Leadership Day for Year 7

The Year 7 Leadership day is an intense and exciting annual event, which gives pupils in our penultimate year the opportunity to demonstrate their awareness of how to problem solve and, most importantly, how to manage their peers.

Pupils were divided into carefully crafted groups for their Leadership Day and, in the morning, the groups rotated through six team-building exercises. Each child is observed by at least six members of staff over the day and is assessed on the following HPL skills: Creating, Empathetic, Meta-thinking and Hardworking. They are expected to persevere, be collaborative, form strategies and think flexibly, all of which are essential skills in the final year at Westbourne House.

The second half of the day is particularly challenging, especially as the children are completing the most taxing of the tasks at their most tired, including “The Flat Pack Challenge”, which demands excellent team work, non verbal skills and stamina.  However, it is normally at this point in the day when we see some fantastic leadership shining through.

For the children, it is an extremely fun and rewarding day.  For the finale - on successful completion of the tasks - they are rewarded with one final job of exploding a box... only to discover a sweet-filled interior!

This year, the groups really showed a lot of promise. One group felt that they didn’t really have a dominant leader, which was interesting, as this is the perfect scenario - with a leader managing a team without the individuals realising that they are being managed; it is a real art.

We were filled with optimism for next year seeing pupils in action, ready for the demands of Year 8. A hugely rewarding day for staff and pupils alike.

Mr Pitman said: “The activities are essential for their leading roles in Year 8. It was lovely to see such enthusiasm and perseverance over a long day. They did really well, realising that listening to each other is absolutely crucial.”