Standard Training Camp, 20th June 2017

Hello Guides! :D

It is the biggest day of the year! This Standard Training Camp (STC) had 4 objectives: to commemorate the Y4s’ Guiding journey since Y1 to where the Guides are now as well as promote bonding through the commemorative activities, provide time for each batch to bond and let them know one another better, provide an opportunity of reflection and growth for the Guides’ past years and lastly, to celebrate the Year 1s’ enrolment and the birth of a new leadership batch replacing the Year 4s.

The batch activities kickstarted STC, with the purpose of allowing the batches to find out their batch’s strengths and weaknesses. By allowing them to find out their strengths and weaknesses during this STC, this will allow them to be able to work on them and improve themselves after the Y4s pass down.

Y1 Batch Activity

Here is the storyline: Your batch decided to go on a hike at the mountains for your batch outing. On the mountain that all of you are climbing has a treasure box at the peak. During the climb, you have encountered 3 large ice creatures that live in the mountain, namely: Elsa, Yeti, and Iceman. In order to proceed with your journey, you need to defeat them by completing the obstacles set up by them to hinder your journey. All the best for your journey!

This batch activity consisted of 3 main stages, namely Elsa, Yeti, Iceman. The last stage was to unlock the treasure box.

For Stage 1 (Elsa), there will be a line marked out by masking tape, which the Y1s cannot cross. They are to stand at one end of the classroom, while the decibel meter (phone application) will be placed at the other end of the classroom. For them to pass this stage, they will have reach a certain decibel: 100dB for the loudest point or 75dB for the average. They are to sing the 团歌 and only one copy of the lyrics will be printed for them.

For Stage 2 (Yeti), strings will be tied across the classroom and post its scattered everywhere in the classroom. Bells will be attached to the strings that are tied across the classroom. For 2 bells rung, one post it with an item on it will be voided. Y1s are to pass through the strings without ringing the bells while picking up as many post-its as they can along the way.

For Stage 3 (Iceman), the Y1s will have to search for the items written on the post-its and are only allowed to take the items written on the post-its. Should they find items which are not written on the post-its, they are to leave it there. If they take it, they will have one other item removed. In order to earn the items that are not written on the post-its, the batch will have to perform a forfeit, which is to do the Company Cheer. A copy of the lyrics will be given to them. For every item they bring back, an alphabet written in guides code will be issued to them.

Lastly, for Stage 4, a clue will be given to them regarding the placement of the alphabets written in guides code. The guides code will spell for four numbers, which is the password to unlock the lock to the treasure box. Hints will be provided, such as the number of words, the number of alphabets in each word, and the first alphabet of each word. The Y1s are to unscramble the guides code on the items, move the items and lay them out such that it forms a word. The word would be the numbers of the password to the lock. Using the numbers, they are to crack open the lock of the treasure box.

Reflection from a Year 1:

The batch activity for PDP has three stages where the Year 1s had to work together to pass each task. We started with having to sing the 团歌 very loudly. Not many people knew the lyrics, tempo or tune. There was only one piece of paper with the lyrics given to us. We had to crowd around one person holding the lyrics so that everyone could see and I was sure that there were some people behind who were unable to see the lyrics. It really tested our communication skills. It was also quite embarrassing as most of us did not know the 团歌 despite having been in Guides for a few months already. The first task was to crawl under some strings to get some pieces of paper which would help in the second task. I was honestly quite frustrated when a batchmate repeatedly touched the string and as such, two items were taken away from us. However, it did not bother me for long as after all, she had not wanted it to happen too. The second task was to find the logistics we are allowed to take based on the pieces of paper. I was surprised that no one managed to find the 配备 as it was so large and should be impossible to miss. Lastly, we needed to decode the Guides code to find the password to unlock a box. Due to the limited number of Guides codes, some of us were not involved in solving the codes and ended up slacking at the side. From the batch activity, I learn that communication is very important. In addition, having communication enables us to put one another’s strengths to good use and helps us in overcoming challenges more efficiently. From the activity, I made new friends and I learnt more about my batchmates. Because of this, I felt happy. I also got to spend quality time with my friends and learn the importance of teamwork. Apart from this, I also learnt 2 new Guide songs. I enjoyed the batch activity very much and hope that there will be more of such batch activities in the future.

