Skills Training, 5 July 2024

 Hi Guides! Today we had our first Skills Training under the leadership of our Year 3s.

Reflection by a Year 2 in P5:

On the 5th of July, we had our first 集合 without the Year 3s. I was extremely nervous. I no longer had anyone to rely on or ask what to do when I’m clueless. Instead, I have to step up and lead the Year 1s. The thought of only depending and trusting myself and my batchmates scared me. I was definitely not confident in my leadership skills. When we collected logistics from 团部, it was really messy as we were not used to collecting logistics ourselves as a 团. Usually, we would rely on our seniors to pass us the logistics instead of taking the logistics ourselves. Additionally, we forgot a few logistics and were unsure whether we collected enough logistics. This is led to one, us taking extra logistics and two, more manpower needing to make a second trip to 团部. To make matters worse, we 过时 because there was not enough people to ask for time extension. I learnt that in the future, should we need to get more logistics, we should ask someone from a patrol with more than 1 person. As it was our first time leading the 团, it was really difficult to communicate when building the structures. We did not properly allocate the manpower. At one point, there were 3 Year 1s working on a shoe rack without any Year 2. I feel that we may have been too engrossed in building our own structures and hence were not aware of the Year 1s who needed assistance. In future 集合s, we should take note of the amount of manpower we have and allocate everyone properly. This way, we would be more efficient. Most of our lashes were loose and I feel that we should always check the lashes before moving on to the next step. For example, I failed to check the tightness of one of the A-架s. This caused the A-架 to come loose when we were tying the structure, leading to the structure becoming very unstable. Moreover, morale was lacking. I felt that we should have cheered more, which would help with our sense of urgency. However, towards the end, our sense of urgency improved and we worked slightly faster. On a more personal note, I felt that I tried my best to step up and shout louder. All in all, this was an extremely enriching experience of leading the Year 1s for the first time. Through this experience, I realised I have a lot to learn.

Reflection by a Year 1 from P3:

I eagerly met up with my fellow Guides for 集合 after school. Both my Year 2 patrol mates were on Medical Leave that day! It was just me and Cherise in my patrol other than the Year 3s. That was also the first 集合 to be conducted by the Year 3s! I was super excited to see my Year 3 seniors become the leaders of the 团. We were building Standard Structures that 集合. Some patrols were tasked to build a Baggage Rack while other patrols were tasked to build a Shoe Rack. We all 记-ed down the line to remember what logistics we needed to collect from 团部 and soon enough, we were back with all the logistics needed. We had a lot of 木 and we were all ready to start building. First, I started off by helping to tie the Tripods for the Baggage Rack. It took a while but I am proud to say that my Tripod lash was tied correctly and tightly. Then, I went to help the other Year 2s out to build the Shoe Rack. It was one of the first few times that I was building Standard Structures so a lot of the lashes that needed to be tied were new to me and I certainly learnt a lot of new skills that day! I was tying the lashes for the Shoe Rack for the rest of the time and it was actually very rushed, as the Year 2s had to teach me how to tie up the shoe rack and I even tied some of the lashes in the wrong orders. Although we did not manage to complete the Shoe Rack within the time given, and some of the lashes were quite loose, I felt that it was a good first try for me and there were a lot of things for me to improve on. Lastly, we ended off the 集合 by having Patrol Corner with the Year 3s from my patrol. Cherise and I shared a lot about what we did well, what we enjoyed, and what we could have done better, and I did a very thorough reflection on myself about that day. I feel that it was a great first 集合 with the Year 3s leading the 团 and although it was shorter than our usual 集合s, it was a very eye-opening and fruitful experience. I'm excited to continue my journey with the Year 3s as 领导层.