School Based Programmes
Challenge 2000 is involved with numerous schools in the Wellington region.
Missions Day St Catherines College
Friday May 23rd 2008
Year 11 and Year 13
Staff: Diana Taylor, Ed Thirlwall, Louise Keeling, Alice Fitzgerald, Ben Caldwell and Bernie Faifua
The theme for the day was Reaching Out and Social Justice. The different year groups each had different challenges for the day. Year 9 baked cookies and then went out and gave them away to people who need a little TLC. Year 10 went out to clean the grave stones at a cemetery (a tough job given the horrible weather we had that day!)and Year 12 visited a rest home and spent some time there with the residents. Years 11 and 13 were to spend the day with the Challenge team!
With the weather being as bad as it was, the Year 11s stayed with Diana, Ed and Me in the gymnasium. After a brief introduction of ourselves and explaining the work of Challenge 2000, the year group was split into two groups depending on dates of birth. The girls born in the early months went with Diana, and the girls born in the later months stayed with Me and Ed. We then played some fun icebreaker games such as the River/Bank game.
Then all the girls were blindfolded and everyone formed a line, everyone had to hold onto a long piece of rope and they had to work together to join up and form a triangle and a star. The exercise is very difficult and the first group of girls did a brilliant job of communicating and working together. We then swapped groups with Diana, and it was very interesting to see how this group got on with the games, as they were very loud and talkative, so they found it harder to do the exercises. In the end though, they realised that it was better if one person spoke at a time and that made it easier for them to complete the game. It was also interesting to see how both groups solved the puzzle in different ways. For example, the first group numbered themselves and then counted around the circle to create the points of the star. The second group had someone let go of the rope and actually go into the middle and feel around the circle to see what shape it was. Both ways worked very well.
After the tea break, we played The World Experience. Both the groups came into the gym and they were split into different countries (marked with masking tape). Africa had 10 girls, USA also had 10, Australia had 5, China had 6, New Zealand 3, Samoa and Fiji 2 eachand South America had 4. The girls elected a "president" to speak for their countries and they wrote "a letter to the world" explaining about who they represented. We then handed out food/supplies to each country representing how weathly/poor some countries are compared to others. Africa had some paper cups, China had rice and the USA had two bottles of Cola and a bar of Chocolate. The girls then had to think about helping their neighbours and some donated their food/resources. When we told them about a natural disaster hitting one of the countries, several took refugees. I think this game was good because it enabled the students to use their knowledge of current affairs and think about how some countries are richer and with more resources. Questions about resource sharing ,the responsibility of those who have more than they need and the impact of natural disasters provided real reflection points. Also to think about how many people live in each country in the world compared to the size.
After lunch, Alice and Fr Chris Skinner joined us. Chris sang the "Waterfall Song" which illustrates how one drop of water joined with many other drops of water can make a powerful force. The girls really enjoyed this and they all participated in learning and performing a big group version (complete with an energetic dance)! Diana told us the story of the Ripple of Hope and then we got in to a big circle and the girls wrote what they enjoyed about the day and what they had learned. Lots of them said their favourite bit had been the song, and they even asked if they could perform it in front of the school at the end of the day!
The Year 11s perform the Waterfall Song
Eventually all the year groups came back into the gym to discuss what they had achieved that day. The year 10s were very cold from being out in the rain all day, but were still happy! Our year 11 group were great as they performed the Waterfall Song, and I think that they really enjoyed the day and learned alot. They all participated and helped each other. I certainly enjoyed it, and it was great to be around such enthusiastic and vibrant young people.
Louise Keeling
St Francis De Sales
Year 6 & 7 Leadership Day
Tuesday 4th December 2007
Staff: Heath, Rachel, Luke, Jen and Mao
The theme for the day was ‘principle-centred leadership and flying high’. To warm everyone up we played a couple of high energy icebreaker games: Worm-Chicken-Human and River Bank.
To demonstrate the theme of principle-centred leadership and standing up for what you believe in we performed a short drama on Rosa Parks, followed by a parallel drama set in a school environment. Our staff were absolutely stars …Peter Jackson may need them in his next film. After this we discussed the concept of leadership within the large group. The students had great ideas about what constitutes leadership and of the qualities and skills that make effective leaders.
