The power of beach volleyball
Building relationships is an integral part of life, we cannot function without them. I have blogged previously about the importance of the relationship between student and teacher and how it is essential that this is in place for effective learning and teaching to occur.
It is equally important that all students develop relationships with each other. The students at IFS spend the majority of the day together, acting as each others support network, to be relied upon, trusted and enhance each others learning.
In week 5 we had the year 10 transition into year 11, with year 11 moving onto year 12. This is an exciting time for the students as they begin a new journey together. At IFS we deliver stage 6 as a vertical model where three subjects are provided at Preliminary and HSC within the one year. This also means that we have year 11 and year 12 students in the same class.
Although many of the students would have worked together within stage 5, we have many new students joining us and it is important that they all get to know each other again and feel a sense of unity.
As their mentors, last week Gavin, Joey and I took stage 6 on their first IFS camp experience. The aim was to not only have fun and try new things, but to foster new relationships which will ultimately enhance learning in the classroom.
The first afternoon saw us all undertake a bushwalk to the top of the ridge that looked out over Broken Bay, Palm Beach and Lion Island. We stopped at the top to meet our first team challenge of making a fire and lighting it with only one match. The students immediately broke into teams of three to gather resources to build the best fire. We noted communication, teamwork and collaboration that resulted in one team lighting their fire first time! Teams 3 and 4 were not far behind and once the flames had died down we were able to cook damper over the open fire – a first for many students.
That evening we undertook some team initiative games before retiring to bed.
A full day Thursday consisted of abseiling and all its challenges. This was followed by ‘capture the flag’ on the beach, each team spending time building bunkers before applying strategy and chance to win the battle.
The evening consisted of basketball and futsal tournaments.
Friday morning was a leisurely shoot at the archery range, followed by fishing!
How much more could we pack into three days? Well there was the ‘gap filler’ game of beach volleyball. The first game I observed was based on a one hit individual, lets-get-it over-the-net type strategy. As players rotated, communicated and developed skills, there was a clear shift to a more organised and team-supported game involving collaboration, three touches and support from teammates to try to outwit the opposition. With every game played, the students’ teamwork and collaboration increased. It was amazing to see how a simple game of beach volleyball could create such a shift in attitude and teamwork. Who would have thought that beach volleyball would be the foundation of the building of stage 6 relationships – bringing all students together as a unit? The students are keen to get a beach volleyball court at college, I wonder if we can take on this project?
Leave a Reply