Skills Training, 17 February 2023

 Hi Guides!

For today’s 集合, Year 2s and Year 3s had a Treasure Hunt. After that, our new Year 1s joined us and we played Pictionary and had Lash Training!

Treasure Hunt

Guides have to find their missing 配备 logistics in the Treasure Hunt and they will need to travel to as many stations as possible as a patrol to obtain all the logistics needed in 50 minutes.

Station 1: Creative Shelter

In this station, Guides have to use their surroundings and the provided logistics to build a shelter in 5 minutes. This station aims for Guides to express their creativity and be resourceful.

Reflection from a Year 2 in P1:

On Friday, we had 50 minutes to play different Stations Games around the school in order to get our 配备 logistics back. One of the stations we had to complete was the Creative Shelter station. For this station, we had to make do with our surroundings, and the minimal logistics we had to build a shelter for a rainstorm in 5 minutes. Some of the logistics we had were 2 ponchos, some Gadgeting poles and 白绳. So, my patrol came up with an idea and decided to use the 2 ponchos we had and tie them together. Then, we tied the four ends of the ponchos to the railing of the staircase and used a Gadgeting pole to support the structure in the middle. In the end, we managed to quickly build this structure in around 3 minutes. However, one thing that I think our patrol could have improved on was the tightness of our shelter. Our patrol could have probably tied the ponchos around the staircase railings tighter such that the ponchos would be taut and would be able to withstand rainfall, in the event that we happen to encounter one. All in all, this station allowed us to use our creativity and think of ways to build a structure with our surroundings and the minimal logistics we had, as well as to work together and bond as a patrol.

Reflection from a Year 3 in P1:

For the 集合 on the 17th of February, we played Station Games that were stationed around level 1 of the school and level 2 of the Year 3 and 4 blocks. For the first station, had to build a Creative Shelter to shelter our logistics from a strong thunderstorm, using the logistics we had, being the ponchos and the Gadget Poles, as well as make use of our surroundings. As the station was located near doors and a staircase, my patrol thought of many ways we could creatively make use of the surroundings. In the end, we decided to attach the ends of the ponchos to the railings of the staircase and put our logistics under it. We finished it quite fast, and we felt quite proud. However, the poncho seemed to be sinking downwards due to the angle we tied the ends to the railings. During the debrief, we also noticed that the opening in the poncho where the head was supposed to go was supposed to be tied up and face outside. Ours, however, was facing inwards. We understood that this may cause water to enter and collect water. As our structure was sinking down, it may collect water in an actual thunderstorm and collapse. We should have thought more about where we built it and anticipated these problems. On the bright side, from this experience, my patrol learnt a lot about what to look out for when building a Creative Shelter. 

Station 2: First Aid

In this station, Guides will have to treat a head injury, sprained ankle and fractured elbow. Guides will be able to recap their First Aid knowledge and improve their communication skills.

Reflection from a Year 2 in P1:

For the 17 February 集合, we were given 50 minutes to play some Station Games to get back our logistics, and then we welcomed the Year 1s to our CCA. For the second station of the Station Games, we had to help an injured patrol mate who had a head injury, an elbow injury, and an ankle injury, and we had to tie the different types of bandages on them. We decided that in order to get the bandages done faster, we should split up the work. While tying the bandages, we realised that many of us should brush up more on our Guides Knowledge, and especially our first aid knowledge, as it was mostly our Year 3s tying the bandages. We also could have had a better sense of urgency, as we would have to be fast when providing First Aid to an injured person. We also learnt that, our ankle bandage, was supposed to be tied in a figure-of-eight way, even though we should have known that already from before. In the end, our ankle bandage was not tight enough, as our Year 4 senior who we tied the bandages on said that it was extremely loose. Our head bandage was also not quite correct and was extremely loose as well. For the head bandage, the Station Master had to show us how to tie it. Overall, from this station, I leant how to tie the bandages and that tying them tight was important. I also realised that I should revise more on my Guides Notes, so that I can contribute next time. 