After morning tea we showed a short film called Lessons from Geese, which explains five basic themes of working together. The students were split into five groups and were allocated one of the five lessons each. The students created a short drama in their groups that demonstrated this lesson in a modern context. It was great that the students understood the underlying message of ‘working together’ in their dramas.
The next activity was about team work. The students were split into year level groups, each group having a turn at both the Trust walk, where they were blindfolded and had to lead their partners, and The Gauntlet.
Our last activity was quite a challenge. In small groups we were all to make origami geese from some complicated instructions. The kids decorated their geese and wrote a word on them that demonstrated what leadership meant to them. The geese were then hung on a string to be put in their classrooms, and Heath led the final session to recap on the day’s achievements, the team learning, and any final thoughts that we deemed important.
It was a brilliant day and we all enjoyed every moment of it!
St Michael’s 11th December 2007
Year 7 & 8 Transition Day
Staff: Kitty, Rachel, Chris Skinner, Mao and Manu
Kitty, Rachel, Chris, Mao and Manu arrived at St Columban’s Grove at 9:00am. The theme for the day was about valuing your self, stepping up and moving forward to what ever 2008 may bring. The emphasis was on how each person is unique, has special gifts to offer and to use throughout their lives.
We started the day with some warm-up games – River Bank and Jockeys Up. These games were energetic and helped build the team spirit needed for the day.
The Gift Bag Activity was next. The group of thirty were split into three groups of ten and everyone was given a paper gift bag. The activity involved writing, drawing and gluing pictures from magazines onto their bags. The outside of the gift bag represented the qualities, personal gifts and skills that the young person has and shows to the world. It also showed the things/hobbies/sports they were interested in. The things/qualities they preferred to keep hidden about themselves, or maybe the things that other people did not know about them, were put into the bags.
The groups were then split into their year levels. Kitty took the year 8s for a group discussion and activity, and Rachel, Manu and Mao the year 7s. The two groups had slightly different activities and discussions as they were at different stages in their school lives – the year 7s were ‘stepping up’ to become the leaders and role models of the school and the year 8s were moving on to High School where they would have different responsibilities and pressures such as the experience of ‘change’ and of being separated from their friends.
Some more games were played before lunch. Because it was warm we played water balloon games, which worked really well! Many were cooled down by the exploding balloons! The kids also enjoyed running around playing Octopus.
Chris Skinner arrived and sang some inspirational songs and played his guitar, and the kids all joined in - actions and all. His song Accept yourself which fitted in with the theme was really well received. So much so that the young people asked for an encore! It was really moving and helped the young ones to reflect on who they are and how they are really special and have a unique personality and richness.
Chris and Kitty lead the final session where each student said what their best gift was. After this round where all 33 spoke up and we ended with outdoor games and prizes of chocolate!
Rachel Moyle
St Oran's - Leadership Day
On Wednesday 9th October four of the Challenge staff team delivered a three hour programme at the year twelve 'Leadership Day' at St Oran's College. The programme included an interactive mix of games, big group discussions and team activities to tease out the concept of 'leadership' - what exactly is leadership, what does it meant to us and what does it involve? The activites encouraged plenty of constructive reflection and insightful discussions about different perceptions concerning the role of leadership
The day was full of enthusiasm from both the staff and the girls - the group was eager to openly participate in both discussion and team activities. Overall, the programme was an enormous success, highlighted by the loud and exciting games and lively group discussions. -Rachel Moyle
COMMENTS:
What was valuable?
"When Challenge talked to us and got us thinking, because it really opened my mind to leadership. Also being told that all Year 13s are leaders because it encourages me that I can make a difference."
"Team building games because everyone gets to interact with people they don't usually hang out with."
"Working out what we see in a leader - being able to realise many attributes that are involved in being a leader. Stepping Stones - working together being able to co-operate and work as a team to get things done."
What valuable thing did you learn from the day?
"A better understanding of what my role will be next year."
"Inspired to be a servant leader."
"That being a leader is something that everyone is capable of."
St. Patrick's College
Simon is mentoring there on Mondays working closely with youth groups who are striving to suceed! Bernice and Heath also provide a lunch time programme on Wednesdays focusing on personal devlopment, leadership and life management.
Evans Bay Intermediate School
Challenge 2000 regularly works with students from Evans Bay Intermediate
running training days for developing leaders. The days are always enjoyed
by all.
