Orienteering on 02 August 2025

By Deputy Senior Sixer Michael Ng 

Today was a day of new experiences at scouts. When we all arrived at school, we got into our new horseshoe formation. Ikki told us this formation, which looks like an eyeball with the flagpole in the middle and the cub scouts forming an oval around it, would be our new standard. We then began with our colour party ceremony. 

After the ceremony, Hathi gave us 15 minutes for six corner. We stayed in our respective sixes for this activity, as instructed by Ikki. 

Once we finished six corner, we gathered into a single file and were split into three groups for our orienteering lesson. One group consisted of the new cubs, another was for the second-year scouts, and the final group was for the remaining scouts. I am in the third group. We were happy to find out that DragonHeart was our teacher for the lesson. 

When we reached the classroom, we sat in groups, and an alumni gave each group a world map. DragonHeart then began teaching us the fundamentals of orienteering. To make the lesson more engaging, we played a game where DragonHeart would give us a place or location to find on the map, and we would then write its coordinates on the whiteboard. Meanwhile, the new scouts, led by Hathi, learned about the 16 compass points, and the second-year scouts, led by Ikki, practiced map grids and estimating height. 

After the game, we went back to the KidZone for an National Day activity: making a flag garland. Kaa explained the steps, and each six was given two pieces of paper to draw the Singapore flag and a rope to hang them on. Ikki then asked the three senior sixers to split up and join the sixes with fewer cub scouts. I went to the Kookaburra six to help out. Once we finished our creations, we showed them to Kaa and took a picture before returning to sit in Indian file. 

When everyone was done, we held a sunset party. All the cub scouts, except for the sixers and senior sixers, were dismissed. The rest of us attended a Sixers' council to discuss our problems and solutions. Afterward, we carried the flagpole back to its original place before finally heading home.