GROWTH Programme Stage 6 – Leadership & Reflection
We are now working through stage 6 of our CHEXS GROWTH programme stage 6 – Leadership & Reflection.
Last half term, CHEXS began the Stage 6 Leadership & Reflection sessions with our young people in primary schools. All of the children referred to us take part in an exciting day, completing several team games and activities to improve their leadership skills.
These sessions are brilliant for the children’s personal development and learning to work with peers who they may not typically work with in the classroom or on the playground. The days begin with an introduction to ‘what makes a great leader?’ and ‘who do you know that is a good leader?’. Following this, the children are given a variety of different challenges and are required to work collaboratively to solve several problems, listen to other’s ideas and complete the task!
Some of the games include a marble run (as pictured in the title!) where the children aim to roll the ball across the tubes and see how far they can get without dropping it. Often, these games are not completed on the first attempt, and require the young people to be resilient and keep trying even when they fail.
At CHEXS, this resilience is an extremely important skill for the children to master, to support them in the future, both inside and outside the classroom.
Another game some of the children at CHEXS had mastered was ‘shark island’.This is a game using only a long piece of rope, a clothing hanger and some treasure in the middle, surrounded by shark infested water! The aim of the game was for the children to rescue the treasure from the island using the rope, hanger and their problem-solving skills.
This activity is a great activity for collaboration, leadership and again, resilience!
During this game, we also discussed with the children what treasure means to them. For some, the treasure is a new PS5 or a fast sports car, and for some, their treasure is simply their love for their family and friends.
We love having these discussions at CHEXS, finding out more about our young people, whilst having a fabulous time playing games.
At the end of the sessions, when the children are on a high from successfully completing these games, the children complete an evaluation of their time with CHEXS so far, answering some questions about how they feel they have progressed. Some of the responses have been:
“I am proud of myself because I am more confident.”
“I’ve surprised myself that I was able to make new friends.”
“I enjoyed talking to CHEXS because they actually understand how I feel, they listen to me and help me.”
When we invited the children’s parents were then into school to listen to a presentation by the CHEXS team and the children to discuss all of the amazing projects we have done so far. The children were able to share their achievements and stand up bravely to discuss the different activities they have taken part in. For many of the children on the GROWTH programme who lack confidence, this is a huge achievement for them and a highlight of their time with CHEXS. Thank you to all of the parents that have attended these presentations, it has been brilliant to hear all of your lovely feedback about how CHEXS has helped your children and we can’t wait to continue working with them!
CHEXS coaching sessions are laced with ‘hands on’ activities which bring the topics to life and help the children and young people explore and problem solve some tricky / sensitive situations and emotions.
We would like to thank Children in Need for supporting us with CHEXS GROWTH programme 2022-23
childreninneed #charity #support #selfesteem #confidence #teamwork #leevalley #chexs #community #broxbourne #Hertfordshire #HenrySmith #GarfieldandWeston #MasonicCharitableTrust
