Fr Jakub SDB writes about a special treat for the hard-working GCSE students of Bootle

Half-term holidays are the time every student is excited about. A week of break - no school, no books, no homework. Time to relax and re-charge the batteries. There are however exceptions. Many Year 11s of Savio Salesian College come to school for a couple of hours every day to revise and prepare for their upcoming GCSEs. It's optional, but many do take this opportunity. It's very inspiring to see them making this extra effort in order to perform the best they can. Keeping especially those students in mind, our Chaplaincy Team prepared something special at the start of the half-term week.

Given that most of the week will be busy, our plan was to offer one day of fun and laughter, before all the revision sessions will start. This was to help them re-focus and forget at least for a moment about the pressure of studying.

With that in mind, last Saturday we invited a group of Y11 pupils for a special half-term trip. The day started with a visit to the local restaurant which offers delicious full English breakfast. Scrambled eggs, sizzling bacon and tons of toast were a nice way to open the day. Satisfied, we then moved to the cinema to watch 'Alita: Battle Angel'. This movie was especially requested by the students and indeed was fun to watch. Even if the plot was a bit confusing.

Next, we travelled a couple of miles to Southport. This was the time when things got more competitive. We played a game of Bowling and Laser Tag, staff against pupils. Even though staff felt very confident about their skills, sadly we were proven wrong. I guess we will need more practice before we challenge Y11 again. In the afternoon we went to Nando's for dinner. Flame-grilled chicken put a smile on everyone's faces. Finally, we headed to St James', where we closed the day with evening reflection and a discussion entitled - 'Why belief in God makes sense'.

In the rest of this week, our Y11 students were working hard revising. Hopefully the moments spent together have set them in a positive mood. We wish them the best of luck, may their efforts be rewarded and celebrated in the not-too-distant future!

Fr Jakub Ruszniak SDB,

Chaplain, Savio Salesian College