Hi Guides!
The following are some reflections from the various patrol members for this week’s Patrol Activity.
Reflection from a Year 3 in P1:
On Monday, our patrol did Creative Gadgeting, with the goal being to expose us to unconventional structures. It was a simplified version of the Gateway structure, with the change being the box towers replaced with 3D frames. As our patrol had 5 people, the amount of manpower we had for this complex gadgeting structure had fazed me, even more so when I was appointed as the IC. This was an opportunity to try my hand at leading and managing manpower, something that was crucial for our small patrol. As the IC, I was not allowed to help with the lashes as I had to communicate with my patrol on the structure’s design as well as direct manpower quickly. One obstacle we faced along the way was the difference in height of the 中木, which was used as the rungs for our 3D frame’s ladders. This resulted in uneven ladders and the carbon copying process got tougher, but we managed to improvise along the way, partially because of the lack of time to re-tie the lashes. Communication got smoother afterwards, as we got used to the speed and sense of urgency needed. As the structure was huge and complex, we worked together to 报时 constantly to keep track of our time and progress. I had to look at the big picture once every few minutes to ensure that the frames coming together were stable and tight. Though our structure was not perfect, our efficiency and improvisations along the way made up for our losses. After this Patrol Activity session, I have realised that while our lashes are up to standard, we did take too long on certain lashes here and there, which is something to take note of. In the future, we can work on this to ensure we tie up to standard lashes in terms of speed.
Reflection from a Year 3 in P2:
During Monday’s patrol activity, my patrol did Lash Training. We tied square lashes and diagonal lashes. I think it was a good activity as we got to revise our lashes and ensure that they were up to standard, especially since the Year 1s will be joining us in 2 weeks. Afterwards, we built a flagpole and the outdoor fire altar. We were given 40 minutes to build both, so we split the patrol up into two groups to build one structure each for more efficiency. My group built the flagpole. It has been quite some time since we built a flagpole so it was a good revision on building it. I held the flagpole down straight onto the ground while someone else took the pacings. We then 打进 the 银钉 and prepared to pull the 麻绳. As I was the assigned PS for that activity, I had to look at the bigger picture and make sure that the 麻绳 pulled was of equal length and taut on all three sides and that the flagpole was still straight. Subsequently, we tied the 麻绳 onto the 银钉 with a clove hitch and then a half hitch, then 绕 the remaining 绳 on the 麻绳 itself. Once the flagpole was stable and could stand on its own, we had to attach the flag. It was our first time attaching the flag to the flagpole, so we did not know how to do it and our senior had to show us. First we needed to loop the 蜡绳 through the hoop at the top of the flagpole, then connect the flag to it using 八字结. Then to keep the flag up, we tied the rest of the 蜡绳 onto the flagpole by looping it through each other. It was interesting as we have never done this before. For the outdoor fire altar, since my group did not build it, we just tried to help once we were done with the flagpole and went over the steps to build the outdoor fire altar. We managed to complete both structures even though we had to ask for time extension quite a few times. After 拆掉, we sat down as a patrol and played charades. It was a fun bonding activity and I enjoyed it a lot.
Reflection from a Year 3 in P3:
On Monday, I met my juniors before Patrol Activity at the gsl benches. I had asked about them and how they were coping with being year 2s. After making some small talk, we headed to the area outside the hostel canteen and waited for the rest of my patrol and the seniors to arrive. The first activity was capture the 麻绳, and the patrol was split into 2 teams and we had to build a structure that could conceal our 麻绳 from the other team while we had to capture that of the opposing team. However, if one of us had managed to take hold of the opponents 麻绳, as long as we were tapped on the shoulder by an opponent while holding it, we would have to surrender the 麻绳. The first to be able to take hold of the other team's 麻绳 while still being in possession of their own would win the game. My team members and I were having a good time figuring out how to outsmart the opposing team by confusing them and complicating our structure and hiding our 麻绳 with a poncho. Eventually, faith had resorted to hiding the 麻绳 outside of our structure but within the vicinity. Everyone was laughing and both teams had their wins and losses. The next activity required us to build an Indoor Fire Altar, at which we had difficulty tying as we had to re-tie loose lashes which took up time; and the catch was that we had to do burpees to see the layout. Eventually, we resorted to doing the burpees exercise, but we still had the problem where our zinc plate kept slipping off the 中短木. The tripods were not equilateral and we had to keep asking for time extensions. After completing the structure and receiving feedback, we 拆掉'ed the structure and had debrief.I felt so much more bonded with my patrol, and I'm sure everyone had a good time.
