| |
Students learn team building during November enrichment days
Early in November, St Mary Magdalene students went to PGL Caythorpe Court for three days of enrichment activities. Maria Farrugia reports below on their time away, and read on for reports of the activities of students who did not go to Caythorpe Court. To see more pictures of the enrichment days, click here for a picture gallery.
PGL Caythorpe Court
1-3 November
A total of 129 students arrived at PGL Caythorpe Court for their three-day adventure. The aim of the trip was not only to help students establish closer relationships with their peers, but also to develop the skills needed to work effectively as a team.
On our arrival, we spent the evening settling down and unpacking, and after supper the students were involved in a mini Olympics, working in teams. The aim of this activity was to start building on the team skills we wanted them to develop by the end of the three days.
The following two days were spent on outdoor activities. Students, in their groups, participated in various activities such as Jacob's ladder, high swing, archery, raft building, orienteering, challenge course and abseiling – all activities which were aimed to challenge them and help them to develop skills needed for an effective team. It was evident that the students not only enjoyed these activities, but as the days passed, their team-building skills developed. Some of the teachers even dared to face their fears and attempted the high swings and abseiling!
As a reward for the students' hard work and cooperation, we organised a disco, which gave them some well deserved free time and allowed teachers to show off their dancing skills!
By the last morning, it was evident that students were gelling together and acting more like a team, thinking about each other, and working together to solve problems. While the coach journey home was a quiet one, as students and teachers slept from exhaustion, their excitement at seeing their parents on their arrival at school and the noise from all the chatter about their trip away definitely reinforced the impression that all the hard work organising this trip was worth it. –
Ms Farrugia
Bridge Building Day
1 November
Students took part in a team-building exercise designing and building bridges spanning 70cm made from only newspaper and selotape.
The day started with students being put into groups and learning about the science of bridges, including structure, form and load tolerance, and then the design of bridges.
Students were then split further into smaller groups of six where they had to work together to design and build their bridge with limited resources (one newspaper and one small roll of selotape). There was a real sense of competition and camaraderie, and all the bridges were closely guarded to hide ideas and building methods from the other teams.
The climax of the day came when the bridges were tested in a special assembly. The team captains, with the help of Mr Jackson and a panel of judges, loaded the bridges with weights until breaking point. The winning team, led by Miss Hardie, took twice as much weight any other team. The hall was filled with cheers and laughter for the hour-long test.
Students were awarded gold, silver and bronze medals and certificates for their brilliant efforts. –
Ms Farrugia
Downe Scout Centre
2 November
St Mary Magdalene students arrived at the Downe Scout Centre in Orpington, Kent, where they were split into groups with three teachers and allocated their agenda for the day. The activities included archery, zip-wire, go-carting and climbing wall.
Max Ferrari showed his archery skills and we now refer to him as Sir Max Hood, while Michael O'Connor scaled the climbing wall so fast SpiderMan would have been proud!
The day was so full and jam-packed with fun that the coach ride home was very peaceful as all students were exhausted. – Ms Hardie
Back to News |
|
 |
|
