On Tuesday the 24th of March we attended the PCT, aka Police Competence Training Competition.

 It was a fun team-indusing set of activities to test not only your physical and mental strength, but also testing your strategies and working things out with a team of people. This is how things are normally done being a Police Officer. Students and teams from all over the South Island come together to work with each other, test themselves, and compete with all the others. You were put into certain colour groups with other teams. These teams would be your competitors or even your pairs. It was work with or against. Activities include learning about the medics + practicing CPR, dressing up as a police officer + checking out the cars, trying to guess the right path over a “minefield” + seeing how small you could get a mat whilst having your three other teammates stand on it without touching the ground for 10 seconds, testing your speed with a speed laser, testing your strategies by trying to get from one side to another by putting down plastic circles, and my favorite; the actual PCT fitness course.

All activities were equally enjoyable. The PCT was a set of obstacles that you had to complete as a team also including strategies. These include pushing a bin around a set of cones before running around the whole inside space, walking along a beam, practicing long jump, having two teammates go over and the other two going through a gate, zig zagging through a set of cones, crawling underneath metal hurdles, jumping through a square in a wall, climbing a wall with the help of your teammates, carrying a heavy dummy from one side to the next, climbing a fence, then running to the finish line. It all sounds a bit much written out, but overall, it was such a fun and testing experience. Everybody there seemed to be having a fun, good time. Afterwards, you were rewarded with one or more sausages. 

If you have a chance to do this yourself, I would 100% recommend doing this. 

By Amy Snell, Year 7/8ML.