Monitors and Heads of House Leadership Training

As our Upper Sixth students focus on their exams, the Lower Sixth have stepped into their new leadership roles with genuine commitment and excitement.

To help support and develop their skills, the Monitors and Heads of House for 2023-2024 headed to the Games Fields on Tuesday for a team-building and leadership development session. Throughout the afternoon, in glorious sunshine, students were challenged to work together and reflect on what makes a good team and strong team-leaders. The group hit the ground running and right from the start the competitive elements brought out the best in everyone and it was brilliant to see how positively the teams worked together.

Mr Doodes spoke about the expectations for the year ahead. He talked about leaders having the breadth of vision to be able to communicate effectively and make decisions that consider all factors that might lead to a successful outcome. He was impressed with the tenacity and determination shown throughout the afternoon.

Jasmine (Monitor 2023-2024)

Our Wise Up team building afternoon took place on a gloriously sunny afternoon where the eighteen Heads of Houses and twenty-six Monitors enjoyed the opportunity to take on leadership roles in a number of group team building activities. We divided ourselves into five groups consisting of three groups of monitors and two groups of Heads of House, where we got to choose which activity we took part in and were trusted to rate ourselves out of five in a number of areas. I really enjoyed being able to work in a team with people that I hadn’t had an incredible amount of contact with due to taking completely different A-level subjects and being in different houses, this allowed me to get to know a greater number of Monitors more closely and understand their leadership styles for future duties. Our group first took part in a challenge called ‘The Pyramid’ which required us to stack pieces of a pyramid from one pole onto another in a specific order. This first task taught us to plan before launching ourselves into the activity and correctly read the instructions provided. We managed to complete the task before realising that we had re-stacked the pyramid on the completely wrong post and had to start again. With this newfound trust in planning, we made sure to thoroughly plan the following activities which allowed us to complete many of them in one try, making us incredibly proud of ourselves as a group. My favourite activity we undertook as a team would have to be ‘Stepping Stones’ as I think that is when we really worked together as a team and overcame challenges by trusting and supporting each other as we placed down stepping stones to move from one area to another. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the team building activity day with Wise Up and believe that it brought us closer together as a group of Monitors and taught us to share responsibility and contribute ideas to reach a shared goal.

Freya (Head of House 23-24)

I found the team-building activity day fun really fun. It was extremely useful and interesting to observe each other in our group’s way of approaching challenges. The skills required to complete the challenges will be useful to incorporate into my Upper Sixth year as Head of House. Such skills included teamwork, communication, leadership, planning and trust. Various activities like the “sheep and shepherd” required trust among our group and excellent communication from the person who was not blindfolded. I found the ball through the hoop activity particularly effective for teambuilding between Heads of Houses, as it required patience when moving altogether as a team but also looking out for each other’s sides if the ball was tilting too much in a certain direction. We had great success in this activity due to the team’s overall patience and cooperation. I am glad to have learnt that, along with the importance of planning before starting a challenge, it also sometimes requires listening and cooperating rather than always asserting your own role and leader. I think it was useful for my team as a whole to experience the actual mentality of a team rather than one consistent leader all the time. Next year in U6, as Head of House, I will need the ability to adapt effectively and swiftly to overcome challenges or difficulties that may arise during the year and additionally the skill of consideration and listening to others. I felt the activity day greatly helped with this and also helped Heads of House in practice working with peers and House staff. Overall, the afternoon of activities was fun, enjoyable and a beneficial experience to help future Heads of House fulfil their roles the best they possibly can.

George (Monitor 2023-2024)

The team building day began promptly after lunch. Following a quick briefing from the Wise Up team, the activities commenced. In groups of roughly 9, we participated in varied and exciting activities. My group completed a total of six activities including “The Bomb” and “The Pyramid”. The standout for me, however, had to be the “Ski” activity. All attached by two wooden planks we took ourselves slowly but surely across the stretch of grass, successfully managing to avoid the floor.

Self-evaluation proved a valuable tool as the day progressed. The “Ski” activity really made it clear that communication was key, a thought we aimed to transfer to the rest of the day’s activities. We managed to cross a field using only 9 planks, persevering despite our somewhat antagonistic instructor, reducing our planks as we went along. Perhaps the largest takeaway is just how useful a good plan can be. Despite the eagerness to complete the task, it often helped to take a step back in order to produce a more thorough plan. This was a lesson we learnt the hard way whilst attempting to form a “Human Knot”. In summary, the day proved useful in building our planning skills, but also in forging new bonds with fellow Monitors who I shall be spending the next year working with.