Tuesday, February 24, 2009
DISTRICT BEAVER QUIZ
A big thank you to Hoyland for hosting this quiz event. Over 30 Beavers attended and split into teams to answer general knowledge questions, identify hidden objects and musical scores whilst eating pancakes! We had joint winners with Hoyland A and Darfield A both teams scoring a massive 69! Well done all!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Blogging Workshop
Just a reminder that we will be running a Blogging Workshop next Thursday (26 Feb), before the District Scouters' Meeting. Kick-off will be 7pm at Ardsley. We'll be taking you through the process of setting up and running your own Group blog.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Changes to Scout - Explorer Transfer Age
I thought some of you might be interested in the following correspondence between myself and Headquarters. My email to them was prompted the 'Transition from Scouts to Explorer Scouts'
document circulated via ScoutingPlus on behalf of the Operations Sub-Committee. The gist of the document is that from 1 September 2009 nobody over the age of 14.5 will be able to take part in the Scout Programme. The current position is that there is six months flexibility, so you could keep someone in Scouts until 15.
My words are in black text; the reply from Thomas Ovenstone at HQ is in red text:
Many thanks for your email. I will try to answer your points in order below.
Is no-one even slightly concerned that Scouting is now losing one of its most basic and unique ideas; that young scouts should be lead by older scouts through the Patrol system? For this to work there has to be a reasonable age difference between the young scouts and their PLs and APLs. Any Scout Leader trying to run the Patrol system today is faced with the problem that the 'oldest' scouts are not that much more mature or physically bigger than the kids they are trying to lead. You would struggle to send a patrol of scouts camping on their own today, for example.
You will appreciate that this was a decision that was not taken lightly - there has been significant discussion and debate surrounding this issue before the 'public' statement issued this week. I would argue that it is entirely possible to actively involve older Scouts in a 'Leadership' role within the Troop, as well as encouraging them to take on responsibility for decision making in the wider group and unit. There are many troops who have successfully adapted their programme and the patrol system that they use since 2002 to reflect the change to the core age range of the Section that has been in place since that date. I also know that it is possible for young people to camp as a Patrol with minimal adult supervision - although I do grant you that the system and requirements for doing so have changed over the years.
Is it not one of our USPs, that young people emerge from Scouting having had some leadership experience? It's not good leadership experience being nominally in charge of a group of kids who do exactly as they please despite your best efforts!
I entirely agree with your point that developing leadership skills in young people is one of the most important aspects of Scouting in all of our Sections (you may be aware of the Taking the Lead resource, available from http://www.scouts.org.uk/support_resource_view.php?support_resource_id=1321 which aims to do just that. I believe that it is possible to do this within the current framework of the Scout Section for the reasons outlined above.
I was hoping that on further consideration the age flexibility regarding Explorers would move in the other direction.
All of the evidence that we have collected over the last seven years suggests that the needs of most young people are best met by the provision of a good Balanced Programme for 10-14 year olds in the Scout Section and a similar provision for 14-18 year olds in the Explorer Scout Section. The core age ranges were set as such in 2002 because research had identified that young people often left the movement at around the age of 14, choosing to disengage from the programme offered by their Scout Troop because they felt that it had nothing left to offer them. We also firmly believe (having been told so repeatedly by adults working with both Sections) that allowing 6 months flexibility either side of the core upper age allows enough variance to take into account any personal development factors or the need to move up with a peer group. The additional flexibility (e.g. up to 15) has caused a number of issues over the last seven years and (after repeated requests) we have taken the decision to change the rule for the reasons outlined on the FAQ sheet. It is worth noting in this context that both the Explorer Scout and Scout Sections have experienced significant growth since 2002.
I don't see that there is any inherent problem with 14/15 year olds holding APL and PL positions in the Scout Troop, whilst also being members of the District Explorer unit. Most Scout Troops have weekly meetings and say monthly weekend activities. Explorers tend to hold monthly meetings, with a couple of weekend activities per month.
Is it beyond us to develop a scheme which allows some overlap between Scouts and Explorers? Is it not possible for a 14/15 year old to be an active member of the Troop whilst also working on the Platinum/Bronze award? Would this in fact not ease the transition to Explorers?
I suppose that the most significant problem here is that of the time available to a young person. We know that most Explorer Scout Units meet on a weekly basis as per the demands of their members. It strikes me that it would be very difficult to provide an overlapping system such as you describe in a flexible enough fashion to allow young people to access it. Moreover, I would argue that this is exactly the situation in which the Explorer Scout Young Leaders' Scheme can prove so beneficial.
I'm curious as to what consultation process was undertaken prior to the Operations Sub-Committee issuing this diktat. How many people were consulted? What questions were asked? What replies were received? Can I view the results of the consultation process online? I'm certain I've never been asked for my views on this.
