Isle of Man Training

Hey,

A couple of weeks ago I was sent out to the Isle of Man to do schoolswork training and a leadership training course called History Makers. I stayed out there for two weeks in an ex-bed and breakfast, which is now a community house for the Scripture Union schools work volunteers, called Malmoor. The people there were really nice.

The first week was schools work. What an intense course. the teaching sessions were in the house from 9 in the morning to about 6 in the evening. my brain felt like it was going to explode, I took in soooo much information! But it was worth it. We did alot of practical role play. One of the exercises was to do a mock interview. In the interview we had to try to pursuade a "head teacher" and a "Deputy" why they should let us into their school. That was hard enough, but then to have Richard Shaw messing around and asking silly questions took the biscuit lol.

The Island is such a beautiful place. On the one afternoon off we had. A group of us went for a walk to the other side of the island to a beach. Sam Tagg and I went rock climbing. As we were climbing over a big ledge thing we found an abandond swimming pool!!! I was so exited, i felt like a little child again. So obviously we went exploring. Its amazing to think that people actually went to a swimming pool that was built into the side of a cliff. We left the pool behind but had to find out more, Sam decided to ask a guy sitting on a bench about it, turns out that his brother actually owned it at one point. His wife then told us that after it was a swimming pool it was converted into a lobster farming...erm...farm but that was a flop and didnt do very well.

The second week was a leadership training week called "History Makers". To get to this we had to travel across the island to a venue called "The Mill". It was once a mill, obviously, that had been converted into a conference centre. It was an amazing place. Even more amazing was the food. I felt like a king! For lunch everyday we had plates full of the most amazing curries, lasagnes (i cant spell), soups, cakes and more (obviously not on the same day).

The course was more intense than the first! Teaching from 9 in the morning till 6 and then we would usually do something in the evening. One night we had a question and answer session with two ministers from 2 local churches. It was like being back at school. Ive learnt all about the theories and models of leadership and the 8 core values of leadership. Ive learnt so much more than that, too much to put down.

Overall I had such a good time on the island, it was a real shame to go. But its going to be good to see the training ive recieved put into action.

Rob