This year, Rudiments students went to Cavan for their retreat. There is an ‘Adventure Retreat Centre’ there that I had engaged with before for some retreats so, here in the school, we were somewhat prepared for the boys when they returned! As part of the retreat process, the group in Cavan takes the students out to the bog and they proceed to do various exercises with them such as leadership tasks, trust exercises, group success tasks and so on, depending on the theme of the retreat. The down-side is that the boys get very dirty in the bog and therefore I supply them with a ‘what-to-bring’ list, to minimise the amount of work left for the domestic staff the following day!
Thanks to Mr. Kenny and Mr. Sharkey for accompanying the Rudiments group on their retreat. Since they have come back from retreat, I have been taken aback by the positivity in the year group for their experience on retreat. They all seemed to have really enjoyed it and I guess that this proves the Ignatian adage – God in all things – even in bog holes!!
Aisling English
