Year 1 Induction and CNY Celebrations, 15 February

Hello Guides!

15 February was the day that the Year 1s joined us! We had multiple fun activities to welcome the Year 1s, as well as a ‘reunion dinner’ afterwards in celebration of Chinese New Year!

Performance

Before the Year 1s arrived, they had to have a briefing. During this time, the patrols had to plan a performance for them. The performance could be a skit, a song or a combination of the two. They also had to be related to Guides as they would serve as an introduction into what Guides is all about for the Year 1s.

Reflection by Year 3s:

On Friday, our new Year 1s came for the first time and each patrol prepared a skit/dance/song for them. Our patrol started by brainstorming ideas or whether we wanted to do a skit or a song. In the end we decided to act out ‘three little ducks’. 2 people were charge of the singing part and the rest were to act as the ducks. However, when we rehearsed the whole thing out, we realised that it was only 40 seconds which was quite short. Our Patrol Leader Raenn then told us to sing the song much slower and we added 'kookaburra’ and 'gako the frog’ in too. To make the whole performance seem more interesting we thought of saying out the lyrics of 'kookaburra’ word by word with each patrol member taking turns saying each word. Through this performance, I learnt that communication is important and only through communicating efficiently can we ensure that the performance goes well. I felt that there was one flaw in the performance which us suddenly forgetting the lyrics at a point of time. We should have recited the lyrics more often so that we will not suddenly forget the lyrics suddenly, like the Guides motto: be prepared.

During Friday’s 集合, we welcomed the new Year Ones by preparing a performance showing them what guides was like. We were given 20 minutes to think of ideas and practice before the year ones came. my patrol was very excited to meet the Year 1s and we wanted to put up a good performance for them. We decided to sing two songs with actions, which had relevant lyrics to our guiding journey. The first song we sang was “count on me” by Bruno Mars and we had changed some of the lyrics to fit the theme. Next, we chose the song “you’re a girl guide” with actions as it is a cheerful song about guides and we thought it would be suitable for our performance. We had a lot of fun deciding on and rehearsing the actions together and changing the song lyrics of “count on me”. Although I was slightly worried that I might forget the actions due to the short amount of time we had, I was still glad that we were given this opportunity to show the Year 1s a short fun performance to welcome them into Guides.

Treasure Hunt

After the performances, we had a treasure hunt! The Guides were given a set of clues which would bring them to different locations. At these locations, the Guides would either have to perform a task or answer a question, all of which would be related to Guides. As such, this was another opportunity for the seniors to teach the Year 1s more about Guides. The winning patrol of the treasure hunt would also receive a prize.

Reflection by Year 3s:

After the Year 1s arrived, we had a treasure hunt, in which we were required to find post it notes with questions or tasks and answer them to gain points. Along the way, we got to introduce the Year 1s to some of the basic things in Guides, such as the items in a 配备 and the PS in each patrol. I feel that this was a fun way for them to learn more about their new CCA. In addition, the treasure hunt provided us with an opportunity to bond and work together as we had to solve many riddles as fast as possible. Overall, I felt that the treasure hunt was very enjoyable and it's a great activity to break the ice. At the same time, we could bond more as a patrol and it provided us with a sense of pride and accomplishment whenever we completed a task. I hope we can have more of such activities in the future.

For treasure hunt, the Year Ones joined us and we were to find post it notes, and complete the tasks written on them. I feel that we did quite well as we managed to find quite some post it notes, and also tried our best. The year ones were quite cooperative and enthusiastic in joining in the activity, even when we taught them maboleh and chek chek goleh. Even though we were last place, it is the process that matters and not necessarily the result. It was also a great opportunity to get to know our Year Ones and interact with them as well as train our teamwork because the tasks had to be completed by most of our patrol. I feel that the Year Ones were not as shy as I thought they would be and the activity was very fun overall.

After the treasure hunt, we headed to the canteen to have something similar to a reunion dinner. There, we got to know some of the Year 1s a little better, and could discuss various topics with them.

Hope that the Year 1s had fun with us today!

Published by:

Hoong Yu Ning

50th Batch Secretary