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The Lent Term has been another busy one for the Minerva Explorer Scout Unit, earning badges for Nights Away and in Media Relations & Marketing, as well as taking part in the Monopoly Run in London.
Real-Life Monopoly Run
In early March, Lancing’s Minerva Scout Unit headed for London to play a game of real-life Monopoly! Around 4,000 Scouts and Guides from across the UK gathered at Queens Park by the London Eye at 9am on a Saturday morning, eager to buy their first property. We had a budget of £1,500 Monopoly pounds to roam around London, heading to certain landmarks on the Monopoly board to purchase them. The Scouts and Guides were split into teams with seven teams per game, the aim was to top the leader board with the highest sum of money. The game functioned through an app, which we had to download on our mobile phones. The app displayed the locations we had to head to, challenges which we had to complete throughout the day, a questionnaire (names of London stations) and a leader board which displayed our position among the six other groups we were competing with.
To earn money, the aim was to buy as many properties as possible to attain the most rent from other teams. Upon arrival at certain locations, we did not know if they had already been purchased, so when we checked in we had to pay rent if they had been bought by another team already. Other ways of earning money were through the picture challenges and completing questions on the questionnaire. I was in a team with Audrey N (Lower Sixth) and Farrah R (Lower Sixth). We managed to buy The Strand within the first hour and we were 2nd on the leader board for much of the day until two teams overtook us, and we finished 4th. We completed the picture challenges throughout the day which were highly amusing! It was a thoroughly enjoyable day, and we are looking forward to participating again next year!
Amelie L, Lower Sixth
Senior Patrol Leader
Overnight Adventure
The Fourth Form Scouts braved exceptionally wet March weather to complete their overnight adventure. The year group were divided into teams and had planned a route across the Downs to Hillside Scout Campsite. Each group was accompanied by a Senior Patrol Leader from the Lower Sixth who helped them navigate their routes. The rain was particularly heavy and when the groups finally arrived at Hillside they were tired and wet. The original plan had been to cook dinner on the open fire and camp out but instead the group stayed in the relative luxury of the bunk house and cooked dinner in the kitchens. A hastily arranged ‘corridor quiz night’ saw rooms pitted against each other and by the time we were allowed into the Scout hut (after some evening meetings had taken place) we were able to light a fire and toast marshmallows in the wood burning stove. After a warm and dry night, the Lower Sixth Scouts cooked a hearty breakfast before the group took part in a series of team building challenges such as coordinated walking on planks, communicating with blindfolded team members, and building tall towers. All of these required the Scouts to communicate with each other, devise a plan, and develop leadership skills. The bus came to take the Scouts back to College ready for lunch and afternoon lessons. Despite the challenges of the weather the camp was a success, and all Scouts earned a Nights Away badge.
The Scouts Programme
This term the Scouts have worked towards their Media Relations and Marketing badge. The Scouts had a talk from Ms Calabrese about how the College marketing works, and how the various social media channels combine with publications like The Quad to inform and advertise the work of the College. The Scouts learned about the importance of branding and how the College brand can be applied, as well as the Scouts logo and the ways the Scouts markets itself as an organisation. After this initial session the Scouts took part in a range of activities towards the badge. These included creating content for the Scout pages of the College website, learning about, and presenting about Scouting across the world, and designing a Lancing College Monopoly board as a means of marketing the College! They also helped design promotional material for the Unit. At the end of the sessions the Scouts were awarded their badge, having also learnt about an important area of College life. Furthermore the programme also opened their eyes to possible future careers!
Dr Richard Bustin, Scout Leader