Year 8 Leadership Week

Last week, Year 8 pupils took part in an exciting adventure: Leadership Week. This week focuses on different aspects of leadership development in young pupils, encouraging them to get involved with holistic and maybe less traditional elements of school life. A steeplechase, lake activities and a technical challenge were all part of the week, providing an opportunity for learning outside the classroom.

The fun began with a steeplechase. This muddy activity involves various obstacles placed around our running track to see who can complete them the fastest. However, it came with a twist. Pupils were placed into groups of three, and one was blindfolded. The whole team had to reach the finish line together; no mean feat!

This challenge set the week off to a brilliant start as activities kept rolling in. The infamous technical challenge requiring pupils to build a 1-metre long paper aeroplane was fun for all, and the various water activities at our on-site lake.

“I really enjoyed the technical challenge. It was fun to collect the materials from around the school and use them to make a huge paper aeroplane!” – Lexi

As the week grew to a close, pupils began to focus more on their project. At the beginning of the week, pupils were given a brief: to create and develop a product to bring to market. All pupils were given cylindrical containers on which they had to create a name, brand and design for their product. On Friday, pupils presented their idea to a panel of judges who assessed their strengths and weaknesses and ultimately crowned Team 11 (Sam, Ayden, Kai Xin, Vanessa, Janelle and Hadran) as winners.

“The project was a great part of the week. It lets us bring our vision to life with our friends!” – Alexis

This week develops leadership, teamwork, determination and perseverance skills in pupils outside of the classroom. Not only does it provide pupils with a chance to learn in a different environment, but it also helps friendships flourish and is great fun for all.