Wednesday 1st November 2023

We arrived at Pinner today - all very excited! 

On arrival the children met their group leaders for the retreat and were told that the theme of our retreat is, 'I have come so that you can live life to the full.' They explained how during our time together we will have a spiritual and personal encounter with Christ. 

We then had lunch - baked potatoes, baked beans, coleslaw, cheese with a flap jack for desert. Unfortunately the rain stopped us getting outside for ouir break time so we had to use our common room. 

We are now getting ready for Mass in the Chapel to celebrate All Saints Day. 

We had Mass with Father Juan today - he is a Parish priest in Hammersmith. He told us that each of us is made by God for a reason and that we have the example of the Saints to inspire us. He told us that the Saints show the highest form of love and this is what we have to try and do. After Mass we then went for a walk around the grounds and the sun was shining for us. We then had thirty minutes to play outside - badminton, football  and some of us went into the forest. After this we went into our three groups and had a treasure hunt. We had to find clues and then run around the site looking for a passage from scripture. It was good fun and we were very tired afterwards. Lulya's team won! Outside we also had riddles to solve and our leaders gave us some clues to help us. Now we are going to have dinner - sausages, mash with onion and gravy. Desert is sponge cake with jam and custard. Yummy!  

After a delicious dinner where lots of children had second helpings and more than one desert - they are loving the food - we got into some warm clothes, grabbed our torches and headed out for our night walk. The Pinner night sky was full of stars for the Holy Family children and a nearby fire work display added to the occasion. We then went to the Chapel for the second time today for Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. The children had an opportunity to spend around twenty minutes in the presence of Jesus. As our group leaders shared a reflection with us, we thought about how loved we are. We were all reminded of how important it is to spend time with Jesus so that we can grow to be the people that God wants and needs us to be. It was truly a privilege to be able to spend this time with your children - thank you. We are currently watching the film 'Cars' and eating popcorn. We will then be getting ready for bed. It looks like we have some very happy and tired children so fingers crossed it is a quiet night and they all sleep soundly... I will let you know in the morning!

Goodnight. 

Thursday 2nd November 2023

The children were very good last night and everyone was asleep by 11pm at the very latest. They slept soundly through the night and woke at around 6:30am. After showers and getting dressed we went down for breakfast at 8am. The children had plenty to eat and they did eat plenty - cereal, yoghurt, orange and apple juice, toast with a range of spreads, croissants, pain au chocolat. After breakfast we had a play outside and once again explored the grounds of SPEC.  The children have now set off for Stations of the Cross.  

The children spent the morning learning about the Saints and acted out some scenes from their life having the chance to dress up! They will be performing the play later today. For lunch the children had pasta with either bolognese or tomato sauce and garlic bread and for desert there was shortbread and plenty of fruit. The children devoured everything and lots went for seconds. We then had time outside where we played cross bar challenge and looked out for some drop bears. 

In the afternoon the children produced a piece of art work made from pieces of nature that they had found earlier in the day. This evening the children shared their plays with the teachers, group leaders and all the children. The groups acted out the life stories of some famous Saints - Joan of Arc, Rita, Stephen and Carlo. Oscar winning performances! Dinner was shepherds pie with gravy and vegetables - carrots, sweetcorn and peas. For desert the children had apple pie with custard. Unfortunately we could not go outside for our campfire - lots of rain in Pinner - so we had to have an indoor camp fire made from fairy lights. The children enjoyed their hot chocolate. This evening we have spent time together in our common room - I am currently watching a titanic table tennis battle between Joseph and Luigi! All the children have showered so that they are packed and ready for breakfast at 8am. The time has flown by on this retreat. The children have been very good. I will be leaving here very early tomorrow and heading back to school and am sad my time with your children has come to an end - we have hunted drop bears, found Hugh Grant's House, searched mysterious houses and played lots. Most importantly, the children have had some time to be in the presence of God and remember that they are his children who are loved, wanted and needed. Miss Jalali will be joining the retreat tomorrow morning. We are looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow. Goodnight