A team and leader building day The Year 6 Leadership Day is an important event in the Junior School calendar and one the girls greatly look forward to
At the start of each school year our Year 6 teaching team is already considering the skills that would best equip our students in the Senior School the following year: confidence, team work and leadership. Our thanks to our wonderful Junior School PE staff, Mr Knight and Mrs Curtis, who ran a brilliant, adventurous day which challenged our girls, producing many laughs and high fives! They organised eight activities which every girl experienced. Each activity introduced the students to a new challenge that cemented friendships as well as subtly teaching a life lesson or two along the way.
About the activities:
In ‘River Crossing’, girls had to work together to ensure that each group member moved over the ‘river’ using only the bits of wood provided. In ‘1,2,3 Turnstile’, students had to collaborate to pass from one side of the skipping rope to the other without missing a beat. It took a few goes but the penny dropped when the teams worked out that they needed to pass through the skipping rope in a particular pattern (shhh! Here’s the secret, one person first, then two, then three, and repeat until the whole team was through). For the ‘Sort It Out’ activity, each girl took turns to complete one of three different roles, each requiring different leadership qualities. Girls were not able to talk in some, were blindfolded in another and had to demonstrate great listening in the third. As you might imagine this one was a giggle-maker! For ‘Trains’, students needed to move in a train-like formation which was ‘driven from the rear with non-verbal messages and driven by a blindfolded driver’….you can only imagine how many girls fell on the floor laughing for this one. Don’t worry though – girls were great at helping one another up and getting back to the task.
‘Role-Play’ was a less-physical task which required detailed team discussion, listening to all views and culminating in a joint presentation. A range of powerful quotes from historical leaders, such as Martin Luther King Jr, were given to the students and they had to spend time reflecting on the meaning of each statement. Students shared to the wider group their rationale for why they had decided to choose a particular ‘card’ as a group. In their teams, students discussed what they believe the qualities of a good leader are, and how the quotes brought these qualities to life. The teams picked a person to share their ideas with the wider group and they created a short role-play of the situation, demonstrating what a good leader might do if she was in a similar situation. The ‘Build a ?’ activity would have had many a parent amused as girls had to work without assistance from their teacher to pitch a tent from scratch. The Year 6 teachers were so impressed by the students’ collaboration and success that they think parents can book next year’s camping trip with more confidence! Now, how to get the students to do the dreaded camp washing up???? ‘Flag it’ is a wonderful group activity for building House spirit and encouraging girls to consider the leadership qualities which are important to the House. It reinforced the history of St Cuthbert’s and allowed girls to make more friends from across the three classes. Welcome to the ‘Circle of Trust’, where students work in small groups, as catchers, supporters and helpers. The group forms a small circle standing shoulder to shoulder, each with one foot forward, hips dropped, knees bent and hands up, and one trusting soul volunteers to be the ‘faller’ – communication is key here so the teachers were sure to lead several dress rehearsals in advance!