Reflection from a Year 3 in P4:
During Patrol Activity on Monday, we did Fireman's Ladder for the first time. It was a fun yet fulfilling experience for me. We had lash training beforehand as it was very important for us to ensure that our lashes were tight since we were stepping on the spars to climb up the Fireman Ladder. When we started building, we had to 重抽 the lashes a lot of times because they were not stable and could not hold the weight of a person. From this, we learnt that tight lashes are important especially during pioneering. After doing the ladder, we had a chance to step up on it and flip. We had to 顶 the 木 when someone climbed up the ladder. Trying to 顶 the 木 is hard as the person climbing’s weight is on you but since there are other people helping to 顶 the 木，it was easier for us to hold the ladder up. When it went up, it was definitely scary as it did not seem that high on the ground but once i actually got up it was very scary. But nonetheless I still went for it and flipped over the ladder. Feeling the adrenaline rush through me when I flipped over was very fun. I would do it again and recommend it to other people too.
Reflection from a Year 3 in P5:
On Monday, we had two parts to the Patrol Activity. For the first part, we had station games. We had to look for post-its and answer the Guides related questions on it. It gave us a good opportunity to refresh our knowledge on Guides related questions not usually tested during 集合. We also had to sing the 团歌 and it was quite tough for us at first as it had been quite a long time since we last sang it and for the Year 2s, it was only their second time singing it. Overall, I found the first part of PA quite fun. For the second part, we did gadgeting. We had to build a shelter large enough to fit half of our patrol and it had to include the frames from the drawing given while incorporating elements of our own. We were also not allowed to tie a tripod or quadpod, which made it more challenging for us. For the first 15 minutes, only one person was allowed to look at the drawing and for the subsequent 15 minutes the person allowed to look at the drawing would change. For the first 15 minutes, we spent it tying the frames and trying to plan out how we wanted to build the shelter. We decided to connect the two frames together and add diagonals. We also tied a poncho to the top of our structure to create the shelter. In the end, the shelter could stand and fit half of our patrol, however it was not very neat and not the most stable. We felt that we could have had a better sense of urgency and looked at the bigger picture more. The tightness, neatness and speed of our lashes could have been improved much more as well, as some loose lashes on the diagonals definitely affected the stability of our shelter. Overall, the gadgeting activity gave us a great opportunity to step up more and improve on areas that we are weaker in before the Year 1s join us.
Reflection from a Year 3 in P6:
During Monday’s Patrol Activity (PA), my patrol did Fireman’s Ladder. We were required to collect 麻绳, sufficient helmets for the patrol, 青木, 红木, as well as a mattress. My patrol had to split our manpower equally to collect logistics since there were some logistics in 团部 and some were at the backstore. As we were tying the ladder, we would allocate our Year 2s to tie more lashes so that they could revise their standard lashes and improve on them. We would also 报时 more often for our patrol mates to hear and the Year 2s would also 报时 more without the need for the Year 3s prompting, which I think is a good improvement. Since we have not done Fireman’s Ladder in quite a while, this patrol activity allowed us to revise on how to build a Fireman’s Ladder, since we would usually only build it on the last PA. I also got to step up to ask for time extension more often as well as assist my patrol mates. I believe that this activity not only helped my patrol bond closely, it also allows us to understand how important teamwork is. We had to work together as a patrol to help 顶角 so that the structure was steady and would be safe for our patrol mates. We would also cheer one another on and encourage one another to do the Fireman’s Ladder. Even though some of us were afraid, we would still stand on the second step for a while and I think that it made me a bit more confident to do the Fireman’s Ladder in the future. Although this PA was a bit more relaxed as compared to Friday 集合s, we still managed to 报时 often and complete the activity as instructed, leaving enough time for everyone to climb the ladder. All in all, I definitely enjoyed this PA session and I do look forward to similar Patrol Activities in the near future.
We hope that everyone enjoyed themselves and bonded with their patrol during this week's Patrol Activity!
Published by:
Pok Jing
53 届 Secretary
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