Lower Sixth students from each of the College’s 13 Houses took part in their Teambuilding Day last Friday.
On a hot, sunny day the students, their Housemasters, Housemistresses and Tutors departed the College for all corners of South East England. From London to Brighton, Kent to East Sussex the teams took part in a range of tasks and activities carefully selected to finetune the students’ teambuilding and leadership skills. Students took on raft building, crabbing and treasure hunts among other challenges.
As they enter their final year at the College, many of the Lower Sixth will assume leadership responsibilities within Houses, as Prefects, on the sports fields as Captains, and more widely around the College through societies, Student Reps and Peer Mentors.
This training is seen a vital part of the students’ development, their ability to work effectively with their peer group and to help them to become effective role models.
Here’s what each House got up to this year.
Carr
The Carr Lower Sixth travelled into London to complete a series of treasure trails. The boys had to work together to solve the clues, find the prompts and complete the trail. The group enjoyed a lunch all together before spending time discussing leadership in the House, how they might shape the year ahead as Upper Sixth and create a legacy of which they can be proud.
Crawfurd
The Crawfurd girls took to the streets of Brighton to solve the age-old mystery of ‘Who Stole Brighton Rock?’ They faced some tough clues around the town, walking around The Lanes, Brighton Pier and even a couple of churches. No spoilers, we won’t reveal the final result, but after some lunch in the sun, the group walked down to Madeira Drive and played mini golf, where we discovered that sports scholars are not necessarily good at all sports! It was a fabulous day and the Lower Sixth loved it!
Fayrer, Granville, Murrell, Propert, and Raven
The Lower Sixth from these five Houses travelled to Arena Pursuits in Wadhurst, East Sussex, for a day jam-packed full of tasks and activities to put their teamwork to the test. From obstacle courses to raft building and other teambuilding activities, it was a fun day in the sun for all.
Noémie Winmill (Lower Sixth, Murrell) rounds up their day here:
“We had a prompt start to the day to try to squeeze in as much fun as possible. Immediately after roll, we began discussing leadership tactics and skills to better prepare us for the coming year as Upper Sixth students, as well as exploring ways to handle difficult situations we may come across and need to take action over.
We then left for Arena Pursuits, along with the four other Houses. We were assigned our group instructor on arrival and we split off for our first adventures. Murrell House was split into two rival groups for the first part of the day and throughout the morning we did numerous activities – one of which was the ‘Skiing’ challenge. This involved two planks of wood each with four footprints and eight rope handles, the goal was to navigate our teams along a path with tyre obstacles on the ‘Skis’ as a group. Murrell House was immediately revved up and raring to go.
As the day continued, we encountered many other tasks such as building both a car and raft out of barrels, poles, wooden planks and rope. This was difficult enough, let alone having to then race our newly-constructed vehicles. It was a fantastic day – full of teamwork, building trust, breaking barriers and overcoming fears.”
The Fayrer boys worked well as a team in the obstacle course and ‘ski’ challenge.
Raven’s girls worked together with good humour and tenacity and didn’t let the heat stop them smashing every task set!
See the Granville and Propert boys in action below.
Forest
The Forest boys travelled to London in beautiful sunshine to complete two treasure trails – the first through Mayfair and the second through Westminster. The teams did a great job solving some tricky clues, needing to pay close attention to their surroundings. They also learnt some interesting facts about London as they went. Each member of the team played to their strengths and the teams worked hard to make sure both were successful.
Holman
The Holman Lower Sixth went to Whitstable with Mr Tidmarsh, Mr Watson and Mr Filbey. After a treasure hunt in two teams, where the boys had to work together to decipher clues around the town and crack the code, the group enjoyed fish and chips on the beach, with some even trying the local oysters.
In the afternoon, the boys took part in some competitive crabbing. This was both great fun and caused much debate about the best technique for luring crabs from the water! There was just time for an ice cream before getting the minibus back to Epsom.
The day ended with a BBQ in Mr Filbey’s garden, where the boys reflected on a wonderful day and started to make plans for the tone they want to set in the House as Upper Sixth boys next year. The boys were superb company throughout and promise to be an excellent first Upper Sixth group for Mr Tidmarsh in his first year as Housemaster.
Robinson
The Robinson Lower Sixth Teambuilding Day involved a morning session at the College, where they discussed the importance of leadership in the House and the role of the Upper Sixth students.
The group then made their way to London accompanied by Mr Gillespie and two of the Lower Sixth tutors – Mr Fernie and Mr Singh. Once there, the boys were split into three teams. Each had to complete a treasure trail, solving clues to find the location of the missing Royal wedding ring!
The boys really enjoyed the trip to take in the sights of Westminster, St James’s Park and Buckingham Palace on a beautiful day in London. It certainly put them in a different context to their usual school days. On return to Epsom, the group had dinner at Pizza Express to finish off a fantastic day.
Rosebery
The Rosebery Lower Sixth started with Prefect training in House before travelling to London. After being divided into three teams, they undertook a treasure hunt around Covent Garden. Clues were given that then dictated the route and along the way points were collected for responding to a number of visual and verbal prompts.
The girls were brilliant, each group really did pull together as a team, taking on individual roles to create a cohesive team and competition was lively. Competing teams even hid from their each other to confound and bamboozle their rivals!
The sun shone all day and whilst it was a focused and competitive day, the Rosebery girls were at their best – good company, engaged and keen to do their best! The group had an early dinner at Wagamama’s to end a fantastic day together.
White and Wilson
White and Wilson Houses joined forces for their Teambuilding Day activities at the Alice Holt Go Ape Treetop adventure, which is known for being one of the most challenging courses in the UK.
It was the perfect way to spend a sunny day in the shade of the trees. It stretched the girls beyond their normal levels of mental resilience and physical challenge.
A good time was had by all and they said “The Go Ape experience was so much fun, we really enjoyed being able to work with each other and get to know our peers even better. Everyone was very encouraging and it allowed people to challenge their fears! By continuously motivating each other throughout the whole experience it allowed everyone to step out their comfort zones in order to safely finish the course.”
