Leadership Training Camp
On 29 May 2021, 148 newly-elected JC1 Co-Curricular Activity (CCA) Leaders and Student Councillors took part in the online Leadership Training Camp (LTC) organised by 12 JC2 CCA Leaders and teachers from the Student Leadership (SLD) Committee. The LTC is the college’s annual leadership programme, with the objective of instilling leadership competencies and group management skills in our new leaders through numerous hands-on activities and reflection sessions. The LTC also serves to create a community of supportive student leaders within the college and is one of the three programmes that these leaders undergo during their leadership stint in JPJC.
Following the announcement of Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) on 16 May 2021, significant modifications were made to the programme as the camp was shifted from a face-to-face event to an online setting, in compliance with the Safe Management Measures. This proved challenging to the team as they had to redesign the programme to ensure that the objectives were met and that the programme would still be impactful for our student leaders.
The online workshop focused on three aspects that were assessed to be critical for new student leaders –
- Understanding the JPJC Leadership Competencies, which provided a form of guidance for students to work towards becoming effective leaders.
- Understanding Self (Strengths and Areas for Improvement), a reflective component that would allow the student leaders to recognise their strengths and the aspects that they would need to work on.
- Group and Conflict Management Skills, a key management skill when leading a team.
The workshop was conducted via an experiential learning approach, in which the student leaders gained knowledge and skills primarily through gamification, case studies, simulation exercises and discussions, facilitated by the JC2 student leaders and the teachers. One notable activity was the ’60 seconds’ activity, where these new leaders had to make quick and difficult decisions based on an apocalypse storyline.
In all, the LTC provided a rich and fruitful experience for our new student leaders despite its departure from traditional modes of engagement and participation.
