Pionering Course

Hi guides (:

Last Saturday, a team of 6 guides took part in the pioneering course organised by our school's Scouts troop. We have decided to share our experience with you.

During the first part of the course, we attented a lecture on some basic but important pioneering skills conducted by the ventures. We were thought how to handle a pioneering project successfully as well as some basic lashing and structures of a pioneering project.

Following that, we went on to build a tower which we had designed a few days beforehand with the help of the rovers. We started off by tying the main component of our tower, the two yellow spar tripods. After that, the most challenging was the interlocking of the two spar tripod to make an hourglass shape as can be seen in the photos below. Despite that, with the help of the rovers, we managed to get the principle structure of the tower up. Thereafter, we added on other parts to our tower, including a platform and rope ladder, which we had much fun constructing.

After 5 hours, our tower was finally completed. Although there were many flaws and improvements that could have been made on the tower, we were all proud of the tower as it was our first time handling and leading a pioneering project (:

Reflections from the y2s who attended the course:

Through this Pioneering Course, I feel that we have really benefitted a lot and learnt many new skills normal 集合-s cannot teach us. Firstly, during the lecture, I learnt that triangular structures are more stable than other structures, therefore I will be able to apply this concept to structures tied using gadget poles in the future. Also I learnt how to hit Arthurs into the ground at the correct angle, so that the spars will not be given any chance to ‘fly’ and hit anyone.

From the Rovers, I learnt that sometimes, when we have suggestions or comments for improvements, we should not keep them to ourselves but voice them out so that we can all learn fro each other. If we do not raise our comments to the ones tying the lashings or doing other things, they may have to redo what they have spent much effort doing after realising their mistakes or realising there could have been a better way to do what they have done. Flexibility is also very vital and we should openly accept criticism or new ideas. When things go wrong, it does not matter if we change ideas to salvage the situation. This is similar to how we improvise things during集合-s.

I trust that all six fortunate Guides have learnt many new skills today and that those skills will aid them in their future endeavours. The Rovers should really be thanked for their patient and kind teachings and help given to the construction of our hourglass tower. They have also provided us Guides with filling lunch, cold drinks and even dinner! Today has indeed been a fruitful day and I do not regret taking part in this meaningful course.

Below are some photos:

Our tower design

In the lecture theatre

DHS scouts' competition piece

Swing by scouts

Our completed tower

The y3s feel that this has been a great exposure and experience for us, especially since it will come into use during future pioneering activities as well as ideas for our juniors' activities.

We have learnt about having situation awareness as pioneering requires much flexibility and observance to surroundings, to successfully create and build a structure. We had to think on the spot frequently and improvise on certain items, such as the platform, to build the tower. During the spand of building the structure, we also learnt many hard skills, such as using arthurs to stabilize our structure and building a good rope ladder.

The y3s are proud of the y2s as well, in being cooperative and ready to learn during the course of pioneering as this is in fact, a brand new activity to them. We have seen how things are possible if we believe in ourselves. Despite the structure being challenging and difficult to build, we managed it in the end. The y3s hope that all guides will have a similar mindset for hike, ATC and all guides activities to come. Impossible is nothing! (:

Lastly, we would all like to thank the following people:

Guiders and Scouters, for giving us the chance to take part in this course;

Rovers, Wei Xuan, Rui Yang and Hua Zhou for their guidance and suggestions before and during the course of pioneering;

Scouts QMs, Ming Quan and Thomas, for helping us with our logistics;

Scouts PLs, Yu Hao and Beng Haun, for their suggestions and help with the tower design

Obstacle Journey

A post by a y2 about last week's OJ:

Hi Guides!

Last Friday, we had our first OJ where the year twos will lead the year ones before ATC.

We exceeded the 13minutes allocated to us for mass change. This is a reminder to us all that we should take note of the time limit and not exceed it. A time limit is there for a purpose, it is there to make sure that everything goes on smoothly according to the timetable on proposal, so there will not be delays in the planned activities. One for all and all for one. Should one guide be late, everyone will also be detained.

For my patrol, our first station was at the red tile area. We were instructed to set up as many emergency shelters as possible in 3 minutes. We spent a lot of time discussing what to do. In the end, we hurriedly draped our ponchos over benches. It was not ideal, because rain still can enter it, and that will defeat the purpose of a shelter. We should learn to communicate faster the next time, and have constant baoshi. Next we did caterpillar walk with alternate people blindfolded. We were supposed to follow the trekking signs around. Although I was blindfolded, I felt that I could have helped to raise the morale by cheering. Also, being blindfolded also let me learn to trust in my patrol mates in leading us along.

Then, we proceeded to the second station – electric fence and fire lighting. One of the main problems we encountered was trying to bring our stuff along across without getting kupped. This taught us to be always on constant vigilance of our surroundings, and our belongings. For the firelighting, though we managed to set up a fire quickly, we forgot to wrap the handle with wet newspaper. This might lead to burns on our hands should we grab the metal handle after firelighting. This precaution is necessary and we must never repeat the mistake again.

The third station was along the linkway between the senior high and junior high blocks. Here, the focus was on first aid. Many of us could not build a standard stretcher and I feel that this is something we should work on before camp.

