ORA’s students at University College have spent their first few days learning essential life skills and interacting with political models.

Model UN

To teach students about international relations and the nature of diplomacy, a Model UN workshop was set up, encouraging everyone to refine their leadership skills.

During the simulation activity, pupils roleplayed as delegates and joined a series of country committees, whose interests they then represented in the debates and discussions throughout the workshop. The mock conference provided an important arena in which ORA students could refine key life skills, including public speaking, debating and researching.

The performance of the group was impressive and it didn’t take long for each committee to become dedicated to the needs of their country, fiercely defending its needs and fighting to provide for their people. Through a series of tactical and diplomatic debates, each committee managed to effectively secure food, aid or military equipment for their country whilst also forming worldly alliances.

Life Skills – Basic First Aid

Providing pupils with an essential set of life skills is one of the aims of ORA courses. Having already improved their teamwork and public speaking skills, it was time for a lesson in basic first aid.

The group were introduced to the importance of possessing fundamental first aid skills, enabling individuals to perform potentially life-saving treatments on injured people. With the help of some professional videos and demonstrations at the front of the class, the Counsellor provided an extensive and informative lesson.

Throughout the lesson, students were encouraged to copy the demonstrations to consolidate the knowledge they were learning and practice the skills. It was clear that many pupils were fascinated with the simplicity of much of the basic first aid, yet were surprised by its effectiveness in case studies.

ORA students have been busy studying in University College, but there are plenty of activities to look forward to later in the week. A museum trip, cake decorating, seminars and even a neon party await the group at the end of the week, so stay tuned to see how they get on.