Year 8 leaders get to fine-tune skills

CAPTAINS: Young leaders navigate the Queen Elizabeth Park lake aboard a self-made raft as part of the seventh annual Year 8 Leadership Camp in Masterton. PHOTOS/ SUPPLIED

Year 8 leaders from throughout Wairarapa have been fine-tuning their roles at the seventh annual Wairarapa REAP leadership camps.

Wairarapa REAP schools liaison Trudy Sears said a pair of two-day camps were run in Masterton last week involving about 50 students, who concentrated on qualities that had already marked them out as leaders at their own schools.

"The aim was for the young student leaders to think about their own leadership, to think about listening, working as a team, and having respect for people. The aim was to give them a great grounding for what leadership is all about." The first camp started on Monday and involved 24 students from schools in South Wairarapa and some in Masterton.

The second camp finished yesterday and involved about the same numbers from Masterton, Pahiatua, and rural areas, including Pongaroa and Tinui.

The Year 8 leaders were based at the Lands Trust Masterton Education Centre in Masterton, completing tasks and challenges at several other locations, while staying overnight at Mawley Park.

The two-day events included guest speaker Kieran McAnulty, and prefects and head students from five colleges also spoke, Ms Sears said.

"We've found the younger leaders relate well to students closer to their own age. They can see themselves in those roles more easily and it inspires them to follow that pathway," she said.

"It was great too that some prefects who spoke had attended the camps themselves."

The Year 8 leaders were set a Masterton challenge involving a set amount of money given to teams, who bought ingredients and prepared and set a meal, judged by Jennie Smith and Alice Buchanan of Entice Cafe and Catering.

Key tutors for the camps were Belinda Bunny and Jo Tatton.