Hello Guides,
For today’s 集合, the Year 1s and Year 2s were doing Badgework while the Year 3s were participating in the WAGGGS (World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts) activities. This year's theme is“#GirlsSpeakUp” to enable Girl Guides and Girl Scouts of all ages to have their say in our global youth consultation in celebration of International Day of the Girl 2022. We were very excited to share our feelings and thoughts through this activity today. After that, we had Mass Games.
Badgework
Basket-maker Badge
The Year 1s and Year 2s had to weave a basket by themselves using different materials to earn this badge.
Reflection from a Year 1 in P1:
On Friday, we did badge work. One of the badges that we had to earn was the basket-maker badge. To get the Basket-maker badge, we had to make 2 baskets or mats which include weaving. As I only brought stationery, I had to borrow materials from my patrol mates and our supplies were very limited. Hence, I found it difficult to make the baskets and mats especially since they had to include weaving, which is something I do not do often. However, after watching the videos shown to us, I practised and quickly picked up on how to weave. After learning how to weave with paper, I made a mat. I also folded the paper multiple times to make it sturdier and longer-lasting. I recalled how I used to fold paper boxes at home and made a waste-paper basket. In addition to that, I taught my patrol mates how to make the waste-paper basket. At the end of the badgework, I managed to complete the task and earned the badge. All in all, I feel that this activity allowed me to improve my crafting skills and creativity. This also allowed me to bond with my patrol mates. I had a lot of fun earning the basket-maker badge.
Reflection from a Year 2 in P4:
On 12 August, I went back to CCA after resting for 2 weeks after getting Covid-19. During CCA, we did Badgework and then played Mass games. We completed the Basket-maker and the Handicraft badge. For the Basket-maker badge, we were required to make 2 products, with at least one of the bases hand-woven. I made a mat and a basket, with the mat being hand woven. The mat was made of recycled newspaper and a basket of plastic straws. I had never weaved anything before, and thus weaving the mat was my first experience for me. It was quite hard at first, but I slowly got used to it and could weave faster. However, we only brought scissors, tape, glue and colouring materials, when we also needed newspaper and plastic straws. Hence, we had to borrow from other patrols. This reminded us of the importance of sharing and giving, especially because we were on the receiving end. All in all, completing the Basket-maker badge was fun and fulfilling.
Reflection from a Year 1 in P6:
Last CCA session, on the 12 of August, we did Badgework and played games after we were done with Badgework. For Badgework, we were told to fulfil the requirements for the Basket-maker and Handicraft badge. I enjoyed completing both the badges but I enjoyed the process of completing the Handicraft badge more. We had to make an ornament and a useful item each to fulfil the requirements to get the Handicraft badge. We only had a limited number of straws and newspapers to work with so it was challenging to complete the tasks. When making the ornament and the item, I had to be very patient because the straws could not stay in place and I had to redo it a few times. Through this week's Badgework activity on Handicraft, I realised that Handicraft can help to stimulate creativity and imagination, encourages communication and socialization, increases the capacity for concentration, encourages participation and teamwork and reduces stress and anxiety. We were also a bit confused with the instructions given so we consulted the friendly seniors who answered all our questions patiently. In a nutshell, I enjoyed the Badgework activity and learnt a lot from it.
During this activity, we unleashed our creativity by using materials such as plastic and newspapers to make a hand-carried bag, a mat and an accessory by weaving the materials together. At first, we did not know how to weave the materials together and we did not have that many plastic straws like other patrols. So we decided to use recycled paper for the hand-carried bag and mat. For the boxes, we cut the paper into strips and pasted them in an overlapping and repetitive manner which was considered weaving and we did the same for the mat. For the accessory, our patrol used a plastic straw or plastic bottle to make either a ring or a bracelet, and folded it or pasted things on it so that it looks like weaving. Even though we faced some difficulties as we did not know how to weave with the materials at first and because of the time, we still managed to make decent products and were able to receive the Handicraft Badge. This activity was really fun because we got to sit down and chat with our patrol mates which were different from the other 集合s. Not only that, but we also bonded with other people from other patrols. In a nutshell, this Handicraft Badge activity was fruitful as we learnt to make stuff out of recycled materials.
WAGGGS
For WAGGGS, the Year 3s sat in a circle to discuss how International Day of the Girl (IDG) has empowered girls and young women to shape the world they want to see. Year 3s will be able to live out the theme of this year’s IDG and inculcate the same values in the Y1s and Y2s by being role models for them.
Youth Consultation
For Youth Consultation, Year 3s discussed what Girl Guiding meant to them and what skills, topics and issues they would like to explore at Girl Guides that they think would be handy for you as you grow older. The feedback was also passed on to WAGGGS to inform the initiatives that WAGGGS develops for the future to ensure that Guides is a truly girl-led Movement.
