Values-In-Action @ GSSC, 11-12 March 2024

Hello Guides!

During the March Holidays this year, on 11 and 12 Mar, Guides visited Good Shepherd's Student Care Centre for VIA. Different patrols conducted different activities with the children there, which include baking, crafts and carnival. Here are some reflections done by the Guides who conducted each activity. 

Baking:

One of the activities conducted was baking, where Guides worked together with the children at the centre to bake cookies, allowing them to meet new people and learn a new skill at the same time. 

Reflection from a Year 1 in P5:

During CCA in March for VIA, my batch mates and I went to Good Shepherd's Student Care Centre to teach younger girls how to bake cookies. I was very excited yet nervous to teach them as I would be a teacher for the first time! At first, we were split into groups to teach the different batches, and preparations were made by separating different ingredients and their respective amounts into cups. After that, we read the instructions one more time, and soon the juniors came. Throughout the whole process, the juniors were messy but the great news was that they were having fun mixing in all the ingredients.  They even got to wear gloves to mix the cookie dough into balls before popping them in the oven. My patrol and I were guiding them along, teaching them the specific instructions step by step. Even though sometimes, they did not really cooperate, we were still patient in guiding them along. The cookies that we baked were delicious and all the hard work had paid off. Even though my batch mates and I faced some challenges, we were glad that we could overcome them.

Reflection from a Year 2 in P5:

For the March Holidays Values In Action programme, we headed to Good Shepherd's Student Care Centre. During the preparation at Good Shepherd's Student Care Centre, we feel that communication could have been better as there was some confusion, especially due to the changes in the recipe. Nonetheless, the Patrol was able to start the Baking Session promptly. During the Baking Session for the Primary 4s, we noticed some forms of exclusion among the students. Furthermore, some students were unwilling to cooperate with us. We could have done better by trying to foster a more inclusive environment for the students and be slightly stricter with them if they were unwilling to listen. However, during the Baking Session for the Primary 5s, we managed to get them to cooperate and be patient with one another. Additionally, we managed to ensure that no one got left out during the baking process. Unfortunately, due to carelessness, some of the cookies got badly burnt. Nevertheless, the students were willing to share their cookies and no one left empty-handed. Overall, the Baking Session was a meaningful experience as we understood the importance of communication and inclusivity. 

Crafts

Another activity done by Guides and the children at Good Shepherd's Student Care Centre was Crafts, where Guides taught the younger girls some arts and crafts, giving them bonding opportunities. 

Reflection from a Year 2 in P3:

The Crafts VIA session we had on the 11th of March at Good Shepherd Student Care Centre was very enjoyable! At first, my group only had two people, including me. Our job was to teach seven little girls some crafts we had just learned. Unfortunately, the two of us had difficulty handling the children at first. We felt overpowered and overwhelmed as the girls were all incredibly energetic and loud. Luckily, one of my seniors joined us from another table. With her help, we managed to handle the kids better and bond with them over the crafts! Still, we faced some challenges. We realised that the instructions for the activities were too complicated for some of the children to understand. For example, making pipe cleaner petals was tricky for some of them. We were thus required to explain it over and over. Fortunately, some of the girls were able to grasp the concept quickly and help teach their friends, making it easier for us. The second activity, folding origami bookmarks, was simpler. The children could mostly do it on their own, which was great. We also got better organised as a group. We divided the tasks evenly and made sure each child got attention. This helped the children learn better and make lots of bookmarks. They even informed us that they would be giving these bookmarks to their friends and family! Overall, it was a really meaningful experience for me. I learned to be more patient and I hope that I had provided the girls with a fun afternoon. I look forward to the next VIA at the centre, and I hope I can help out even more next time.

Carnival

The last activity held at the centre was a carnival organised by Guides for the children, where they played different games and collected stamps in order to receive prizes.

Reflection from a Year 1 in P4:

On 12 March 2024, all the guides went to a childcare center to plan a carnival for the primary school students. When we reached the childcare center, we had to first make space for ourselves to set up the stations. To do this, we had to move the tables and benches in the canteen aside. After we completed the task, we had to go to our respective stations and start setting them up. My station was the mini bowling station. The bottles that the children were supposed to knock down contained a little water, just to stabilize it and not make it too easy for the students. Furthermore, we arranged it in a 3-2-1 arrangement. When the carnival started, the students formed a long line in front of our station and we had to give each group of players a time limit so that we would be able to let the kids at the end of the line have a chance to play! As I was running around, my energy was quickly drained and when Kayla saw that I looked tired, she told me to take a short break. After I took about a 5-minute break, it was time for the students to go back to class. As the students were sitting down in a big space in the canteen, we were asked to stand before them and their “thank you"s really warmed our hearts.

Hope everyone had fun during the past 2 days and learnt something new from the experience!

Published by:

Chin Yan Tong

55届 Secretary