Patrol Activity, 8 April 2024

 Hi Guides!

Today, Patrol Activity was conducted, where patrols were able to bond with one another, and Guides were able to strengthen their hard and soft skills. 

Reflection from a Year 3 in P1:

During Patrol Activity (PA) on Monday, my patrol did Inspection. The first round of Inspection did not go very smoothly as it was the Year 1s' first time doing it, making them very confused and lost during the process. After taking some time to introduce them to the different items in the 配备, the next round of Inspection was done much faster and also within the time limit. Even though I felt that we could have still included the Year 1s more, I was glad that we improved. Next, we did gadgeting, where our task was to build a Shoe Rack, a 3-metre-tall structure, and a structure that resembled any organism. My patrol split up into 3 groups to focus on building each structure, but we were so engrossed with building our items that our logistics kept getting kapped by the seniors. Hence, we definitely should have looked after our manpower and logistics better and been more aware of what was happening around us. I also felt that I could have 报时-ed more throughout this activity as 2 members were already on Mouth Alert and the seniors had to keep reminding the rest of us to 报时. Overall PA was fun, but there were a few things I could have improved on like including the Year 1s, taking care of manpower and logistics better, and 报时-ing more.

Reflection from a Year 3 in P2:

On Monday, we had Patrol Activity (PA). We were told to build a creative structure. It was a box tower with a swing, which was something like the pioneering creative structure from the CCA Exhibition. We were given 1 hour 15 min to build it. The Year 3s were told to take turns being Patrol Leader (PL) every 30 minutes. We decided to start building with the frame. It took us 36 min to finish building both frames which should not be the case. Even though it was a PA, we should have worked faster with more sense of urgency. In addition, we also had to be reminded several times by Kei Wing to 报时. We should not have needed to be reminded to 报时 and we were too relaxed even though it was a PA. For future PAs, we will take note to work with a better sense of urgency.

Reflection from a Year 3 in P3:

The Patrol Activity on the 8th of April was really enjoyable. We were given twenty-five minutes to build a functional creative structure that represented our patrol. We got creative and built a tripod shoe rack with the number ‘3’, built using 短木, connected to the top half of the tripod. Overall, I think that we did well, although we could have worked faster. As the designated Patrol Second for the activity, I realise that I should have stepped up more. The 报时s and cheers coming from our patrol were frequent and I am proud to say that our Year 1s stepped up much more. Deciding to multitask, with one person tying the tripod while another building the number ‘3’ was a good idea and increased efficiency. In conclusion, the gadget was functional and we were all pleased with it. Afterwards, we moved on to inspection. We found it easier to work as a single patrol, as communication was clearer. This highlighted the importance of communication during inspections. I also learned that much time is wasted on panicking during inspections, reminding me to stay calm and focused. This was also the Year 1s’ first time doing Inspection. Through this session, I believe that the Year 1s now understand the importance of Inspection. Finally, we enjoyed playing games like Killer Game (werewolf), although the killers won, and Human Knot, which we found surprisingly easy. Overall, it was a relaxing and enjoyable day for everyone involved. 

Reflection from a Year 3 in P4:

During Patrol Activity (PA) on Monday, we were tasked to make a creative gadget. This time, we decided to venture out of our comfort zones and go for something less traditional. We decided to make a chair. This would consist of five 长木s as the backrest, 4 中长木s as the frame of the seat, 4 中木s as the legs of the chair, and another 2 中长木s as diagonals to hold up the structure. In the beginning, we did not think of how the structure would hold up, and thus we did not think of diagonals. Only when we started building the structure, did we think about the structural integrity of the structure and we decided to request for the 木 required for us to be able to tie diagonals onto the chair. We were granted the time to go back to 团部 to get two 中长木s for the diagonals. After making the creative gadget, we had to make a baggage rack. As we have not made one in quite a while, it was a refresher getting to make one once again. After that, we did an inspection. It was a chance for us to teach our Year 1s the different items that are meant to be in our 配备.

Reflection from a Year 3 in P5:

For this week’s Patrol Activity, we built a Kitchen Table. As this was the first time pioneering for our Y1s and one of our Y2s, we had to ensure that they first knew how to tie the lashes, as well as were aware of what we were going to do. To accomplish this we made sure that every step of the way someone was there to guide them through the process, and made sure to constantly check on them to make sure they were sure of what to do. Some other hiccups that we ran into included the fact that we had a hard time tying the tripod lashes tightly, which led to us having to 重抽 the lash many times which resulted in a lot of time being wasted. In the future, we will make sure that we are more familiar with our basic lashes in order to ensure that we can confidently tie them quickly and tightly. As some of our patrol mates had yet to do pioneering before and were relatively new to guides, we also had some trouble with making sure that our structure was tight as many of the lashes were loose. To improve our lash-tying skills we will ensure that we have sufficient practice during lash trainings, as well as teach our juniors the proper technique or tips to tie tighter lashes. Furthermore, at the beginning of the activity, we did not have a very high morale and our sense of urgency was lacking, which led to us spending a lot of time to complete the two tripods. In the future, we can make sure to 报时 and cheer more often in order to keep morale high and ensure we work quickly. All in all, this Patrol Activity was a very insightful and enjoyable experience and I have learnt many things that I will carry with me throughout other activities. 

Reflection from a Year 3 in P6:

During the Patrol Activity on 8 April, we were tasked to build a Baggage Rack and a Shoe Rack within 30 minutes. After the collection of logistics, we started building the structures. We allocated a Year 2 to build the shoe rack with 2 Year 1s, which we realised too late that it might not have been the best decision. Throughout the process of building the standard structures, our seniors have us a few tasks and decisions to make. One example is for us to choose between disallowing half the manpower we had from tying lashes, or every one of us using only one hand to tie for the next few minutes. We chose to disallow the use of one hand for everyone in the patrol and helped one another with the tying of the lashes. Through this PA, I learnt the importance of teamwork and team spirit. Without the effort put in by everyone in the patrol, we would not have been able to complete the structures. Overall, I think we did well in terms of working together, and communicating effectively throughout this PA.

Hope everyone had fun with their respective patrols today!

Published by:

Chin Yan Tong

55届 Secretary