Y2 Batch Activity

This batch activity takes place in 2 classrooms and the music atrium. Patrols 1, 3 and 5 will be in Escape Room 1 Level 1 and Patrols 2, 4 and 6 will be in the other Escape Room 2 Level 1. After they have successfully “escaped” the level 1 rooms or 18 minutes are up, they will then have to proceed, regardless of whether they have escaped the first room, to escape room level 2 (music atrium), where it will be a room that the whole batch has to escape together.

Escape Room 1 Level 1

The general plot goes like this: The Year 2s roleplay as a group of young detectives who have happened to stumble into an eerie dark room (Lights and windows would be closed for added effect but fans will be turned on to ensure ventilation). The scene is in a bedroom of a teenage girl who has been murdered. Detectives need to work quickly in order to escape the room in time before the murderer comes for them too.

When the Year 2s first enter the room, a message would be written on the whiteboard. The message would contain uppercase letters that are incorrectly placed. When these letters are placed together and unscrambled, they spell the word “Bookshelf” which indicates that the Year 2s should head towards the bookshelf in order to complete the next part of the escape room.

The message reads,“to anyone who is Fortunate enough to read thiS, we need your help, as we have Been  trapped and are now unable tO escape. time is running Out and we nEed you to Leave this room before you would be locKed Here forever.”

A notebook is placed on the bookshelf with other books concealing it. Year 2s need to locate the book through hints from the previous stage and analyse the contents in the notebook. In the notebook, names of all the Year 4s would be written on it except 3 of the Year 4s. The Year 2s would have to figure out which Year 4s are missing and their corresponding patrol in order to unlock the combination code for the hint to the next stage. A box will be placed on the teacher’s table. Inside the box contains ping pong balls of various colours. The Year 2s will need to sort and count the number of balls of the different colours which leads to the unlocking of a lock that leads them to the next stage. The clue for the order of number combinations would be written on a post it stuck to the bottom of the box. Using the number code, they would unlock a box which gives them the clue for the next level of the activity written in Guides Code.

Escape Room 2 Level 1

Here is the general plot: The scene is situated at a serial killer’s basement. Year 2s will be a batch of hostages.  Firstly, the Year 2s will have to listen to an audio recording (in the MP3 recorder) by the serial killer. The audio will reveal personal information about the killer and contain crucial clues that will aid them in finding the real key to unlock the passcode. Year 2s will only be given one chance to choose the correct key. Once they guess it wrongly, they will fail the mission to escape.

Besides that, after every 5 minutes, 3 Year 2s will be asked to answer questions which will be written in Guides code.

Questions (written in Guides code)	Answers
Name the Company Leader of the 47th batch.	Grace
Name 3 Guides Law	1. A Guide is loyal and can be trusted. 2. A Guide is useful and helps others. 3. A Guide is polite, considerate and respects her elders. 4. A Guide is friendly and a sister to all Guides. 5. A Guide is kind to all living things. 6. A Guide is obedient. 7. A Guide has courage and is cheerful in all difficulties. 8. A Guide takes care of her own possessions and those of other people. 9. A Guide is thrifty and diligent. 10. A Guide is self-discipline in what she thinks, says and does. (any three will do)
What does PP in the Guides trefoil represent?	Pandu Puteri - Girl Guides in National Language
Why do Guides shake one another’s hands using the left hand?	It is closer to the heart and it symbolises friendship.
Say the patrol names in Chinese.	P1 -九重葛 P2 - 龙船花 P3 - 茉莉花 P4 -胡姬花 P5 - 向日葵 P6 - 牵牛花
When is Thinking Day?	22 February

Clues:

1.MP3 recorder placed on a clown sitting on a rocking chair

“Welcome to this wondrous place I call home! Make yourselves at home, little children! No more mummies and daddies to cry for help my little darlings! Come on and sit around me. Come closer, I won’t hurt you, don’t you worry my little children! I am…, actually you know what you don’t need to know my name. I was born with the devil in me. Just a little bit about me, I was once a happy normal child, till I met this girl. She was my everything UNTIL SHE BROKE MY HEART. Women are so ignorant, all they know how to do is to play with feelings, INCLUDING ALL OF YOU. I hate crying little girls, so listen carefully. If you want to escape from this endless pit of torture, you need to know me a little better. I like sharp edges. Black and white are my favourite colours. Remember, don’t be fooled by distractions. You only have ONE chance to escape. A moment of folly, a lifetime of regret.*evil laughter*

2. Newspapers painted with the number “8”.

This will indicate the number of alphabets in the victim’s name.

