Skills Training, 15 March

Hello Guides!

On 15 March, we decided to introduce Camp Development(Camp D) to the Year 1s! In this 集合, the Guides would have a miniature Camp D to introduce to the Year 1s what a campsite looks like as well as teach them about pioneering. Before that, however, they had inspection.

Inspection

The priority of this inspection is for the Year 1s to learn how inspection is done. Patrols will be doing 2 layouts. For the first layout, patrols will be laying out 配备 logistics. During this first layout, the Year 2s and 3s of the patrol will be explaining each step of the inspection and telling the Year 1s things to note during inspection, such as 照顾好东西、照顾好人 and standardisation.

For the second layout, the patrols will be laying out both the 配备 and the activity logistics. The Year 1s will layout the 配备 logistics by themselves. The appointed Patrol Leaders and Patrol Seconds will guide the Year 1s along if they need help. The Year 4s will guide the Year 1s if needed as well. As for the Year 2s and 3s, they will be laying out the activity logistics. This is for the Year 2s and 3s to practice doing inspection with logistics other than 配备 logistics and for the Year 4s to check if each patrol has taken the correct number of logistics.

Sufficient time will be given for each layout so that juniors can focus on doing inspection correctly and neatly, instead of doing inspection in a fast but messy manner.

Reflection by Year 3s:

Firstly, we had inspection. We were asked to layout items in the 配备 and then both 配备 and Camp D logistics. We were given more time than usual as it was the first time that the Year 1s had inspection. We tried our best to teach the Year 1s things to take note of and how inspection works as well as lay out the items within the time limit. I think that it is important to teach the Year 1s about inspection so that they will be able to quickly familiarise themselves with it and know the aim behind it, which is to layout all logistics so that we can easily see what we have when it is arranged neatly. Next, we had to layout all 配备 and Camp D logistics. A difficulty that we faced was having insufficient space to layout the items. I think we could have had better communication amongst patrols so this problem could have been avoided. We also could have planned ahead and started each patrol’s layout according to how much space we would need by estimation. Another problem we faced was that we did not listen to the instructions given across patrols during inspection as we were too noisy. Hence, we should have quietened down to listen to one person who is explaining the layout. Due to the lack of efficient communication, we had to ask for a time extension.

For the inspection, we did not do very well and we should have given more opportunity to the Year Ones to have hands-on experience. We were first given a time limit of 10 minutes to teach the Year Ones how inspection worked and laying out the 配备. I feel, as PS, I should have stepped up more and be louder, as well as let the Year Ones do the placing of logistics more. After that, we were also did the inspection again with the logistics needed for building the kitchen table, shoe rack and dome tent and only the Year Ones were allowed to touch the items from the 配备 in order to make sure they got the experience of doing inspection. We should have had more foresight when laying out the logistics as we later had to move the layout because of lack of space. Some items also got kapped and it showed our lack of awareness. We also didn’t manage our time good enough and it resulted in us needing more time than would have been necessary and thus needing time extensions.

Mini Camp D

After finishing inspection, the patrols will start on their mini indoor campsite. Each patrol will build one Kitchen Table, one dome tent and one shoe rack. Patrols will be given 55 minutes to complete their structures. The Year 4s will be leading and instructing the patrol, while the Year 2s to 3s focus on guiding the Year 1s on building.

Reflection by Year 3s:

Next, we built a dome tent, shoe rack and kitchen table. Due to our lack of manpower, our patrol built the structures quite slowly. We found it difficult to complete the kitchen table especially as we had insufficient manpower. However, we tried our best to work quickly and tried to split manpower so we could at least finish two of the structures. Towards the end of the time limit given, other patrols came over to help and we were able to complete our structures with their help. I think it is important that we learn to work as efficiently as possible especially when there is little manpower. For example, we could have divided tasks for patrol members to complete to reduce the number of people not doing anything. Pairing up Year 1s with Year 2s would also help the Year 1s to learn along the way as we complete the structures as the Year 2s can explain and walk them through the steps. We also had to ensure that the Year 1s who were relatively unfamiliar with the structures, could understand what we were doing and learn along the way. We spent more time building the structures but this also allowed us to teach the Year 1s step by step.

For the building of the dome tent, kitchen table and shoe rack, I feel that we did not have enough sense of urgency at the start which caused us to use too much time to do stuff which should have taken much lesser time to finish. We also got to learn how to build the dome tent as we were quite unfamiliar with how to set it up. We only managed to finish building the kitchen table after quite some time extensions. I feel we could have 报时 and cheered more to boost morale and prompt ourselves to do things faster. We also could have tied tighter lashes as lashes are important in making sure the structure is stable and if it was too loose, we could have been injured thus it is important and it is a thing we could have done better.

Reflection by Year 3s on the overall 集合:
On Friday, we had inspection, followed by building of dome tent, shoe rack and kitchen table. For our first inspection, we were given 10 minutes to lay everything out so that we will have time to teach the Year 1s more about inspection. However, I feel that in a rush to try to get everything done correctly and efficiently, I had neglected my Year 1s and left my Year 2s to introduce them to inspection. I feel that I could have improved in this area. We then had inspection for all our logistics. This time, it was much more rushed and chaotic, hence due to the noise, we could not really hear what the person giving us information on where to put our things clearly. This led to us working slower and overrunning. In addition, my sense of urgency could be improved and I could have been more aware of the logistics needed as my patrol took three extra gadget poles, resulting in some patrols not having sufficient gadget poles. I think that I should have been more aware of my surroundings and realised this mistake which had caused much confusion for everyone. Afterwards, we were to build the various structures. I was tasked to help with the kitchen table. While building, I was given the opportunity to talk to my Year 2s and tie the required lashes quickly at the same time. I felt that not only had I bonded more with my juniors but I was also given the opportunity to familiarise myself with this structure that we will be building during PLTC. After completing the structure, I felt very accomplished and satisfied as I felt that I had worked rather quickly. However, there is still rooms for improvement as I could have ensure that the tripods were facing each other directly so that the table board need not be put at an awkward angle. Overall, this 集合 was rather meaningful and enjoyable.

Through inspection and the building of the shoe rack and kitchen table, it made me step up more as I needed to lead my juniors. The building of the structures also allowed me to refresh my memory on how to build them, which would benefit me greatly as PLTC is coming, and I barely got to build a kitchen table these 2 years, so I had managed to take away much from this 集合. Sadly, the dome tent my patrol took was damaged and there were no more dome tents left for us to replace with, so we did not get to build them, which was a pity. Our patrol was the first to complete everything, so we were proud of ourselves upon completion.

Hope that this 集合 gave the Year 1s valuable insight into how to carry out inspections and build a mini campsite!

Published by:

Hoong Yu Ning

50th Batch Secretary