Prefect
leadership
by
Harriet
ClarkeB
urrow Mump, the local familiar
landmark, is where we found
the jerry can containing our first
task for the day. The next 24
hours of the prefect leadership
course were spent completing
different tasks, each one leading to the next
and they were often exciting, exasperating, and
sometimes capable of causing amusement at
our own expense!
The first team-building exercise was the 'Sheep
and Shepherd' game which was great fun and
the first taste everyone had of working together
as a team. One person (the shepherd) was
restricted to standing on a chair in order to
direct his or her blind sheep into a pen, with
only a whistle to help them. Needless to say, it
was very tricky but I am sure it was amusing to
the passers-by who stopped to watch the group
of sixth-form students blundering around
blindfolded in Priddy village square!
The next task the group had was to navigate
and walk to Wookey Hole. The weather was
wonderful, I know everyone really enjoyed this
part of the day, and it was great to see the
group sharing the rucksacks around and having
a go at the map reading. Once at our
destination, there was another team-building
exercise designed to retrieve a water canister
from the middle of a 'danger zone'. This was
completed but it was good to see different
people putting their ideas across, working
together and calming things down if we
became overheated!
One of the most exciting tasks of the day was
the 40-metre abseil close to Wookey Hole, and
it was the definitely the task I found the most
challenging! However, Mr Belfield successfully
got everyone down and we all felt elated
afterwards, standing on firm ground! Having
earned our lunch, we all had to perform a
spontaneous one-minute presentation on
anything at all, from ping-pong balls to combovers
to 'why are goldfish bowls round'? These
topics were generally obscure and very funny to
listen to!
After taking part in another team game, we set
off in the minibus to Wells where the group
had to raise five pounds by entertaining the
public. This task meant everyone really had to
throw themselves into the spotlight and the
money was raised by: busking, some talented
gymnastics from Sophia Warby, a group singsong,
and even a 'Penguin bob-sleigh act'
headed by Tom Dunham, which captured the
public eye!
The five pounds then went towards a phone
call to a 'mysterious contact', (better known as
Mr Belfield!) who gave the group instructions to
man every phone box in the local vicinity, all in
seven minutes. Everyone was suitably
exhausted after this exercise but still excited
when we found out that our next task we was
to canoe along a local river. It was a beautiful
evening, I think we all regained our energy, and
there were no exceptions in getting wet!
Finally, we were all relieved to set up our tents
and settle down to a very welcome hot supper.
Everybody was winding down and I am sure I
was not alone in wanting nothing more but to
get into a warm sleeping bag. However, just as
we were about to be dismissed from our
debrief, yet another final task was sprung upon
us: an hour-long walk up a steep hill in the
dark! This was tiring but the group's sense of
humour prevailed and we all got back safely to
the campsite, exhausted but happy with
everything we had achieved during the day.
Thank you very much to Mr Belfield and all the
staff involved for what was a highly organised
and very testing prefect leadership, but was
most of all - tremendous fun.
Aluredian
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