Reflection from a Year 3 in P4:

For Friday’s 集合, we had a Treasure Hunt consisting of multiple stations that we had to find around the school. For the First-Aid station, we would earn our First-Aid Pouch (FAP) and Survival Kit to put in our 配备 after completion. We did not have much time left by the time we arrived so this station was a little rushed. The story was that our Year 4 senior had fallen into a pond and had a sprained ankle, head injury and fractured arm. Three people in my patrol attended to one of the injuries each. We actually worked very fast and were done in a few minutes, which we were all proud of. However, we had done the head bandage in reverse order, and later the senior told us that the bandage was supposed to wrap under the chin first before going around the head. We also were reminded that the ankle bandage did not need to be started with a knot. This was actually quite an enjoyable station, but I think we definitely need to work on and practice our First-Aid skills more, which were not exactly up to standard. 

Overall this was a great way to revise these skills together with my patrol mates as we helped one another out throughout the station.

Station 3: Signal Fire

In this station, Guides have to use the 木麻黄 provided to light up a signal fire and sustain it for 3 minutes. Guides can revise their signal fire knowledge in this station and the Year 3s can also teach the Year 2s this new knowledge.

Reflection from a Year 2 in P2:
During Friday's 集合, as part of the station games, we had to build a signal fire. We sort of did it together with P5. Before we started building the fire, we had to list out the steps to build a signal fire. However, although we stated the steps correctly, we were completely clueless when it came to actually building the fire. We arranged the 原子炉 wrongly and the Year 4s had to step in. We also did not know how to light it and ignorantly wet the 木麻黄. Because of that, the signal fire would not light. This would not have happened if we had read up on the Guides notes properly before 集合 as we were told to do so. We think that we still remain largely ignorant of most of the things in the Guides notes. Especially since the Y1s have joined us, we think it is even more important that we are clear on the contents of the Guides notes. In the future, when told to do so we will read up more thoroughly on the Guides notes and familiarise ourselves with them. This activity helped us to bond with our patrol and also learn more about the basic skills that we are required to learn in Guides. 

Reflection from a Year 3 in P5:

During last Friday's 集合, we were tasked to light a signal fire. We started off quite slowly as we were unfamiliar with the steps on how to light a signal fire, thus we had to discuss among our patrol. When we finally remembered the steps and explained them to the seniors, we were allowed to start lighting our signal fire. We started by wetting the newspaper and placing 3 原子炉s on it, forming a triangular shape. Following that, we put dry 木麻黄 into the 3 原子炉s. Then, we used the matches to try and light the fire. We ensured that everyone in our patrol had a chance to try lighting the fire, and we kept our patrol morale high by cheering constantly and loudly. It was difficult in trying to maintain the fire and we could not hold it for 3 minutes. 

We could have improved by 报时-ing more as we had to be reminded multiple times by the seniors. Overall, it was definitely a fun experience as it is not often that we get to light signal fires, although we have some areas for improvement, like reading the Guides Notes more to familiarise ourselves with how to light a signal fire.

Station 4: Guides Knowledge, Survival Skills

In this station, Guides will have to find post-it notes on Guides Knowledge and survival skills and answer them. This station aims at revising Guides Knowledge and survival skills.

Reflection from a Year 2 in P3:

On 17 February, before the Year 1s came in, we had Station Games. The thing that was special about this Station Games was that we did not know the location of the stations, and we just attempted any station we could find. By completing a station, we could obtain items from our 配备. We managed to find 3 stations within the time limit of 50 minutes, and the last station we went to was Station 4, testing us on Guides Knowledge. First, we needed to look for post-it notes hidden around the area. There were 10 post-it notes in total, but we only needed to answer 5 correctly. We found 7 post-it notes within a short period of time. There were post-it notes testing us on survival skills, trekking signs, and the Guides Code. We were very familiar with the Guides Code and managed to solve it easily, which was great. We struggled slightly with survival skills, even though we managed to get the answers in the end. We had answered 5 post-it notes already, but since we had time left, the station master decided to test us on the post-it notes related to trekking signs. However, we were not very familiar with them, serving as a reminder to revise our Guides Notes. We still managed to obtain the items from our 配备 but we could definitely revise more on our Guides Notes in the future.

