Initiatives, 23rd February

Hi Guides!

We had an initiatives session for this 集合, with the objectives of developing the Guides in different holistic areas to be all-rounded, as well as to allow Guides to bond in their respective patrols and batches.

The Year 1s and 2s worked individually on their Writer badges. Additionally, the Year 1s were called out, one at a time, to work on their Speaker badges. Both batches then worked together in their respective patrols for the Entertainer badge, whereby they were given 35 minutes to discuss and come up with 2 performances of minimum 2 minutes each. Each patrol was given 7 minutes to perform both performances for all the other patrols.

Speaker Badge

1. Talk to a Guider about anything of her choice for more than 1 minute.
2. Share with a Guider about an experience she had over the Chinese New Year Break.

Writer Badge

1. Write an original story of one thousand to two thousand words.
2. Write one of the following:
1. A dramatic sketch taking at least 10 min to perform;
2. A short poem in recognized verse form.
3. An article or campfire yarn of not less than two hundred words;
4. An essay on her favorite hero or heroine.

        3. Write: A letter of at least two hundred words describing an incident she has enjoyed.

Entertainer Badge

1. Perform two items, each to last at least two minutes, from the following: dancing, singing, playing an instrument, reciting. Note: The items may be of the same kind, e.g. two contrasted songs. The standard is to be suitable for a public entertainment.

Reflection from a Year 1:

The first activity we did for the 集合 on the 23rd of February was badgework for the Writer badge. We had to write an original story of 1000 words, a poem and a letter to someone about an event we enjoyed. While we copied down the requirements for badgework, our Year 2 seniors introduced themselves to us. We also introduced ourselves and we made friends with one another. I feel that this badgework activity was rather meaningful as I got to earn my first badge for Guides and at the same time, improve my writing skills. Additionally, I felt a great sense of satisfaction when I completed my first badge. The next activity was to perform with our Year 1 and 2 patrol members for the Entertainer badge. We had the choice of doing either a skit, song or dance, but each performance had to last for at least 2 minutes. Our patrol decided to sing 3 Guides songs for the performance, namely Titanic, Gingerbread and Three Little Ducks. Our Year 2 seniors taught us how to sing the songs and they also reminded us to sing loudly. While we were preparing for the performance, one of the Guiders called each of us out, one at a time, to have a conversation with her for the Speaker badge. We had to describe how we had spent our time during the Chinese New Year holidays and talk about how we had enjoyed Guides so far. When it was time for our performance, we did our best and sang the 3 songs in front of all the other Year 1 and 2s. When we finished our performance, we discovered that we did not meet the time requirements and we had to sing all 3 songs again. After our performance, I learnt that teamwork was vital to put up a good show, especially within the short amount of time given to plan the performance. We had to work together to sing the songs in harmony. I also gained more confidence in terms of performing in front of other people, after the activity. Overall, the activities I did were quite meaningful and it was a fruitful experience for me.

Reflection from two Year 2s:

Last Friday, we did the Writer, Speaker and Entertainer badges together with the Year 1s. For the Writer badge, we were tasked with many criteria to complete in a short amount of time, such as the 1000-2000 words original story. Thankfully, we were allowed to bring it home to complete. Next, we went on to the Entertainer badges. As a patrol, we had to choose two of the following: a skit, song, a dance and something else. My patrol chose to do a skit and a song. However, we had trouble finding a song that everyone knew how to sing, as our song preferences differed a lot. Finally, after a long discussion, we decided to sing Count on Me by Bruno Mars. We also faced much difficulty singing the correct lyrics, as most of us could remember the tune and only certain parts of the song. We thus had to piece up the lyrics along the way. As for our skit, it was put together at the last minute as we had spent too much time preparing the song. Our skit was about the difference between Primary School and Secondary School. Although it was rather rushed, I was glad to be able to put up a rather interesting performance with the Year 1s. As for the Speaker badge, we were asked to come out during our patrol discussion, to talk to the Guiders. I was told to talk about how I spent Chinese New Year and how I found Guides thus far. Overall, I really enjoyed this 集合 as we got to bond with our new Year 1 patrolmates whom we had just met, and do activities we hardly did in usual 集合s.

During Friday's initiatives session, we had to lead our Year 1s in obtaining three badges, the Writer badge, Speaker badge and Entertainer badge. It was a challenging test of our leadership skills, as it was the first time we were tasked to lead, instead of being led by our Year 3s. However, it was a meaningful experience as we sought to learn and teach them different skills, especially for the Entertainer badge, as we had to come up with a creative performance within the span of roughly an hour. Fortunately, we managed to teach them a few of the Guides songs, such as Titanic and Three Little Ducks. Besides it being our first time trying to lead the Year 1s, it was also a rather challenging experience as there was only me and another Year 2 guiding them. One of the difficulties we faced was that we were extremely indecisive in our choice of performance - we kept changing our choices, from skits to songs and back to skits. Eventually, we all decided to just do three songs -- Titanic, Three Little Ducks and Gingerbread Man -- two times as we had not met the time limit. We were also the last patrol to perform, which made us extremely nervous, but we still managed to sing the Guides songs with energy and vigour. The other patrols had also put up creative and outstanding performances that earned them resounding applause. All in all, it was a thrilling experience to be able to develop our leadership skills and at the same time, get to know our Year 1s.