The fourth station was the pt station. Here, one main thing I realized was the power of cheering. In future when we are feeling down and tired, we should start cheering to raise our morale and spirit to urge us on.

This OJ gave us year twos a chance to lead the year ones before ATC. We hope that we will be able to lead the year ones better and make sure everyone is involved during ATC.

Jiayous!

Dear Guides, here is a blogpost by a year2 on last week's activity :)

Last Friday’s jihe was very interesting- we had PT-cum-firelighting, we were tested on some first aid skills and the guides code as well.

P8 was combined with P7. Although my patrol was outnumbered at the first station, we still tried our best to intercept the ball when we played. The game was strenuous, and it definitely required us to be alert, focused and we had t make sure everyone coordinated. After every 5 minutes, we had to stop the game immediately and do 5 pumpings on the spot. The fastest person will then proceed to answer a question about firelighting which was tested by the station masters. In the end, my team lost, but we still had lots of fun at that station, and I believe the questions asked really tested whether we studied and understood our notes.

Our second station was outside the 3H classroom. We had to zhan ma at one end, and each time, there will be people taking turns to run out to a station master at the other end, where we would pick out a maximum of 3 very random words(e.g. big twigs, giraffe, ATC etc.) we had to form a storey involving the words that we picked. After around 10 minutes, someone was to volunteer and go the other end again, and she would have to do leg-raise. The rest of us had to commando crawl to her. We were then told that she got burnt in a fire, and her watch(represented by a roll of masking tape) had melted on her hand. We had 2 minutes to think of a way to help her, and our patrol was at lost. I feel that this should not be the way- we should not have taken for granted and just studied firelighting- instead; we should have been clear on our first aid too.

We then proceeded to our third station, which was at the pltc 09’ campsite. I was the PL for this station, where I had to give certain instructions. In this station, we had to dig a pit for outdoor cooking. We started off with PT first, where we had to do kallang wave pumping until 100. During the firelighting part, we had to dig a pit. It was my second time doing this, but it was a first for the year1s.

For our fourth station, we had to run up to the fifth storey balcony. The station masters required us to set up a fire using yuan zi lu and yuan zi la. We had to boil water after that and we had to ask for time extension. As the newspaper were not entirely wet, when we were jihe-ing, both patrols’ newspapers caught fire. Fortunately, the fire was put out in no time. it was indeed a lesson learnt, and we promised to be more careful next time. then for PT, we had to ding leg raise 90 degrees, and after each minute, we had to ding in 45 degrees for 10 seconds before returning back to 90 degrees again. This was to be done within 10 minutes. At the same time as well, each pair would take turns to run one round around the level.

At last, at our fifth station, we had to set up a fire using kindlings. My juniors were responsible and they picked the really dry kindlings, much to our favour. Thanks to them, our fire got set up really quickly and it did not extinguish at all. We took turns to keep the fire going, at the same time, we had to boil an egg. In this station, we could really see the patrol spirit. Helping to blow the fire no matter how breathless we already were, or even when we were tearing. Although there were only 4 of us, we were told that our fire was the best, compared to all the other patrols. This definitely made us feel very proud and we were very glad that our efforts had paid off.

This jihe has been really memorable for us, as well seldom had a chance to practice firelighting on normal Friday’s jihe. Also, we were able to build up our stamina as we trained hard during the PT. I believe all of us learnt many firelighting skills, especially the year1s. We were given chances to lead too, as preparation for future OJs and for ATC. I feel that we should have been more careful from now onwards and must not repeat the same mistakes. What was most important throughout the jihe was the bonding of our patrol mates and the patrol spirit!

Dhscoy <3
Jiayou guides!:)

Orienteering cum PT

Hi guides, here's a post by a y2 about last friday's jihe:

Last Friday, it was the third time we jihe-ed with our new patrol.

It started off with an attire check. Although there was improvement from last jihe, many of our attires were still not up to standard. I feel that with the frequent introduction of attire check into our weekly jihes, this can instill a stronger feeling of discipline among us guides.

We had patrol corner next whereby our seniors went through with us about orientering
as well as how to use a street directory. After that, we were given a chance to clarify our doubts with them. I felt that it was a good oportunity as we were able to clarify our doubts and learn the skills that we were lacking in orientering in preparation of whatsoever that holds for us during the activity later. This gives us a chance to practice our newly learnt skills during the activity later and hence we will be able to commit the skills stronger to memory.

After patrol corner, we had PT-cum-Tracking Signs and Orientering. We were dispatched
into groups with another patrol and started out. Throughout the whole PT, we were regularly tested on tracking signs and orientering, and not to mention, the introduction of PT into the activity at the same time.

With every jihe, there will be no lack in difficulties we face. As we were paired with another patrol for this jihe, as well as being in relatively new patrols, we were not very bonded and had to be prompted by our seniors to cheer. At the same time, not everyone had a sense of urgency and we were constantly reminded by our seniors to动 作快一点 and 报时 more frequently. But in the end, everyone made it through.

I felt that this jihe has been very successful and meaningful as not only we are able to train and maintain our physique, we are also able to learn new skills. We should take note of the blunders we committed in this jihe and strive to improve on these points. And with more of these jihes are implemented into guides, I’m sure that
Dunman High Coy can definitely soar to greater heights.

加油女童军！PIA 到底！付出最大的努力，我们一定行！