Reflection from a Year 3 in P6:

Last Friday, we had a treasure hunt for our 配备 logistics. At the Guides Knowledge station, we had to find 5 post-it notes out of 12 at that location with trekking signs or questions on it to obtain our 2 newspapers and our bag of 白绳. We found the post-it notes behind doors and pillars. One of the post-it notes we found asks us about the importance of food. We could remember that food was important in ensuring survival, however, we took a while to remember that food could also increase morale. Other than that question, the rest of the post-its we found were on trekking signs. The trekking signs that we were tested for were today’s midnight, 快，由此路前进, field and help. However, we were unable to remember the trekking sign for help and instead found another post-it with the trekking sign for field answered Becky, the station’s IC. Hence, I feel that we could have revised the Guides notes more and be more familiar with them. In this station, we did not 照顾好人照顾好东西. We let three water bottles and 配备 to be kapped. This was unacceptable as the Year 1s were going to join the CCA after the treasure hunt. Through this entire trasure hunt for our logistics, we learnt to have a higher sense of urgency when moving from one location to another as we did not know where the stations were but sill had to finish the stations in 50 minutes. Moreover, we could not ask for any time extension.

Station 5: Pioneering

In this station, Year 2s must tie 1 diagonal lash within 5 minutes and Year 3s must tie 2 square lashes within 6 minutes. This station aims to train Guides to tie lashes within standard timing and good standards.

Reflection from a Year 2 in P4:

During the Pioneering Station, the Year 2s were assigned to tie diagonal lashes and Year 3s were assigned to tie 2 square lashes. At first, we (the Year 2s) each took two 白木 and started to tie the diagonal lashes, but realised that we should be following the Year 3s, who only took 4 白木 to tie the 2 diagonal lashes, which used less 木. So we quickly put down a few of the 白木 and started tying the lashes. I think we should have had a better sense of urgency so that we could have done everything quickly, as we wasted some time placing some of the 木 back. I also think another thing we should have improved on was to plan out who to 重记 the timing, as there were multiple timings. We only assigned one of our batch mates to 记时 and thus made our 报时 less constant, and thus we had to be constantly reminded to. Our sense of urgency was also not meeting the standard. I think we should have also taken less time to tie the lashes, as we had to ask for time extension in order to complete our lashes, which should not have been the case as they are basic lashes and should be tied within the standard timing or even less. 

Reflection from a Year 3 in P3:

On 17 February, Friday, we had station games. One of the stations was Pioneering, in which each patrol had to tie different lashes to attach a few 青木 together. Each Year 2 had to tie a Diagonal Lash in 5 minutes, while each Year 3 had to tie 2 Square Lashes in 6 minutes. Throughout the activity, we had to first check for ways the 青木 could be attached together, such that it included all the lashes that needed to be tied. We cheered constantly to boost morale and 报时-ed to keep track of time, and ensure we did not 过时. Most of us managed to complete the lashes in standard timing, though some took longer due to having a lengthier string. This resulted in them taking a larger time to 绕, hence this could be avoided by having a greater sense of urgency should a longer string be picked. Overall, the activity was fun and enriching, as I learnt the importance of tying within standard timing, as it ensures we work at a greater speed and do not waste time that would otherwise be used more efficiently. I also learnt the importance of choosing the correct 麻绳, as picking the wrong one might cause delays. For example, picking a too thin 麻绳 might cause it to snap halfway, causing one to have to redo the entire process. Picking a too long 麻绳 might also cause one to spend an overly long time 绕-ing the 绳.

Station 6: Fireman’s Ladder

In this station, Guides will flip the Fireman’s Ladder.