Reflection from a Year 3 in P4:
On Fridays 集合, we did WAGGGS activity, which is Youth Consultation, where we had to come together as a batch and decide some things we wanted to achieve before we step down. Every patrol had to say a few things and together as a batch, we looked through some of the things we wrote and recognised each other's goals and dreams in CCA. This is a very meaningful activity as we set up some goals we wanted to achieve at the end of our 领导层 and we could work towards that goal together after that session. I am grateful we had the opportunity to sit together and work out our goals as it is extremely important for us, the Year 3 batch, to know very clearly what we needed to work on as we take over the CCA. Furthermore, we could target each batch's weaknesses and work on them so we can plan more meaningful CCA sessions in the future. This Youth Consultation was meaningful as I could recognise the other batch's weaknesses so that our CL and ACL could talk to us and communicate as a batch as we are lacking in communication as a batch. Hence, with this youth consult, it made us better leaders and we are clearer about what we need to improve on as we just stepped up as 领导层, and we are still very unsure of how to smoothly plan out CCA sessions for our juniors so that our juniors can have a fun time but still keep up the standards for their future batches to come. I would love to have another one of these opportunities to have meaningful conversations with my batch mates as we rarely have the time to come together as the whole batch due to other priorities and this hinders us from executing our well-thought-out 集合 sessions.
Some of the Year 3s volunteered to improvise a scene. The setting of this scene is that Guides are at a party and the story is completely up to them. Afterwards, Guides have to act out the same scene but be uncomfortable and scared the second time and feel safe, confident and brave for the last time.
Reflection from a Year 3 in P1:
For our WAGGGS package activity last Friday, we played a handful of games to get different messages across the batch, and one game that stood out was the “Three Scenes” game. Our batch mates would sit in a circle, surrounding the five performing volunteers. The three scenes had the same description of “being at a party”, with the differences being how the volunteers have to act differently in each round. The first round was a normal party scenario, where the volunteers danced together and fought each other. I thought this was a very common party scenario, where there are fights and dancing at a party. The second scene had the volunteers acting out “being scared and timid” in the party scene. The volunteers would huddle together away from others, looking frightful at the aspect of communication. To me, this scene was well played out with the focus cantering around “introverts” and “fear of communication”. The third and last scene had the volunteers acting out “being safe and brave” in the party scene. This time, I volunteered to act out the scene albeit a little timidly. I thought of what made one “safe and brave” and decided to initiate some swaying as part of our acting. It was meant to come off as “being comfortable with others”, but from the outside, we looked like “drunks swaying together”. After the acting out of the scenes, the reflection questions had us thinking about the purpose of the game. “How did the different scenes make you feel?” The purpose was to encourage an environment where one would feel safe and brave, tying in line with our WAGGGS package activity purpose. I believed that this WAGGGS activity package was an eye-opener for my batch, and with a solidified pledge in mind, we will strive to be better 领导层 by first “allowing anyone to share their opinions freely in a safe and brave space”.
Year 3s are to think about what Girl Guiding means to them and have to reflect on how Girl Guiding makes you feel and what they have learned in the Movement. As a group, Guides had to decide on a creative way you want to convey their answers and present them to their batch and explain their answers.
Reflection from a Year 3 in P5:
I enjoyed planning and acting out a commercial about how we feel about Guides with my patrol mates. It was really fun as we brainstormed on how to act out what we love about Guides, as well as how we have grown and learnt new skills in guides. We acted out a commercial where we interviewed each other on a few questions— what Guides mean to us, what Guiding has taught us, and what we feel about Guides. The activity allowed us to bond as a batch, understanding our opinions and thoughts about Guiding. We chose to do a commercial, and make it a humorous one, to engage and capture the attention of our audience. It was also fun to act these scenes out in a comedic way that would resonate with our audience, making the performance more interesting and engaging to the audience. We talked about how guiding means sisterhood, a home for all of us, as well as how proud we are to be in this “family”. We also shared the skills we learnt, such as Gadgeting, Pioneering, First Aid etc. The audience seemed entertained through our skit so it was likely a successful performance. Moreover, we were able to link all three questions in a connected storyline, so I feel that the overall storyboard was done well. However, one area of improvement could be our improvisation and coordination through more thorough planning of the stage actions and script, to deliver a more smooth and organised performance. The element of commercials could also have been stronger. This could be done through making larger and more expressive movements, or speaking in greater varied tones. Overall, the activity was quite new and I liked how we were given the opportunity and guide to reflect more on what our Girl Guiding means to us, beyond just a CCA, thereby reinforcing our purpose and motivation to lead as 领导层 by organising activities for the company.
Roll Up to Speak Up!
Guides have to come out with a big list of skills that they would like to learn through Girl Guiding as well as a list of topics or issues they want to learn more about and take action to improve by discussing in their small groups the 5 categories: Teamwork skills, Interpersonal skills, Practical skills, Personal skills and Local or Global issues.
