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2 March 2017

Patrol Activity, 20th February

Hi fellow guides :-) Last Monday, we had Patrol Activity where the various patrols carried out some activities. Here are some reflections from the Year 3s.

Thoughts from a Year 3 from Patrol 1:

During Monday's Patrol Activity (PA), we were split into our different batches. The year threes (Y3) were tasked to build a shoe rack which could at least hold six pairs of shoes. Also, in order to obtain logistics, we had to do physical training (PT). Some physical training included running one round around the General Science Lab (GSL), jumping jacks, lunges and others. It was a very interesting and fun experience. During that time, the year twos (Y2) and year ones (Y1) were also building other structures with gadget poles or learning how to tie leashes. In the end, we had a patrol corner to get to know the Y1s better and improve our relationships with each other.




Thoughts from a Year 3 from Patrol 2:

We were given 13 mins to tie 3 emergency shelters, 2 dome tents and 2 flagpoles. The seniors later extended the timing to 15 mins as the wind was making it difficult for us to erect the structures. However, we still 过时-ed and were thus punished. I think that we should have a better sense of urgency and improve on our communication skills as these would help us to work faster and more efficiently in the future. All in all, this was a good experience for us in learning how to deal with the weather and to show a sense of urgency despite the circumstances.



Thoughts from a Year 3 from Patrol 3:

For Monday’s Patrol Activity, we did foot drills in preparation for World Thinking Day before revising our lashes with the Year 1s. As they were still relatively new to Guides, I felt that it was important for them to start familiarising themselves with the most basic lashes such as the square lash and diagonal lash as these are important for building many different structures in Guides. Thus, it is important for us (as seniors) to help the Year 1s build a strong foundation when it comes to lashes so that they will be able to master it well. During this activity, the Year 2s were supposed to teach them the lashes while we were supposed to look out for any mistakes. I felt that this was no doubt a good learning experience for us. By testing us on identifying common mistakes made during the tying, we would take note not to make such mistakes especially since PLTC is just round the corner. Moreover, watching the Year 2s teach them about the basics of the lashes also served as a revision for ourselves. All in all, although the PA was mostly centered on the Year 1s and helping them with the basic Guides techniques, it also served as a good learning opportunity for us too.



Thoughts from a Year 3 from Patrol 4:

In Patrol Activity, we went through the basic lashes with the Year 1s. The lashes included square lash and diagonal lash. We were split into 2 groups, with Hsin Yue going through lashes with the Year 2s while Beverly and Xin Jie, together with the Year 3s, taught the Year 1s how to tie the basic lashes. Lin Min, Clara, Beverly and Xin Jie each taught 1 Year 1 while I demonstrated the lashes. After that, Hsin Yue went through the first half of the dance we had to learn for the upcoming Centenary World Day Celebration. Once again, we were split into 2 groups, with Hsin Yue teaching the Year 3s while Xin jie and Beverly taught the Year 1s and 2s. Later on, we came together as one patrol again, with Hsin Yue leading the dance. My most important takeaway is from the experience of teaching the Year 1s lashes as I think we could have improved by giving clearer instructions and speaking louder so that the Year 1s will be able to understand what we say more easily. Nonetheless, it was an enriching experience and I would like to have more of these activities.




Thoughts from a Year 3 from Patrol 5:

Monday's Patrol Activity (PA) was rather relaxed. For Patrol 5, we had split into two groups, one with the Year 3s and the other with the Year 1s and 2s. The Year 3s had to build two emergency shelters and one flagpole, and we decided to start off with the flagpole. I was quite pleased with it as I felt that we had worked with a sense of urgency and constant 报时. However, we took too long to build the two emergency shelters and our sense of urgency began to decrease in the later part of the activity. As a result, we had to ask for time extensions. After that, we sat down to teach the Year 1s how to build the various structures. All in all, this PA had helped us to revise our structures and I hope for more PAs where we get to review all the structures that we have learnt.





Thoughts from a Year 3 from Patrol 6:

First of all, we were given 7 minutes to collect all logistics needed to build an 8-men tent. Then, we were given 30 minutes to build it. A condition of the activity was that 2 people, of different batches, had to come out once every 5 minutes to do some Physical Training (PT). To our dismay, we found that we had taken a dome tent instead of an 8-men tent thus we wasted precious time changing it. Even after changing the tent and receiving guidance from seniors,  we were rather slow in setting up the tent as we were confused about the number of pacings and the main upright kept shifting out of position. The Year 1s were also just starting to get used to the lashes and took some time tying each one of them, while the Y2s had to guide them with patience. Our patrol morale was also extremely low and no one felt a strong sense of motivation to complete the tent on time. Apart from that, we also became too focused on our tent and started neglecting the condition of the activity. As a result, we had to do a forfeit as we had forgotten to come out to do PT on multiple occasions. From then on, we tried our best to improve and regularly reminded one another to take note of the time. In the end, we managed to complete the tent, even though it was somewhat substandard. Afterwards, the Year 4s then gave us feedback on our tent and what could be done to improve it, such as the tautness of it and our manpower allocation. Overall, it was a fulfilling PA and I'm glad that everyone got to learn something.




Published by:
Chen Wei
48th Batch Secretary

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