3. Letter “S” written on the blade of the knife

This will indicate the first letter of the victim’s name。

* S and 8 will be written in the Dancing Men Code.

The code will be printed out and pasted on a wall.

Diagram for reference:

3. A piece of paper hidden in the cardboard

Year 2s will have to read between the lines to find out that each message contains double ‘n’s.

1.       I have never been to Africa.

2.       The book is in front of the table.

3.       The sky is clear, the stars are twinkling.

4.       I often see the time 11:11 or 12:34 on the clocks.

5.       I am never at home on Sundays.

6.       I ran out of money so I had to borrow.

7.       I love drinking.

8.       I love eating mint chocolate chip ice cream.

All these clues point towards the name “Savannah”.

Names (Birthday):

1.       Abigail (24.8.01)

2.    Savannah(16.6.04)

3.       Penelope(11.1.03)

4.       Samantha(07.8.03)

5.       Allison(14.2.04)

6.       Olivia(11.11.01)

Formula will be written on the board:

- + x /

3 4 1 2

1.       2 x 4 / 8 - 0 + 1 = 2 2.    1 x 6 / 6 - 0 + 4 = 5 3.       11 x 1 / 1 - 0 + 3 = 4 4.       0 x 7 / 8 - 0 + 3 = 3 5.       1 x 4 / 2 - 0 + 4 = 6 6.       1 x 1 / 1 - 0 + 1 = 2

The correct key is 5.

6 keys will be placed randomly around the room, and the Year 2s will have to pick out the key numbered 5 to escape and pass it to the station IC. Keys will be carved out from cardboard in 6 different shapes.

Escape Room Level 2

For this station, the ICs will be the zombies. One of the ICs will sit in the middle of the room and lie down while the other walks around the room trying to ‘infect’ the Year 2s. The Year 2s will have to find clues around the room to find where the password to get out of the room is. The clues will be letters written on the ‘abnormalities’. They will have to form the sentence “password with IC” with the letters that they saw (a piece of paper will be given to them to collate all the letters they saw). One of them will then have to ‘sacrifice’ herself being ‘infected’ by getting close to the IC sitting down and get the password from her hand. For those who are touched by either ICs will be ‘infected’ and they will have to follow behind the IC that will be walking around the room. There will also be a cure for those who are infected which are marshmallows placed in small boxes that are spread around the room. There would be a total of 2 cures available in the room. They can also choose to save the ‘infected’ ICs and leave the room together.

The room will be dark and the ICs will be wearing a poncho over themselves.

Abnormalities:

1.       Banana on chair (P)

2.       Spectacles without lens (A)

3.       Matchbox with sticks inside and not matchsticks (S)

4.       File with tissue paper not worksheet (S)

5.       Peibei filled with worksheet (W)

6.       English book with a page that is in malay (O)

7.       Water bottle filled with green tea (R)

8.       Guides code that makes no sense is written on clear plastic wrap, which is hung on the blue boards (D)

9.       Crushed tissue paper and a marshmallow hidden within them (W)

10.   Ketchup as fake blood smeared on the clear plastic wrap used in no. 8 (I)

11.   Baisheng as wire connected to the phone on the piano (T)

12.   Candle filled with water and not wax (H)

13.   “Socks” painted on IC’s foot (I)

14.   “Blackwatch” painted on IC’s wrist (C)

Here is the introduction of the game: “Welcome to level 2 of the escape room. There is a ‘sickness’ spreading around and everyone has turned zombie-liked except the ones present here. However, you are trapped in this room when escaping from the zombies. You will have to escape this room as a whole in order to escape together and remember to leave no man behind. You will have to find the clues which are on the things that are abnormal around the room, these clues will lead you to find where the password is to escape the room. When you get “infected” by the zombies which are the ICs, there will be ‘cures’ placed around the room that you can take to cure yourselves. You have only 15 minutes before you all will be infected regardless whether you are touched by the zombies or not. Good Luck.“

Reflection from a Year 2:

The escape room was new to us as we had never experienced this activity before. Through this activity, I learnt more about my own strengths and weaknesses and how to work with other people. We were supposed to find the culprits based on the clues that we found so we started finding for clues. Some people worked together to find clues whilst some worked individually, this enabled us to know more about our working styles and other people's working styles. The activity was quite enjoyable and fun as we felt like we were playing a game and finding the culprit. The activity also made us more bonded as we had to work together to find out who the culprit was.

