the flame with all of our faith and beliefs.

After lunch, we headed for a prayer service/meditation and shared some posters we had made about our Saints. We also reflected on Saints like St Barbara and St Catherine who were inspiring saints for young people. Did you know, the story of Rapunzel was based on St Barbara?

We finished our day with some teamwork games, including: a tabletop maze, full of holes; ski walking as a team and travelling with tiles, without touching the ground. Year 6 then came back together to show each other our saint's posters and ended the day with a prayer, reflecting on our Sacrament of Confirmation.

A beautiful day at Alton Castle.		Sharing our saint posters.
Using our map skills.		Enjoying working together.