IAYP Adventurous Journey Trek

On 27th February Award participants of Sarala Birla Academy, Bangalore escorted by three school teachers and two professional trainers left the school after breakfast at 8:30 and headed towards Kudremukh near Chikmagalur, which was our trekking destination. We reached there at about 7:30 in the evening.

Next morning assembled at 6:30 and after breakfast we left for our trekking spot. We trekked for 18km-20km up and down a hill. Although our trek was tiring, all of us manged to complete it successfully. We also clicked some elegant pictures on the way. We had a bonfire that we enjoyed, listening to songs and chatting with friends. We had a sumptuous dinner and went to bed by 10:00 as we were rather tired.

Next day after the breakfast we went to play volleyball in muddy water and it was great fun. We got ready by 11:30 and had an early lunch and by 12:30 we left the place and headed back to Bangalore. Thanks to our school authorities and the teachers incharge for organising this trek. Without their support it would not have been possible to experience this wonderful rous Adventusuch Journey. Click for pictures

When the Duke came to Heritage

Padma R Brahma, Award Leader, Heritage Girls School, Udaipur and T4T participant submitting a report on Asia Pacific Training for Trainers (T4T) held from 8th - 10 March 2015

The ASIA Pacific Region Training For Trainers (T4T) for The Award programme was held between 8th and 10th March, 2015 at The Heritage Girls School, Udaipur. The training was led by Rob Oliphant, Regional Manager Asia Pacific Region.
All arrangements in place, the 7th saw the arrival of the delegates. They came in from different parts of the country and continent (Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Mahatashtra, Rajasthan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka) and lent a shade of vibrancy to the school atmosphere and the scenic beauty of the venue.
The training itself was spread over three days and covered various aspects of training, especially with reference to the Award programme. Participants learnt to categorize the available data; design training content; understand that the audience is always a mix of different intelligences and learnt ways to cater to each one of them. Another very important lesson that escaped no one was one of Rob Oliphant's screaming flip chart reading, "PREPARATION PREPARATION PREPARATION". Fun and learning intertwined in the interactive training sessions.


At the core of teaching was the individual presentations that the trainees made, where they presented various aspects of the Award in a simulated live classroom. The topics were assigned to pairs of participants on the first day of training, to be presented over the next two days. The entire block was abuzz with activity: people planning their presentations animatedly; some walking around the premises looking for props; some working on laptops; some colouring, cutting and pasting charts (some even had to forgo the yummy Rajasthani lunch!!).

One-by-one the teams presented and received feedback - one had never fully comprehended the meaning of 'constructive feedback' until then. The programme exposed all to different methods employed to train. Rob used flipcharts and not the 'traditional' power point presentations which stayed in the room and transformed it into a livewire that constantly reinforced everything learnt. Click for pictures