Year 3 Batch Activity

In this activity, the Year 3s will have a to build a cube using the spars provided. There are a few criteria that they have to take note of. This activity is about goal setting, so there will be instances when they all may have to tailor their goals according to the situation that is presented to them. In this activity, they would also get to learn more about their batchmates’ strengths and weaknesses (referred to their StrengthsFinder) and understand one another beyond a superficial level. More importantly, they will learn how to use specific strengths that suit specific needs.

Criteria for cube:

-          Can stand on its own

-          Taller than 2m

Criteria for choice of ICs at the start:

-        Each of them has a strong presence in one domain

-        Hardly work together

-        At any point in time there will be 4 Year 3 ICs. However, they can be switched around with any other Year 3 with a more dominant domain of strengths to aid them in the situation given.

There will be 4 ICs at each point in time, during which they will be leading the activity. The rest of the batch will be free to aid the ICs if needed. Based on the situation that is allocated to them, different talent themes have to be utilised so ICs are encouraged to choose to replace themselves with other Year 3s based on their talent themes.

Firstly, the Year 3s will carry out goal setting. ICs will have to set goals as a batch with regards to the building of the cube and their goals should encompass both the technical aspects (ie. timing to complete activity, quality of lashes etc), and the intangible aspects of the activity (ie. batch dynamics, bonding etc.)

Scenario 1 (at 5 min mark after goal setting):

ICs will be split into pairs based on their talent themes and relay differing instructions to the rest of the batch.

Strategic Thinking - Many people in the batch have nothing to do. Come up with an action plan for them to contribute to this activity and solve this problem

Relationship Building - There are some people in the batch who are left out and have nothing to do. Think of ways to make them feel more included.

Scenario 2 (at 5 min mark of 15 min time extension):

The seniors have made a mistake and have severely overran so the Year 3s’ timing will be cut by half. They will only have 5 more minutes to complete the activity instead of 15 minutes. Under high level circumstances, the Year 3s are allowed to choose different talent themes and swap ICs based on this.

Executing - Your timing has been cut and there’s no time to lose, so all of you need to be efficient and increase your productivity rate.

Influencing - Can you see why your batchmates are not working at the fastest speed? It is because of low morale, is there a way to give your batchmates that motivation that they need to work.

Suggested solution:

Reflection from a Year 3:

For the Y3 batch activity during PDP, we were required to build a cube that was at least 2 metres in height. We were given 10 minutes. On top of that, each of us our dominant strengths was revealed to us (e.g. executing, strategic etc.) and we were required to utilise the dominant strengths of each member in our batch. Although we were initially assigned ICs, we were allowed to change them as and when we needed to, in order to efficiently and effectively progress. During the activity, although we made a change to the ICs, we were still generally unable to utilise each person's strengths and this resulted in us asking for frequent time extensions. In the end, we were able to create the standing cube fitting the requirements. However, due to our poor allocation of manpower and ineffective management of strengths, we took far longer than what was expected. From this, I learnt how crucial it was for us to understand each other’s strengths and to tap on each one of them in completing a task.

  

After the batch activities, we proceeded on to Guiding Journey, which consisted of 3 phases. Phase 1 was Exploration (Games). The first station game was 绳桥, something which most Guides should have heard of.

Reflection from a Year 1:
When I first saw the 绳桥, I thought it was going to be very scary and that I would not be able to get across. However, it turned out to be not as scary as I thought and I managed to make it to the other side. Instead, I felt that it was quite exciting. It was harder to support the structure. If we were not ready to support it and the person started to cross, the rope would sag and we would be pulled forward. We had to have cooperation, from both sides supporting the 绳桥 as if one pulled harder than the other, the bridge would tilt and become unsteady. I then realized why we had to bandage our palms. As the bandages started to unravel, I got some rope burns but it didn't hurt a lot so I felt fine. Overall, the experience was enjoyable and I hope to do it again.

