St Gerard's Catholic Primary School
St Gerard's Catholic Primary School

From Monday 14 to Wednesday 16 March, the children from Years 5 and 6 visited Alton Castle, Staffordshire for a residential retreat.

The castle’s beautiful setting, perched at the top of the Churnet Valley, gives an opportunity for us to go out into the countryside, encountering Christ through creation. 

The theme of the retreat was ‘Discipleship.’ Through our many prayer services, reflections and meditations, and through the celebration of Holy Mass we learnt that we are called to be disciples of Jesus. During this time, we discovered how we could use the many gifts, talents and qualities God blessed us with to be true disciples.

During our time at the castle, we undertook challenges that promoted teamwork such as completing the ‘Nightline’ in total darkness as well as physical challenges of biking, trekking, archery, survival skills and low ropes.

The children had a wonderful experience and were great ambassadors of our school.    

“Encountering Christ through creation, community and challenging activities.”