News
Article by Nick Clements, Retreat Coordinator
For more than two decades, Grade 10 retreat has been a defining experience in the Grammar journey - a time of pause, reflection, and connection. In 2024 and 2025, the program evolved further, drawing on national best practice in adolescent development and a strengthened Wellbeing Framework. Over five days, students stepped away from routine to reflect on who they are, who they are becoming, and the values that will guide them into adulthood.
In this article, Retreat Coordinator, Dr Nicholas Clements, offers a behind-the-scenes look at the renewed program from a teacher’s perspective, while Parent, Kristy Fairbairn and Grade 10 students, Chanel Charles and Jack Britton, share personal reflections on the challenges, discoveries, and moments that made the experience unforgettable.
The evolution of Grammar’s Grade 10 Retreat began in 2023, when a small team set about reimagining the program. We wanted to retain the best bits while being more intentional about providing opportunities for connection and growth.
Drawing on practice from Australia’s best schools and the Wellbeing Framework now at Grammar’s core, Retreat evolved into a rite of passage program. Relationships and self-awareness remained key focus areas, but the transition to adulthood now became the framework that held everything together.
Retreat 2.0 was ambitious. It would now take place across three sites and parents would be intimately involved.
As we prepared to launch the program in 2024, we assembled and trained a dedicated team of facilitators, supported by numerous general staff and a School leadership who believed in what we were doing.
So, what were we doing?
Retreat was to be just that – a retreat from technology and the obligations of normal life, a space for young people to connect and explore who they want to be. A student’s day would consist of downtime, feasting, games, challenges, activities, and facilitated conversations about questions pertinent to the lives of people on the cusp of adulthood. To safely explore gender-based issues, boys and girls would spend the first three days apart, before coming together for 24-hours of empathy-building fun and discussion. On the Friday afternoon, students would return to Grammar for a three-hour program with parents designed for sharing gratitude and providing opportunities for both generations to learn from each other’s experiences.
But would students and their families get the enjoyment and value out of the program our team hoped they would?
We ran three Retreats this year, building on the foundation we began in 2024. To our delight (and relief) the feedback from students and parents has been overwhelmingly positive. Students stand taller after Retreat, they have new and deeper friendships, and they understand that everyone is going through something. Just as we had hoped, they appear to have taken a big step towards becoming mature, thoughtful adults. For our team, watching so many young people and their families benefit from Retreat has been profoundly rewarding.
Parent Feedback by Kristy Fairbairn, Grade 10 Parent
I wanted to openly extend my sincere thanks and appreciation for the recent Grade 10 retreat. My daughter Bella found it incredibly impactful. Despite some initial hesitations, she returned with a noticeable shift in confidence, emotional awareness, and connection to her peers.
As a parent, it’s been uplifting to witness this growth. I’ve seen real improvements in Bella’s emotional intelligence, communication, and ability to advocate not just for others, but for herself as well. The final day of the retreat, where we heard from students and other parents, was a particularly powerful moment of connection. It affirmed the value of this work and reassured me that the School’s wellbeing focus is both genuine and impactful. This retreat has reassured me that the School’s investment in staff development around wellbeing is being meaningfully applied.
Student Feedback by Chanel Charles, Grade 10 Student
For me, Retreat was an opportunity to take a break from life and focus on making connections with those around me. It’s crazy to think that every week you spend several hours with people and yet barely know them at all. On Retreat, we took part in many different activities such as the bell tent and late-night conversations, which gave us the opportunity to learn more about each other on a deeper level. Although less emotionally charged as some of the other experiences, I found it was during the more casual activities such as collaging and mandala making that I got to learn the most about my peers.
Through Retreat, I have been able to learn more about who I am as a person, and the kind of adult I want to become. I didn’t expect the experience to be so beneficial for me, but I’m so grateful I got to go on this journey and make heaps of new memories.
Student Feedback by Jack Britton, Grade 10 Student
For me, Retreat was not only a chance to open up to my peers, but a chance to unlock further relationships within the group, whilst reflecting on what kind of adult I want to become in the future.
One key moment in the program was the teepee sessions, which were held daily in a tent we constructed together as a group. What was special about these gatherings was how when it was teepee time, everyone left the silliness and banter outside the tent and knew it was time to listen. When people chipped in, that encouraged others to do so, which fostered a comfortable and supportive environment.
The split gender groups were crucial in this program, as it gave us boys the opportunity to reflect and share things we usually would not in the company of girls. When both groups combined, the strong brotherly bond we had created over the week surprisingly remained, as both gender groups acknowledged the dynamic they had created, ultimately strengthening the entire group.
My Retreat experience will certainly stay with me throughout the rest of my schooling and beyond, not only because of the mates and memories I made, but also because of the learning I took away from the values and experiences we reflected on as a group.
