Wing SNCO Assessment Success

Congratulations to cadets from Ferndown Squadron who have successfully passed their SNCO Assessment.  The following students from Ferndown Squadron successfully passed the Assessment Day:

• Sgt Hunt
• Sgt Navrady- Pitcher
• Sgt Thomas-Hillman

The Assessment Day was held at RAF Boscombe Down.  Prior to the Assessment the cadets had received a days training and had to prepare a presentation for the day itself.

The cadets arrived at 0830 for an initial briefing.  This was followed by a General Service Knowledge (GSK) Test .  There then followed a comprehensive uniform inspection.  The course demands high standards of uniform from the students.

After the inspection the cadets carried out their presentations.  Each cadet had a subject from the Junior NCO COurse to present as a lesson.  They had powerpoint slides available as well as being able to use other methods to teach the class.  Instructors were looking for a well structured and interesting lesson using the techniques that had been taught on the Training Day.

After this the cadets split into two groups.  The first group headed outside into the fresh air to carry out command tasks.  Students are given a 5 minute brief on the tasks they have to complete.  They then have to brief their team, formulate a plan and carry it out using the team, all in a 10 minute time limit.  During this time staff are marking students on all aspects of their leadership and how they interact with the team.  In addition another member of staff will be evaluating how students interact with the leader and other members of the team to assess their teamwork.

The other half of the students were subjected to a comprehensive interview with two members of staff.  For many this is their first experience of an interview.  The interview covers the student’s knowledge of current affairs and their military knowledge, it also looks at their hobbies and sports outside ATC as well as their career plans.

After lunch the groups swapped round and changed activities.  Meanwhile in the ‘command cell’ of the course Staff members assisted by cadet SNCOs are busy feeding the results into the master spreadsheet, which calculates the course grades and generates the Course Report.

At the end of the Assessment Day the students are individually debriefed by staff and given feedback from the days activities.  This will be followed up by a Course Report , which is sent to the their Commanding Officer to go through with the student in detail at a later date.  The purpose of the course is to assess if the SNCO will at some later stage be suitable for promotion to the Rank of Cadet Flight Sergeant.

M BERRY

OIC