Trustees, Reps, Scholars and Mentors met in Nakuru for a day of leadership activities and networking.
For the first time, the Leadership Day involved Beacon Scholars, Beacon Parents, and Trustees and Reps, together with two Beacon Mentors.
This time it was the parents who had homework – to bring a resource that they felt was relevant or important for leadership. The Scholars enjoyed watching their parents ‘in the hot seat’ for once, and the ensuing discussion about the value of resources and whose was the best was lively and enlightening.
Two separate sessions then followed. In the first, parents engaged with the Trustees on weighty matters such as what the Leadership Days are about; financial planning; communication; and Scholar performance. Meanwhile, Scholars, mentors and Scilla worked on targets, communication and problem solving.
A couple of games helped with these skills and brought hilarity to the day. First, Scholars were tied to each other and had to find a way of separating … |  |
 | Then they enjoyed ‘tying up their parents’ and watching them figure out how to untangle themselves. To be honest though, they were far too quick to help parents with the solution! |
Scholars then played a game called: Heads up! using an ‘app’ that gets us thinking of words under pressure, finding ways to make ourselves understood and having plenty of fun too!
The afternoon was spent together as a full group, divided into smaller teams. Each team was asked to identify and evaluate the uses of an everyday ‘resource’. People then regrouped and had to speak up for the resource their team had evaluated, in the now mixed group. The ‘final’ ended up being a hot debate between the value of business cards vs post-it notes as the most versatile resource on offer.
There was plenty of opportunity for parents to network with each other and build relationships with Scholars. The Trustees enjoyed engaging with the whole group in a way we haven’t managed before. It was a great day and will definitely be repeated next year.
We thank Scilla Davey, Beacon Rep, for planning the day, running it under time pressure, and for making sure that everyone enjoyed it and went away with much valuable food for thought.