Meanwhile, the Year 3s and 4s worked on the WAGGGS (World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts) badge for World Thinking Day 2018, with the theme of ‘Impact’.

Impact In Me

Step 1. Invite your participants to bring their journals on a walk in the neighbourhood or on a hike. Ask them to draw anything that reminds them of ‘power’: objects, animals or plants, For example, someone could draw an ant because despite being small, it can carry objects much larger than its size. This can take from 10 minutes up to an hour depending on the participants’ ages and their creativity.

Step 2. Once the walk or hike is complete, ask participants to take a piece of paper and draw their ‘Power Symbol’ taking inspiration from any of their journal drawings. Explain that each symbol is important and unique; they should draw a ‘Power Symbol’ that is meaningful to them. It can represent:

• things that make them feel strong and powerful, or

• things that inspire them to make a difference, or

• things that they are passionate about.

When everyone has finished, invite the participants to

share their ‘Power Symbol’ with the rest of the group.

Step 3. Ask everyone to start collecting all their symbols together to create one unified picture. They can display their symbols individually, or they can create a group symbol. Explain that this unified symbol represents the collective change that Girl Guides and Girl Scouts working together can create in the community. This unified Girl Guide and Girl Scout power can have a great impact! This year’s World Thinking Day celebrates this impact. Discuss with your group: What could their collective impact be on their community? Take it further: You can get inspired by the designs of the individual symbols or the group picture and create a wall mural for your community. Take a photo and share this as part of the last section of this pack. Share #ThisIsImpact

Citizenship Brings Impact

Test your global citizenship knowledge and play the Our Chalet eco-challenge. Split your group into two or more smaller teams and compare their knowledge of the environment. This activity took place in the form of a gameshow whereby patrols were pitted against one another.

Impact In Whatever You Do!

This is a very simple tool that younger and older members can use to explore the impact of a programme or project you run with your group, and evaluate how to improve it. You can run this activity at the end of the World Thinking Day celebrations to see the impact you made! Make a H in the middle of a large sheet of flipchart paper and write the following headings:

- Name of the programme/project

- Positive change that the programme or project made

- Challenges we faced

Learning Outcome: Understand and evaluate the change we create through the Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting experience, and what we offer to our members and the community.

Preparation: Markers and a large piece of paper.

• Ask your group to fill in the name of the programme or project that is being evaluated in the top middle panel. Under the smiley face symbol, , ask the group to consider all the positive changes they experienced while taking part in the programme, and make a list. Did they learn something new? Encourage them to discuss and share success examples, and why these examples indicate a change.

• Under the sad face symbol , ask them to list the challenges they faced while doing the programme

• Under the star symbol, ٭ , ask participants to share and list their suggestions for how this programme can improve

• Discuss as a group what they’ve written.

Patrol Work

On this World Thinking Day, we want to leave our mark and use a mural to show our communities, creatively and visibly, how Girl Guides and Girl Scouts make a positive impact. Find a space in your neighbourhood and create your change mural that will be added to our global Impact mosaic. Make sure you talk to the appropriate authorities and get permission before painting any walls or public spaces.

What does your change mural need to have?

- Visual representation of the change Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting brings in the community

- It could highlight a specific issue that your group is focusing on, for example being environmentally friendly.

- The World Trefoil from page 40

- The name of your group or national association

Why a mural?

-  Impact needs to be something that remains sustainable throughout time. The mural will help your group demonstrate the positive changes that Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting has had on your community.

Reflection from a Year 3:

During the initiatives session, we had to think of how Guides had impacted us thus far and I personally feel that Guides has made me physically stronger and I have made a lot of new friends through Guides. It has also taught me many values and soft skills that I will always remember and utilise in my daily life. After that, we had to draw things that represented energy. It could be something we were passionate about or something that gave us energy. This made me think about the things that were important to me and the things that I am passionate about. Next, we had to draw out a table and discuss about events and activities that we experienced throughout Guides and how they have impacted us and how we could improve such events. This included activities such as our annual hikes and annual camps. Lastly, we had 50 minutes to draw a mural on how Guides had impacted us as a patrol. Our patrol decided to draw a clean beach as we felt that Guides has taught us the importance of a clean environment, through the various VIA activities such as cleaning the beach. Even though this was different from our usual集合s, it was a nice change as we had the time to think about how Guides has helped us and what Guides means to us.

Hope that everyone enjoyed this 集合!

Published By:

Arielle

49th Batch Secretary