The morning started off with arrivals, introductions and games. Then a talk was given on the theme 'Star Leadership'. Morning tea was followed by a favourite activity whereby students are broken into teams and each team attempts to make the tallest tower from dry spaghetti and wine gums...bonus points were awarded to teams that included the star shape in their structure! Teams then completed a series of activities, rotating around four team building activities.
A BBQ lunch was organised by the teachers, and was enjoyed by students, teachers and Challenge 2000 staff (Thank you!!!) and left everyone energised for the afternoon.
The afternoon programme echoed the morning's focus on team work and leadership, the students were divided into two groups and each completed two activities...both students and staff worked hard and were grateful for a chance to re-fuel and rest during afternoon tea!
The final part of the day was a "Star Team Challenge" which was performed with flair! Students were asked to create pieces of art, write and perform songs, drama's and speeches and complete many other fun and unexpected tasks.
Thank you to all the Staff and Students from EBIS. Everyone participated fully and with enthusiasm - It was a pleasure to have you at Challenge 2000!
Heretaunga College Leaders
The Leadership
Retreat, was provided by Bernie Faifua, Kitty McKinley, James Kelk, Jess
Seagar, Hannah Kennedy, Jeff Rahari, and Heath Hutton.
Challenge 2000 and Heretaunga College joined forces at Camp Akatarawa at the foot of the Rimutaka's, for a great day of activities. Although the rain was unrelenting, the day was a great success. Camp Akatarawa is a great venue with ample indoor/outdoor space, which enables good programming.
The
aim of the day was " developing leaders ". The
retreat offered a range of activities for the 90 students who will be College
leaders. The focus was on self and other awareness, leadership and self
motivation. The students were divided into 4 four syndicate groups and spent
the morning in experential team activities. Magic Gumboot, Group Skip, Blindfold
work, confidence course, Follow the leader and other problem solving exercises
prepared the syndicates for the afternoon challenge.
The heat was on. The syndicates had to muster all their skills in team work and leadership and compete against each other in a number of areas. The teams had to work out where each individual's skills lay, assign roles and perform challenging tasks in an allotted time. Writing Speech's, Plays, Designing School Crests, Awards and Singing were the missions for the afternoon. The team work was then presented to the whole form, but there can only be one winner at the end of the day!
Year 13 holds a lot of responsibility. Self responsibility, other responsibility and responsibility for the entire school. School Formals, Stage Challenges, Head Students, Cultural, Sports and other Captains are some of the roles to be played. The success of the work done will depend on the leadership skills of the people involved.
Heretaunga College students showed the Challenge 2000 staff what it takes to be future leaders.
St Teresa’s Karori
Our team visited this school to provide a stimulating leadership kick-start
for Years 7 and 8. The morning focused on leadership and looking at the
qualities and challenges of different world leaders. The afternoon was spent
engaging in blind-fold walks, trust falls, role playing various leadership
styles, having fun with the stepping stones, life raft and running the gauntlet.
The grand finale saw a number of entertaining and exciting role plays that summarised what the students had gained during this day.
St Mary's College Wellington
Study Hints for Year 11
140 students attended this workshop. Kitty McKinley gave a scintillating talk explaining accelerated learning techniques and last minute ways to succeed in exams despite a years malaise.
Matalena Leaupepe informed the students that attitude dictates altitude and that they needed to sort out what their goals were and what they really wanted to achieve.
Divi Taylor, Natalie Hornyak, Kaisalina Mealamu and luke Collins all shared study experiences and factors that had helped them all to thrive, not just survive, in stressful study years.
References
St Johns College
The team modeled excellent leadership to the students and the varied activities the students were involved in, drew from them leadership skills. There were students actively participating in the program who would not usually be so involved. This gave them, our school staff and our religious education program, a real sense of humility.
The program was well designed in meeting the needs of the students. A great deal of obvious experience, thought, research, knowledge and understanding had gone into the planning by the Challenge team.
St Patrick’s College
I am hugely impressed by their absolute commitment to the people they work with. They have a particular focus on "at risk" youth and a philosophy of "never giving up" on a young person. I have personally observed their work, and as a College, we are very grateful for their efforts with some troubled students of our College.
At the other end of the spectrum, Challenge 2000 have provided a number of our students with significant leadership and personal development opportunities.
The staff of Challenge 2000 are to be commended for their dedication, enthusiasm and compassion. New Zealand society benefits greatly from the tireless work of Challenge 2000.