Reflection from a Year 3 in P2:
Through the activity, “Roll up to speak up”, I was given the opportunity to think about the different skills I would like to develop in the future in Girl Guides as well as how I should go about doing so. I was given interpersonal skills and I found this skill very apt to my now situation as I am now part of the 领导层, for us, it is important to always maintain good relationships with the juniors and also be strict enough to keep up the standards. After the round of sharing, I realised that many of my batchmates had the same thought as I did and we were all curious as to how to be a better senior to aid our junior’s growth. As such, we brainstormed together and through the discussion, I obtained some very interesting ways to develop this very important skill. Without this activity, I might not have thought of such ideas and thus, I found this discussion extremely useful. After discussing within our small groupings, we gathered together as a batch and summarised our discussion to other groups. Some of the ideas provided by my other batch mates were interesting and possibly effective in helping our juniors to grow. This sharing also allowed me to understand some skills that my batchmates hope to develop and how they hope to do so. These skills that we plan to develop will be useful for our 领导层 journey as we are still considerably new to this role. Through this, I will know how to help them with developing their desired skills and be able to do so when planning future sessions for my juniors. Hence, I found this discussion activity extremely useful as usually we would not have time to sit down and brainstorm about such things as a full batch.
Pledge Making
As leaders, Year 3s made a pledge today that when they plan their Girl Guide activities they will #ListenToGirls so they can make sure that their activities are always Relevant, Exciting, Accessible and Learner-Led (REAL).
Reflection from a Year 3 in P6:
On last friday’s 集合, the Y3s had taken a part in this year’s WAGGGS (World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts) activity pack, which was to promote the involvement of girls and girl-led movements through Guiding. The activities were centered around providing a safe and comfortable environment in which girls would be able to voice their opinions and be confident, which I felt was very meaningful in its contributions to modern, healthy feminism. Through these activities, we could bond as a batch and strengthen friendships through our discussions and activities in which we could be honest and be ourselves. One of the last components of the WAGGGS activity we had done that day was the Pledge To Keep It R.E.A.L that we had to make, which was to promote a safe environment for girls to thrive in Girl Guides. While Company Leader Chloe and Assistant Company Leader Hui Ning had to do a slightly different pledge, my batchmates and I had to come up with the values that we would adhere to in providing a safe girl-led space for fellow Guides. When I was notified that our pledge would be sent in video form to the WAGGGS Headquarters, I decided to put in more sincerity in whatI truly believe in.Now that I have stepped up as 领导层, I ultimately felt the responsibility to be supportive and take care of my juniors. Personally, this was an affirmation for me to become the best senior that I can be in my leadership journey, and it motivated me to do better for the sake of my juniors. From now on, I hope that my juniors can feel safe and comforted in the Guiding environment, and I will do my best to be there for them as a senior.
Mass Games
Mass Games played were Scissors-Paper-Stone game and 老鹰捉小鸡. These games allowed Guides to bond with different batches and different patrols. The games were fun and helped to make Guides more enthusiastic and have an enjoyable time.
Reflection from a Year 1 in P2:
On Friday, we played Mass Games. It was the first time we ever played Mass Games so we were very excited. The first game we played was Scissors-Paper-Stone game. If you lost to someone in a game of Scissors-Paper-Stone, you would have to get in line behind them. However, there was a twist. Before playing, we had to say “left left right right front front back back” while jumping in that direction. Only then could we play the game. We also could not play against people from our own patrol and/or batch. This allowed us to interact more with people from other levels and patrols and bond with them. In the last round of this scissors paper stone, Yanching won. The second game we played was 老鹰捉小鸡. We got to play 3 rounds, with different patrols and including one round with our own batch. The year 3s also joined us in both games. It was very fun though we think we spiralled so much that we got very very dizzy. It was chaotic as we were running in circles for minutes straight, and we also struggled to keep up with the speed of the people in front of us. This game also helped us to bond with other patrols. However it was still a very fun experience overall.
Reflection from a Year 2 in P5:
During 集合 last friday, we played two games within the 团 and our batch - a Scissors-Paper-Stone game and 老鹰抓小鸡 respectively. For the Scissors
-Paper-Stone game, we were required to play Scissors-Paper–Stone with people who were neither from our patrol nor our batch. The loser would have to stand behind the winner and as the game continued, more lines would be formed. Eventually, there would only be two lines left, and the people at the front of both lines had to play Scissors Paper Stone with each other. The winner of the Scissors Paper Stone would then be the overall winner in the 团. The game was very thrilling and we had a lot of fun playing it. Moreover, it was a great opportunity for us to step out of our comfort zone and interact with seniors and juniors who we have never spoken to before. The second game, 老鹰抓小鸡, was played within our individual batches. We were split into three groups, each group consisting of two patrols. It was an exciting game as we were given the chance to bond with our fellow Year 2s from other patrols. There was also a lot of cheering and laughter, hence we felt that the morale was very high. All in all, everyone had lots of fun playing both of the games as well as interacting with one another. This was definitely an amazing and memorable experience which has allowed us to become closer to Guides from the whole 团.
Published by:
Yuanxin
54届 Secretary
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