Skills Training, 8 February

Hello Guides!

On 8 February, we had another skills training session, this time aiming to improve the Guides’ physical standards, their bonds with each other as well as their initiative and leadership skills. At first, the Year 2s and 3s would be separated to do different stations, later combining together again for other activities.

Capture the flag

The first station is Capture the Flag, which the Year 2s will play first before switching with the Year 3s. The batch will be split into two teams and the goal of the game is to successfully bring the other team’s flag back to where the team’s own flag is. Flags have to be placed at both ends of the playing area. Each team will get either a duct tape or masking tape, taped onto the sleeve of their shirts. When the opposing team manage to tear off the tape on a member’s shirt, the member will have to go to the “jail”, which is “guarded” by the station masters. Members in “jail” will have to stay put for 1 minute before they are allowed to answer the question given by the station masters. If they answer the question correctly, they will be allowed to leave with a new tape. But if they fail to correctly answer the question, they will have to wait for another minute before they have a chance to answer another question. At any one point in time, not more than 4 people are allowed to protect their own flag, and must be 3 metres from their flag. Should anyone be seen engaging in rough play, the Year 4s will send them to “jail” as well.

Capture the Flag’s Flag

Reflection by Year 3s:

When we played capture the flag, we were split into two teams, each team wearing a different colour of duct tape on their sleeve, which the other team could attempt to tear off. My team had 4 people defending the flag at our “base” where the flag was kept to prevent it from being taken by the other team. We had a lot of fun playing this game and it was a good opportunity for our batch to bond during this 集合. When our duct tape is torn off, we would have to answer questions related to Guides asked by the seniors in order to get a new piece of duct tape. I also think this game allowed my team to have better communication, so we would know when we were supposed to defend our flag from the others. We also improved on our teamwork as we had to work together to keep our flag safe and attempt to capture the other teams flag.

In the capture the flag game last 集合, we were split into 2 groups outside of our normal patrols and got to work with others from our batch. This was a fun activity as it involved the competitive spirit among our batch and was a opportunity for us to bond. My team managed to discuss before the game started and decided to place the flag underneath cones such that it was harder for the opposing team to obtain the flag. I was proud that we could think ahead and foresee the possibility that out flag could be stolen easily in the open and hence thought of ways to counter this problem. As a whole, it was very interactive and could involved everyone from the batch as we each played different roles such as the defenders, attacker and peace makers! 

Physical Training

The second station is Physical Training(PT). In this station, the batch will conduct a series of PT outside the Media Resource Library(MRL). The PT, to be done in order, are as follows:

1. Run 3 rounds around the MRL
2. 20 burpees
3. Run 4 rounds around the MRL
4. 1 round of lunges along the MRL

Should there be anyone who cannot do any of these PT due to various reasons, it will be replaced with 2 sets of 30 buddha claps, 2 sets of 1 minute of 45 degrees leg raise, 3 minutes of 90 degrees leg raise or 20 squats.

Reflection by Year 3s:

On Friday, for the first part, we had PT. During PT, we at first had to run 2 rounds around MRL in  six minutes after doing some warm up. In my opinion, I felt that it was rather manageable and quite easy as the time given was reasonable. I was a little glad for the running as my stamina is usually very bad and this gives me a chance to train my fitness. However, during the second part where we had to do 1 perimeter of lunges was difficult and painful for me. I got tired pretty quickly but I told myself to push on. When we finally completed it, I felt a sense of achievement and satisfaction. In addition, I think that this PT station had enabled our batch to be closer as we cheered for one another along the way, keeping one another's morale up. Overall, I enjoyed this PT session.

Last Friday, we did PT consisting of 5 rounds of running around the MRL, 20 burpees, as well as 1 round of lunges around the MRL. The PT session was extremely tiring as it has been long since we last did PT be it as a batch or as an individual. However, I feel that this PT session has allowed our batch to be even more bonded since it was a batch PT.  During the PT itself, we cheered consistently and I felt that those cheers definitely boosted our morale while completing those PT. I felt there if given a choice, I would definitely want to have more batch PT sessions as we can be more bonded and more physically fit so as to go through tougher experiences such as PLTC together.

Inspection

After the two stations, the Year 2 and 3 batches will recombine to carry out the next activity, which is inspection. For the first part of inspection, they will have to layout their logistics according to the layout given to them. The next layout will be decided by themselves and the third layout would be a flipped version of the second.

After inspection, we had Thinking Day Contingent Practice in preparation for the upcoming Thinking Day.

Reflection by a Year 3:
We had our World Thinking Day contingent rehearsal today. I benefited much from this rehearsal as the last time I was in a contingent was last year's Uniformed Groups Day, and hence without this rehearsal, I would not be able to understand the commands given and the appropriate time to do some things like the checking and turning. Through this rehearsal, it refreshed my memory of the sequence of things to do during the contingent. I was also able to practise on my marching. I found this a very fun and enriching event, which was beneficial to not only me but many people to refresh their memory from last year's contingents.

Hope that everyone gained valuable experience from this!

Published by:

Hoong Yu Ning

50th Batch Secretary