The largest...

...concentration of student leaders on Pulau Ubin? Probably not, but about 100 of them does constitute a fairly large contingent. These Primary 5 students were selected by their respective schools to experience and practice leadership firsthand in a 3-day leadership development camp organised by MOE's Gifted Education Branch (GEB).

Explora is proud to work alongside the passionate GEB staff to provide an experience which allowed for natural and authentic outcomes, while putting the students' leadership skills and what they know about teamwork to the test.

The camp's broad objective was to enable the participants to develop deeper understanding of leadership qualities and values such as:

• Listen closely to others
• Be reflective of personal values, attitudes and abilities
• Strive to understand and empathise with others
• Rely on skills of persuasion and not coercion
• Develop communication, group planning and decision making skills

At the beginning of the camp, the students discovered that they had to learn certain basic skills because they were going to embark on a Leadership Expedition. They would apply these skills with some guidance from the facilitators, but not to the point of being 'spoonfed'.

[To protect the privacy of the young participants, some images below have been digitally altered.]

The Camp Chief informing the participants about the Leadership Expedition.

Setting up Expedition Base on Pulau Ubin.

Participants preparing their dinner, supervised by a teacher.

For many participants, it was a first-time experience cooking over a charcoal fire!

The teams on the land phase of the Leadership Expedition on Pulau Ubin.

Preparing for the sea phase of the Leadership Expedition.

Tying canoes together to form a raft for more stability.

On their way at last! Glad we got the safety escort motorboat..not that the participants needed it...

We see the participants' creativity in retelling their Leadership Expedition experience.

Someone should call Tony Buzan to have a look at this Mind Map...

 

The Eagles have landed! But they had to fly first...

It was certainly a memorable three days for our participants from one of the police Divisions in mid-February. For us facilitators too...We certainly had it all: rain, waist-deep mud, hiking long distances, sleeping in the open (if you could call it sleep). But the officers gamely took on all the challenges we could throw at them and still their professionalism shone through. Impressed? We sure were. Surprised? Not really. Because these men (and lone woman) showed they had what it takes to survive the gruelling pace and intensity. This is Leadership Development at its best.

The opening 'ceremony' on Day 1

It's not a scratchy image - it's rain!

Lined up for the sea patrol - that's a storm in the upper right...

The assessors (on yellow raft) get a free ride...or maybe not.

There were one or two canoes that kept going in circles.

If only they arrived 1 hr earlier, then the mud wouldn't be so bad...

Simulated casevac in MacRitchie...they made a curious sight for joggers and walkers.

Crossing a 'river' to pursue the human traffickers.

But first, we have to make our way across.

Altogether now...PULL!

The crossing is a success!

Even for the heaviest officer...

A note about the video: You may hear the words "cock up" at the end of it, but we hereby state that this was not directed at the person doing the crossing, rather it was more a comment on the lame attempt at some kind of soundtrack to accompany the crossing :D

We are now...

...a certified bizSAFE Level 1 company! On to Level 2...

At the bizSAFE Convention, held at Suntec City on 20 Jan 11.

1 day of Experiential Learning...

...for a group of teachers involved in the Gifted Education Programme took place on 1 Dec 2010. The main event was an 'Amazing Race'-style activity that took them from Labrador Adventure Centre to places like Fort Canning Park, Kampong Glam, Botanic Gardens and HortPark. They even had time to sit down to a delicious lunch at Zam Zam Restaurant - for some of the teachers, this was their first time they were able to sample the famous prata and briyani!

Perhaps the most interesting (and interactive) checkpoint was at Kallang Community Centre, where the teachers sat down to a community drumming session, conducted by Ms Soh Geok Kee and her team of dedicated drumming leaders, all of whom volunteer their time to pass on their passion for drumming to interested people who want to try their hand at it.

All in all, it was a full day and the teachers came away with a deeper impression of how Experiential Learning can help in the education of their gifted students in the respective schools - particularly in the area of dealing with open-ended outcomes, decision-making as well as leadership and followership.

The teachers being briefed about how Experiential Learning can be incorporated into the teaching curriculum.

Determining the best way to get to the first checkpoint.

A member of the public is approached to answer some questions posed by the teachers.

Lunch at Zam Zam Restaurant!

Meet the Kg Glam family!

Trying to piece together a sketch of a bus stop.

The other group doing the same.

There's some hidden talent in these people...

The drummers have a fan!

From Ms Joanna Seam, Section Head of Lifeskills, School of Business and Services, ITE College West:

I'm highly impressed by the performers on their discipline, focus and concentration during their drum session performance at the RP Experiential Learning Forum. The good teamwork and spirit portrayed are indeed commendable, let alone the teachers' efforts and guidance in nurturing the performers.

Thank you, Joanna! Your positive words serve as a further source of encouragement to motivate the boys to keep working hard.

What a performance!

It gave us great pleasure and satisfaction to see and hear the Bukit Batok Boys' Hostel (BBH) boys perform on 3 November 2010 at the Experiential Learning Forum 2010, held at Republic Polytechnic. Together with forum delegates, the drummers struck a rousing mix of samba, African and even Malay joget! We would like to thank the forum organisers for giving the boys this great opportunity to showcase their talent.

[1st panel, 2nd from left] Mr Seto Lok Yin, RP's Deputy Principal (Industry Services) gamely joined in [Click to enlarge]

In October 2010, Explora assisted PERTAPIS in starting the BBH Drumming Community. The desired outcomes are to teach the boys to become a team of drummers. They are taught to read music scores and to use the different types of drums, and expose them to freestyle drumming. In playing together, the key is for one drummer to listen to others and sync his personal beat into an overall orchestrated rhythm.

The ELF marks the boys' third public performance. Previously, they performed with senior officers from SAFTI and senior citizens living in Boon Keng as part of a community outreach effort.

We are proud to announce that the drummers have been invited to perform in next year's International Chingay Parade. We could not have asked for a better validation of the boys' talent, dedication and effort.

Therapeutical Adventure training for Social Workers

We just completed six days of kayaking, abseiling, orienteering, outdoor cooking, facilitation and basic outdoor education with youth workers and social workers from a boys' hostel. However, mostly we spoke in metaphors, converting the activities into practical lessons of life coping skills the boys can pick up through our facilitation efforts.

Along the way, they picked up Singapore Canoe Federation (SCF) Kayak Star 1 Award and Singapore National Abseiling Standards (SNAC) Abseiling Level 1 Certification.

[Click to enlarge]

The staff learned to do story-telling while walking with the boys through the tracks of Ubin, in the process engaging them with meaningful conversations for the developmental benefit of the boys.

[Click to enlarge]

We did drumming too...even as we beat our own rhythm, we learn to listen to others until we drum out the piece as one and in sync.

We hope that, while we are the adults, we still can learn just as much... We believe the boys will too.