Work Placement

Task 1

Aims - I hope to gain more experience of teaching groups either with someone else or by myself. I also hope to get more experience at the activities not only will I be teaching them about the activities but I will be widening my knowledge of the activity.

Objectives - I need to be confident to be able to talk in front of a group and tell them the safety brief or else something could go wrong if they couldn't hear what I've said. I had to be signed off for all the activities before I could take a group on my own, before that I had to be with someone else but we took it in turn to take a certain activity.

Targets -  We have just had to hand all our qualifications in so they can see how much experience we have got. Our responsibilities are to make sure the groups have a fun, enjoyable time whilst learning something new. Most of our groups do not do these activities so it will give them a change to what they normally do.


Task 2 

Day 1

The children arrived about lunch time, first of all we got split into our groups and there was a bit of confusion of what groups there was, they split the children up into 3 groups and we had 2 instructors for each groups, so we thought there was only going to be 2 groups in the end it worked out, I was with Vicky. They had to do an order of what people weren't aloud to go with other people, because if they were together we would never get a word in.  We shows them around the college and told them about all the essential places they need to know and then they had lunch.

After lunch we did raft building we had 3 hours so first we asked them how they thought you tied the knots, they attempted but kept unraveling. Vicky did a demonstration on how the knots should correctly be tied and they watched as she did. They tried doing the knots with some help from us and they all gave a go. After setting up the raft they got it in the water having a paddle around, I was in a canoe as a safety boat. When they had got used to paddling, we played some games and as it was a hot day we thought some wet games would be in order. 10 minutes before we had to go the raft started falling apart, they loved that because that meant falling in the water more. They undid the rest of the raft and put it all away and then they got 5 minutes to mess around in the water. We headed up to the stores where we handed them back over to there teachers for the evening.

Day 2

It was a hot day this morning but thankfully we were doing kayaking which meant we could play lots of games which involves getting wet. We did a bit of racing games, which made them get used to the paddle so they could control it without going in circle, which some of them did. They did a bit of team work but incorporating it into a game doesn't make them realize they are. They got very wet during kayaking which they enjoyed.

After lunch we had high ropes is it was very hot by this moment so it has tiring being out in the sun all the time, we had sure they had lots of water and had sun cream on. When they weren't participating on the high ropes we made sure they were sitting in the shade if they were quiet and didn't distract the people participating. They all had a go even if they were scared, they still got off the floor which was a big achievement for them.

Day 3

In the morning we had team training this was quite good to have in the middle of the group because you have got to know the groups weaknesses and strengths. We did some big groups games but also some competitive games which they could race against each other for the big team games at the end of the week. It was very hot so we had a few stops for water breaks.

In the afternoon we had high ropes which I took, first of all we had a quick safety brief, and then I took them around the course telling them all what all the stations are like and how to do them. They were split in to pairs so that one person was spotting encase the other person fell off. They went around the course a couple of times each having a few times each. Then we played the waiter games which made them work as a team getting the full cups of to the other side of the low ropes course without spilling any of them, they also couldn't talk until all the cups were on the tray on the wood. They spilled the water quite a lot and I said there would be a fore fit instead of having there fore fit they threw the water all over me instead of other way round.  

Day 4

In the morning we had archery they were all very hipper this morning so it was a bit hectic to start off with, we walked down the archery where they could mess around and get most of there excitement calmed down. We did a safety brief and told them how hold the bow and arrow because most of them hadn't done archery before. They did a couple of practice shots and even thought most of them hadn't done it before they were pretty good. Then we did a couple of competitive games where they were against other teams but also against everyone else. This one girl had an big operation a year ago on her legs and was still struggling to put a lot of pressure on them so she sat down through most of archery. But I didn't want her to miss out on archery, I wanted her to have at least one go. She had to put most of her weight in her crutches so I set it all up for her and held her bow, all she had to do was aim and fire. even though she didn't have control of it all she did really well and so nearly hit the target.

After lunch we had orienteering,  Lucy could join in with it still because her legs were really hurting still, also Dan couldn't join in either because he had recently broken his leg and it was giving him some issues. We split them up into two groups and for the first one we went around with them just to make sure they understood what to do and that they could read the map. Afterwards they both went off by themselves and came back after the numbers we told them to get. We kept checking up on them if they were taking longer than usual, but they seemed to work well as a group.

Day 5

This morning we had a big competition of the two groups; the gutter ball race, big feet, 3 legged race and relay race. Both teams worked so good as a team and really wanted to beat the other team. It was so close in the end the other team won by 1 point but I was very impressed with my team.

We had a de-brief and it all seemed to have a good outcome and they really all enjoyed the week, their teacher had so much positive feedback to which we were very pleased off. They were such a good bunch of kids which we had a lot of laughs with. Lucy even gave me a hug and all high fives.


Task 3

Strengths - Vicky and I took it in turns to run a session which was quite good because we both had an experience of running a session instead of leaving it to on person to run the whole week. I ran Kayaking, High ropes, Low ropes and Archery whilst Vicky did the rest, sometimes one of use would add a little pointer here and there. It was like I was good cop and Vicky was bad cop, I was the one that made them laugh and joked around with them in the right format whilst Vicky was sensible in any situation.

