Eight cadets from 1st Battalion the Highlanders made great use of the October holidays to become Senior Instructors in the Battalion.
Cadet Colour Sergeant Louise Curtis (16), Cadet Sergeant Jakub Bialkowski (16), Cadet Sergeant Alexander MacCuish (16), Cadet Sergeant Jake Rendall (16), Cadet Sergeant Max Scott (16), Cadet Sergeant Thomas Spencer (16), Cadet Sergeant Andy Tait (17) and Cadet Sergeant Skye Taylor (16) all completed their Senior Cadet Instructor Course (SCIC), held from 12-19 October at Barry Buddon, near Dundee.
The course, conducted by the Cadet Training Team Scotland, saw the cadets build upon the instructional skills taught from their Junior Cadet Instructor Course alongside cadets from Scotland and the North of England, with the Highland contingent making up one third of the course numbers.
SCIC aims to teach the art of leadership and how to instruct students to teach their fellow cadets lessons from the Army Proficiency Certificate (APC) Syllabus. Throughout the course the students are shown how to teach, as well as the many styles of teaching that can benefit the different cadets they may instruct.
The majority of the course is theory based, however end of course assessments require the students to teach three different lessons from the cadet syllabus to their fellow students: Navigation, Drill and Skill at Arms.
After the cadets had completed their ‘Teaching Practices’ there was a short exercise to test the students’ leadership skills in a Fieldcraft environment. The course ended with a final parade where all eight cadets passed adding a further skill to their CVs, as well as now being able to teach up to and including 3 Star Cadet Training.
CSgt Curtis (left), Sgt Bialkowski (2nd left), Sgt Scott (centre), Sgt Spencer (4th right) & Sgt Tait (2nd right) with CTT Scotland staff who made the course possible.