Reflection from a Year 2 in P3:

When we first saw the Fireman’s Ladder (FML) on the ground, there were mixed reactions. Some of us went "oh no" while others said they were not going to flip. Meanwhile, I responded with excitement. Unfortunately, before we could even lift up the FML, a drizzle interrupted us, and we had to move indoors. After several relocations, we finally could start flipping in an area with a ceiling that was high enough. I flipped first, but once I flipped, I knew that something was wrong. Even though I had been able to reach the second spar from the first one, I felt my arm getting pulled when I vaulted over. The FML structure’s second spar was tied too high up, causing the spars to be too far apart. This resulted in difficulties flipping over and would also increase hazards, so we had to 重抽. By the time we finished adjusting the spars and 重抽-ing, we had long exceeded the time allotted for the station and had to move on to the next one. Before we left the station, we had to choose a forfeit for our failure to ”照顾好人，照顾好东西. Evidently, we had overlooked our other logistics such as water bottles and 配备 when we relocated and had caused the station masters trouble as they had to bring our logistics over for us.  In conclusion, it was an extremely eventful station game! We were reminded of the importance of being responsible, and also that communication was vital to progress.

Reflection from a Year 3 in P5:

Last Friday's 集合， we had Station Games before inviting the Year 1s into our company. While Ms Chang gave them a lecture on Guides, we were given fifty minutes for Station Games. Us, Patrol 5, and Patrol 2 travelled together to the Fireman's Ladder station. As our seniors have not finished building the ladder, the person in charge of that station instructed us to do physical training instead. We had to do two minutes of wall sit as well as twenty jumping jacks and fifteen burpees. We did the station together with Patrol 2. We started off with jumping jacks which honestly were much more tiring than I had expected them to be. Then, we had wall sit. I struggled a lot during the wall sit section. I wanted to give up halfway but persevered on. We finally completed it. However, we did not do the fifteen burpees. Instead, as the seniors have completed the Fireman's Ladder, one Year 2 and one Year 3 from each patrol were to flip. We had 3 minutes. We spent a lot of time deciding on who to flip, as a result, only one Year 3 could flip. I have learnt to have a better sense of urgency and build up my physical strength. 

Lash Training

Guides will teach the new Year 1s some lashes we tie in CCA. They will also use this time to know each other better and bond with one another.

Reflection from a Year 2 in P6:

We had a Treasure Hunt last Friday during 集合. We could only get the logistics in the 配备 when we finished the stations. One of the stations was Pioneering Lash Training. The Year 3s had to tie square lash and the Year 2s had to tie 1 diagonal lash within 6 minutes. We did not manage to finish our lashes as a patrol so we did not get our bag of 麻绳. We learnt the importance of working together as a patrol as it will affect our overall performance greatly. Our lashes could have been tighter and tied faster, even though most of them were finished within the standard timings. We were reminded multiple times to 报时 as we were too focused on our lashes. No time extensions were given for any of the stations as we had to be back in time before the Year 1s came. This made us work faster with a greater sense of urgency as we would not be able to get our logistics if we did not finish the station. Our 照顾好人, 照顾好东西 was not good as we left one of our 中木 at the station and did not realise that it was gone until everything ended.

Pictionary

Guides will play Pictionary using the objects found in the 配备. This allows the new Year 1s to bond and understand more about the activities we do in Guides as the Year 2s and 3s explain to them more about each object.

Reflection from a Year 3 in P5:

The last 集合, we had to play a game called "Pictionary" with our new Year 1s. We were all quite familiar with the game, as the rules are quite easy. The first person would be given an item from our 配备 and they would have to draw it in 30 seconds. Then, the drawing would be shown to the second person and they would have to draw based on what they saw and so on. Finally, the last person would be given 10 seconds to guess. This game serves as a fun way to introduce the items in our 配备 to the Year 1s as well as bond as a patrol. For our patrol, we got a 原子炉 as our first item. Although we managed to guess it, it was not very smooth sailing as the drawings were different. Then, we explained the uses of the 原子炉 to the Year 1s. For our second item, we got the First Aid Kit. This was relatively easy and we managed to pass through this very fast. 

It was a very enjoyable experience as it is not something you do every day in Guides. Although we did face some difficulties, such as the drawings changing drastically from the start to the end, we still managed to get it right in the end. This activity also highlights the importance of communication as a message can change when it's been passed around so it is important to give clear instructions.

Hope everyone enjoyed today’s activities!

Published by:

Yuanxin

54th 届 Secretary