Area's of improvement - Not in this week but in another week I had the work experience guy with me, he was a great help at the beginning but halfway through the week he'd say something completely opposite from me, for example when setting up the gun run I'd say you need to put the clips in or else they'll fall out but he was like no don't worry about that, you're be fine. That wasn't a dangerous situation but if it was then it could be quite risky.

Further development - By the end middle of July I was pretty confident in taking a group by myself and teaching them all the activities. The only one I wasn't too sure on was river crossing and just with more experience, and trying it more I would become clearer to me.          

Coasteering

On the 4th June we went coasteering at Ansteys Cove.

It was a South, East swell which gave some interesting waves crashing against the cliffs, which made it hard to get out of the water and onto the rocks. I got a lot of brusises and scratches from the wave hitting me against the rocks.

We jumped off this rock a couple of times where we were all in a big group, a couple of people landed on each other.

I swam back to the beach at the end instead of climbing cause I didn't want to try and get back on the rocks.

At the end we jumped waves and swam as we had time to spare.

We covered leadership, risk assessment and personal climbing and swimming skills.

Sailing

We have been sailing all week and it has been really enjoyable. This is my first time sailing and i'm getting it slowly but eventually. 

I have learnt the different points of sail. If you head up to the wind then you are going to stop so it is best you always go diagonally from the wind.  

I have learnt how to sail forwards, backwards, tacking, jiving, slowing down, coming next to a bank and rescues. I'm getting the hand of most of these now, just need more practice. 


I have been in a pico and a wayfefer. I really enjoy going in both of them but i prefer the weyfefer because your not the one that has to do everything. One person at the front doing the trim and the back person moving and directing the boat. I prefer being at the front. 

Climbing in Portland

We went climbing in Portland, at Blacknor Beach and Blacknor Southon the 7th May, it was right beside the sea which was beautiful.


We started out on the triple slabs, I did 1 of this climb, Mystical Gill which is a                       3+. It was really embarrassing to start off with it because to get onto the rock was a very big step onto it. You needed a lot of arm strength to pull up too it and because I don't have much arm strength, Scott and James had to help me up. I had to stand on Scott's shoulder, but I was scared encase I broke it or something and then James pulled my other leg up. I think he did most of helping me up because I didn't want to hurt Scott's shoulder.

Then we moved on to another rocks called the fallen slab, I did two of these climbs, the Fallen Slab Arete which was a 3 and Fallen Slab which was also a 3. I really liked these two climbs they were too challenging but not too easy either.  

It was a nice and sunny day so whilst you were climbing you got some time to catch the rays as well. 

Wales Walking

We went walking in South Wales Monday 29th - Wednesday 1st, I was the only girl that went with 12 boys.  I had an achievement saying that I was the fastest girl, but i felt quiet bad cause all of the boys had to wait for me all the time. At night cause I was all by myself in a tent I got freezing, couldn't sleep because I was that cold.

We arrived in Wales and walked for about 30 minutes to camp. We went wrong straight away, so we had to  go down this rough terrain hill, quite a lot of people fell over, including me.

When we got to camp we set our tents up, then got out food ready. Even though none of us were tired, we went to bed because there was nothing else to do. It was a uncomfortable night, because we were sleeping on elephants grass, so there was a big bump right where you wanted to sleep.

We woke up the second day and knew we had a big day today, whilst James and Elliot got the boiling water ready, me and tom started to get our bags ready and take down our tents.

We started off and there was a none stop going up hill, I was slow going up that hill and all the boys waited for me. We finally got to the top! We walked that whole day going up and down hill, there wasn't
 much flat. We finally got up the highest hill in South Wales, that was tough!! But it was a massive achievement when I got to the top. We got to camp and set up our tents. We had just had lunch so none of us were that hungry so we just had a chat and investigated the area. We had dinner, then all the boys did this carrot and stick challenge, i just watched cause i was shattered from the day. I went to bed early whilst they played wrestling games.

The next morning we had all got a routine that James and Elliot got the water going whilst me and tom got our bags and tents ready. Near the end of the walk some of the group split up, some of them went over the hill but a couple of us went through water and in a tunnel. We finally got to the minibus and came home.

My strengths in this walk is that i was very organised, I had the correct amount of food, snacks, i could of had more layers for the night. I was also one of the first to put up and take down my tent and pack up my bag.

My weaknesses were my stamina, up the hills I kept stopping and I was always behind everyone else. Need to get fitter!! Altogether we went up 3 peaks and did 20km, 16km on the second day.

climbing and abseiling sesh

Climbing

We went climbing on the 16th April 2013 at Dewerstone, and then abseiled at Bickleigh Viaduot from a 90 foot bridge. I first of all I did the abseil, we first of all thought we were absailing off this tiny bridge, we thought wow that looks fun, but we didn't know the half of it. We walked a bit until we came to the 90 foot bridge and Derek started to unpack and set it all up. We thought OMG this looks so scary, James went first followed by eliiot, tom and then it was me. I was petrified but i knew if they had done it it can't be too bad. I really enjoyed it in the end and so glad I did it. Alex was the only one that didn't even try it, everyone was mocking him.

Then we went climbing up some rocks, that was fun. I managed to climb up the rocks using my knee's though, which was a very good improvment for me. Did a bit of belaying too, no one died. I really enjoyed it, compared to the other climbing sessions.