Inspiration day at St Mary’s

Des Day, one of JET’s volunteers and Kaye Jackson, our Dorset JETLO visited St Mary’s C of E Middle School, Puddletown, for a two hour teambuilding session with 15 young people from year 8 (ages 12/13) on 20^th April.

We asked the young people to join in with and carry out various tasks and problem solving activities. They really threw themselves into whatever we asked of them. After an ice-breaker of Human Bingo, the first problem was for the team to stand on a mat and then turn it over whilst stood on it. This caused a few problems but they worked together to solve it.

Next we moved on to the problem of getting the team across the hall by means of ‘stepping stones’. Teamwork came into its own and the group accomplished this task really well. To boost confidence, we asked pairs of young people to ‘interview’ each other in a minute. They found out interesting information about each other and shared this with the rest of the group.

Sadly, the two hours passed very quickly and it was time to end. The young people agreed that they had enjoyed a wonderful time and wanted to do more. They realized how important teamwork and communication is in everyday life.

After the session, Robert aged 12 said “ I have learnt that you have to listen to each other to make a good team”.

Abbie Elliot-Square, Learning Mentor said “Working with the Jon Egging Trust has been fantastic. This enrichment activity was organized, focused, motivating and heaps of fun!  Kaye Jackson and guest Des Day spoke with experience, in a tone of voice that engaged the children, and about topics that were real and relevant.  There was a great balance of team activities, paired work and debriefing.  Importantly, Kaye introduced the history of the Jon Egging Trust to start the session, which immediately captivated the group.  My first experience of the Jon Egging Trust was a motivational whole school assembly, led by another highly professional Jon Egging Trust guest speaker, Captain Spike Jepson.  The assembly was inspirational and as interactive as possible, given the size of the audience. I am looking forward to working alongside the Jon Egging Trust in the future.”