Stepping up into final year at King’s sees many of the U6^th Form take on leadership positions within the School. It is also a year where the pupils are looking to the future beyond King's, where decisions need to be made and leadership skills will be frequently called upon.

With these in mind, the U6^th Form took part in a leadership training evening, run by a professional trainer from Inside Knowledge. With experience in the corporate and media worlds, the trainer engaged the pupils throughout the evening, challenging them to think through their own understanding of leadership and how they could develop their skills to become leaders of the future.

The first half of the evening saw the pupils engaged in a seminar, learning about aspects of leadership ranging from first impressions, body language, the characteristics of good leaders and far more besides. It gave the chance for pupils to reflect and discuss on their moral code and values which they take into decision-making. After a short break, the pupils were then split into teams to take on the COBRA decision-making exercise. With each taking the position of a member of the government’s emergency cabinet, they were challenged to make decisions under tight time pressure, incorporating each other’s opinions and demands, as they responded to a political and economic crisis scenario. Under the pressure of reporting back to the aggressive questioning of the “Prime Minister”, pupils were challenged to think on their feet in a decisive manner. They rose to the challenge, having both an enjoyable evening, but also learning much about themselves as they grew in stature as leaders.

It was an excellent event and one which saw pupils take that step closer to becoming wise leading figures in both the community at King’s, but in particular in the world beyond. An album of photos from the evening can be viewed below.

Will Daws - Head of Sixth Form