The second station game was Fireman’s Ladder, or FML in short.

Reflection from a Year 1:

We had tried fireman's ladder before, but I was an extremely short person and it was hard to grab onto the second rung. Luckily, my senior guided me through the process and i was grateful towards her for helping me. The second time we did it, was during the day of PDP, and I was scared of repeating the process as I had seen some of my batchmates falling down. Fortunately, I could reach the second rung this time, but I was still somewhat scared. My seniors and friends slowly coaxed me into trying, and I flipped over and landed smoothly on my legs. I felt a sense of accomplishment course through me, but most importantly, I felt glad as we had been in this together as a patrol.

The final station game was Vertical Rope.

Reflection from a Year 2:

My patrol was together with Patrol 5 and we did the Vertical Rope climbing for our first mass station. Firstly, the Year 4s did a step by step demonstration on how to climb the rope before calling out one guide from each patrol to try it. All of us took turns to try the climb and the Year 4s were also there to help us. It was my virgin time trying it and I found it quite difficult to pull myself up. Initially, it looked easy but after trying it, I realised that this really required a lot of upper body strength in order to pull oneself up. In a nutshell, it was an enjoyable and fun activity although we may have seemed nervous and hesitant at first.

We had lunch next, during which we were required to change into our Guides Uniform at our own time, to enable less confusion for the Year 1s, as they were under the guidance of their seniors. This would also allow everyone to be in a more standard attire for the Roll Call later on.

After lunch, we moved on to Phase 2 of the Guiding Journey, which was Reflection, or letter writing. Year 1s to Year 3s wrote a letter to their future selves. The letters will be kept and returned to them after our Annual Training Camp (ATC) in November. This will allow them to reflect about what they did in the CCA and would strive to work harder so as to improve themselves. The Year 4s wrote letters to their successors (eg.48th Batch P1 PL will write a letter to the 49th Batch P1 PL).

Lastly, we had Phase 3, which was the Renewal of Leadership. In other words, it was Roll Call, the Enrolment Ceremony and the Passing Down Parade. The Year 1s were officially enrolled into Guides, while the Year 4s passed down to the Year 3s.

Reflection from a Year 1:

During the enrolment ceremony, I was actually very excited at the idea was that I was finally going to be an official Girl Guide. Watching my batch mates go up, patrol by patrol, to the Guiders to be enrolled was a thrilling but nerve racking experience. We had to stand still the whole time and it was really tough. However, when it was my turn to go up to the Guiders, I was really excited but also nervous at the same time. I was worried that I would do something wrong. As the procedure went on, I felt really weird when the Guiders helped to pin on the enrollment badge on us. With that little badge on my scarf, I was an official Guide. The feeling was so surreal. A second ago, I was not enrolled and now I was an officially enrolled Girl Guide. I still found it hard to believe even after the ceremony.

Reflection from a Year 3:

Although we had been given our roles the day before, it really only started to sink in that we were the ones who would be leading the 团 now, that we were the leadership batch. Throughout the PDP ceremony, it was saddening to finally realise that our seniors would be passing down, and that we would no longer see these familiar faces during 集合s anymore. However, at the same time, this is a new challenge and new opportunity posed to us for us to learn while leading our juniors. Therefore, I believe that many of are looking forward to working together, not only in developing our juniors but more importantly, bringing the 团 together.

After changing into our performance attire, we went to the music atrium for the highly anticipated PDP performance.

Reflection from a Year 2:

During the PDP performance, I was surprised at how quickly time had passed and that after the performance and the dinner, we would not have much opportunity to see our Year 4 seniors as often again. I was also slightly proud of the Year 1s for putting up such a great performance as I remembered that our batch did not do as well last year. I really enjoyed all the performances, especially the Year 3s’ and 4s’, because of how entertaining and hilarious it was even though the Year 4s’ performance item made us all extremely emotional.

Lastly, we had the badge pinning ceremony, whereby the Year 4s of each patrol would pin the new pins onto the juniors’ shirts. This signified a whole new beginning for the 团 and its new leaders.

And that marks the end of STC 2017! To our Year 4s, we miss you already and we’ll do our best to follow the legacy you have left behind and bring the 团 to greater heights. Thank you for all that you have taught us :’)

Published By:

Arielle

49th Batch Secretary