Lower Sixth houses chose a range of activities to provide students with purposeful team building and development exercises, all wrapped up with a huge amount of fun. While some houses chose trips offsite to take part in scavenger hunts, Go Ape and chocolate making, others clubbed together to participate in a range of exciting team building activities onsite.
Team Building at the College
Granville, Raven, Wilson, Propert, Fayrer, and Murrell amalgamated and, using combined resources, held their Lower Sixth team building day onsite. The event was a resounding success, offering students a unique and engaging day filled with a variety of activities designed to foster camaraderie.
The students were exposed to a carousel of events that saw them working both within their Houses as well as mixed groups. This blend of familiar and new team dynamics ensured that everyone had the opportunity to develop new relationships and strengthen existing ones.
The morning session kicked off with an exciting escape room challenge, where participants had to collaborate to open a digital vault. This was followed by a command task and teamwork session, further emphasising the importance of cooperation and strategic thinking. An inspirational talk from a recent Epsomian, Grace Compton, on her extraordinary path to representing England Rugby provided motivation and a fresh perspective, inspiring students to push their boundaries and think creatively.
There was also ‘Restart a Heart’ training, where students gained a small but crucial qualification in CPR and the use of a defibrillator. This practical skill not only empowered the students but also underscored the day’s theme of working together to make a difference.
Following a delicious BBQ lunch, the afternoon was filled with laughter and excitement as students enthusiastically tackled inflatable obstacles and races. These activities provided a fun and energetic conclusion to the day, reinforcing the spirit of teamwork and friendly competition.
House Trips to London
Meanwhile, the other Houses were busy on their own trips offsite. Robinson took part in a leadership session at the College in the morning, before travelling to London for an afternoon of activities. Two teams competed in a treasure trail around Westminster, taking in the Houses of Parliament, Downing Street and Buckingham Palace along the route. An enjoyable meal on the South Bank rounded off a fun afternoon.
Rosebery also travelled into London and after enjoying a picnic lunch on the South Bank, the students split into three teams. Each team was challenged to complete the Covent Garden Treasure Hunt, using cryptic clues and teamwork. Aided by the glorious sunshine, the teams sped through the sunny, winding streets, spotting historical landmarks and street performers. At the end of the day, Watts’s Warriors won out with an impressive 26/30 points. Chocolate and sweets were awarded to the winners, and everyone celebrated with a Wagamama feast!
Forest travelled into London to explore Mayfair, Knightsbridge and Westminster, completing treasure trails in each location. The boys worked well together on solving some very tricky clues, uncovering some of London’s hidden gems and finishing with a walk around Covent Garden in the sunshine.
Crawfurd’s team building day was based on the TV show The Apprentice, the details of which were kept under-wraps until the day itself. The challenge was to create a luxury chocolate brand where they would craft their own chocolate, produce a TV advert, create branded packaging, and finally pitch their ideas to the bursar to convince him that their brand deserved investment. Hotel Chocolat in Epsom’s Ashleigh Centre kindly opened their doors to provide one of their superb velvetiser hot chocolates.
The task was set, teams were assigned, and they were then off to Shoreditch to learn how to make their own chocolate truffles. The groups threw themselves into the challenge wholeheartedly by sharing their ideas and delegating tasks based on individual strengths, mapping out detailed brand plans even before we had even arrived at the chocolate-making venue. Amidst copious chocolate consumption there were some surprisingly successful creations, some of which were packaged up to become samples.
The final destination was Borough Market where they visited an independent handmade chocolate stall before breaking off to indulge in some of the market’s other culinary delights. A final treat was a visit to the Alain Ducasse chocolate shop where the group was given a presentation, sampled varieties from different cocoa sources, shown cocoa pods and beans, and learnt about the roasting process. Back at school, the teams raced around and finalised packaging, adverts and pitches. A takeaway dinner finished off the day and we all talked through some scenarios they may encounter as prefects.
Carr students also travelled to London for a day of exploration and adventure. The treasure hunts around Mayfair and Hyde Park challenged the groups to work as team, to find the clues and solve the puzzles. Time was then spent in the afternoon enjoying a lunch together, with extended discussions on the importance of being a guiding role model and the positive impact that Upper Sixth pupils can have on younger pupils in the School.
Trips to Go Ape and Brighton
White House had a great time at Go Ape at Alice Holt Forest, near Farnham, Surrey. Over five increasingly challenging courses, the girls worked hard to complete all the obstacles on the high ropes course. After a picnic lunch, the girls returned to the College and worked on their House plans and goals. The girls finished off the evening together with a relaxed pizza night.
Finally, Holman travelled (unknowingly) to Brighton where they had to solve cryptic clues in order to discover the treasure location of infamous pirate, ‘Horrible Hairy John’. Having had a plentiful amount of fish and chips on the seafront for lunch, some even managed to find space to try cockles and whelks for the first time. This meant that the boys were fuelled up for a timed scavenger hunt of random items. Since they were unable to access the internet, students needed to be savvy to identify items that they had never even heard of – much to the public’s dismay.
Finally, the two teams were set against one another in a dramatic finale of crazy golf – in Ryder Cup style format. Upon returning to Epsom, the day was wrapped up with a BBQ and some garden games. With over 15km walked, they certainly slept well that night.
Well done Lower Sixth, a truly memorable day for all with many new skills learnt while having lots of fun… we can’t wait for you to step in your roles as Upper Sixth leaders!