We have not instituted a specific survey with regard to this topic, which is why you will not have seen one. However, since the launch of the Balanced Programme in 2002, the UK Programme Advisory Team have taken great care to collect and log issues regarding programme content and any problems surrounding its delivery. This change was instituted after quite literally thousands of email, telephone and face to face conversations over the last seven years.
I hope that helps to at least explain the thinking behind this change. Apologies for the long email, but I thought that you would appreciate a detailed response to your queries. I would be happy to discuss this matter further should you so wish.
---Ends---
In fairness this is a very full reply from Tom. I'd be interested to know whether I'm alone in having an issue with the policy itself, and the way it's been implemented. Perhaps we could discuss it at a District Scouters' Meeting?
document circulated via ScoutingPlus on behalf of the Operations Sub-Committee. The gist of the document is that from 1 September 2009 nobody over the age of 14.5 will be able to take part in the Scout Programme. The current position is that there is six months flexibility, so you could keep someone in Scouts until 15.
My words are in black text; the reply from Thomas Ovenstone at HQ is in red text:
Many thanks for your email. I will try to answer your points in order below.
Is no-one even slightly concerned that Scouting is now losing one of its most basic and unique ideas; that young scouts should be lead by older scouts through the Patrol system? For this to work there has to be a reasonable age difference between the young scouts and their PLs and APLs. Any Scout Leader trying to run the Patrol system today is faced with the problem that the 'oldest' scouts are not that much more mature or physically bigger than the kids they are trying to lead. You would struggle to send a patrol of scouts camping on their own today, for example.
You will appreciate that this was a decision that was not taken lightly - there has been significant discussion and debate surrounding this issue before the 'public' statement issued this week. I would argue that it is entirely possible to actively involve older Scouts in a 'Leadership' role within the Troop, as well as encouraging them to take on responsibility for decision making in the wider group and unit. There are many troops who have successfully adapted their programme and the patrol system that they use since 2002 to reflect the change to the core age range of the Section that has been in place since that date. I also know that it is possible for young people to camp as a Patrol with minimal adult supervision - although I do grant you that the system and requirements for doing so have changed over the years.
Is it not one of our USPs, that young people emerge from Scouting having had some leadership experience? It's not good leadership experience being nominally in charge of a group of kids who do exactly as they please despite your best efforts!
I entirely agree with your point that developing leadership skills in young people is one of the most important aspects of Scouting in all of our Sections (you may be aware of the Taking the Lead resource, available from http://www.scouts.org.uk/support_resource_view.php?support_resource_id=1321 which aims to do just that. I believe that it is possible to do this within the current framework of the Scout Section for the reasons outlined above.
I was hoping that on further consideration the age flexibility regarding Explorers would move in the other direction.
All of the evidence that we have collected over the last seven years suggests that the needs of most young people are best met by the provision of a good Balanced Programme for 10-14 year olds in the Scout Section and a similar provision for 14-18 year olds in the Explorer Scout Section. The core age ranges were set as such in 2002 because research had identified that young people often left the movement at around the age of 14, choosing to disengage from the programme offered by their Scout Troop because they felt that it had nothing left to offer them. We also firmly believe (having been told so repeatedly by adults working with both Sections) that allowing 6 months flexibility either side of the core upper age allows enough variance to take into account any personal development factors or the need to move up with a peer group. The additional flexibility (e.g. up to 15) has caused a number of issues over the last seven years and (after repeated requests) we have taken the decision to change the rule for the reasons outlined on the FAQ sheet. It is worth noting in this context that both the Explorer Scout and Scout Sections have experienced significant growth since 2002.
I don't see that there is any inherent problem with 14/15 year olds holding APL and PL positions in the Scout Troop, whilst also being members of the District Explorer unit. Most Scout Troops have weekly meetings and say monthly weekend activities. Explorers tend to hold monthly meetings, with a couple of weekend activities per month.
Is it beyond us to develop a scheme which allows some overlap between Scouts and Explorers? Is it not possible for a 14/15 year old to be an active member of the Troop whilst also working on the Platinum/Bronze award? Would this in fact not ease the transition to Explorers?
I suppose that the most significant problem here is that of the time available to a young person. We know that most Explorer Scout Units meet on a weekly basis as per the demands of their members. It strikes me that it would be very difficult to provide an overlapping system such as you describe in a flexible enough fashion to allow young people to access it. Moreover, I would argue that this is exactly the situation in which the Explorer Scout Young Leaders' Scheme can prove so beneficial.
I'm curious as to what consultation process was undertaken prior to the Operations Sub-Committee issuing this diktat. How many people were consulted? What questions were asked? What replies were received? Can I view the results of the consultation process online? I'm certain I've never been asked for my views on this.
We have not instituted a specific survey with regard to this topic, which is why you will not have seen one. However, since the launch of the Balanced Programme in 2002, the UK Programme Advisory Team have taken great care to collect and log issues regarding programme content and any problems surrounding its delivery. This change was instituted after quite literally thousands of email, telephone and face to face conversations over the last seven years.
I hope that helps to at least explain the thinking behind this change. Apologies for the long email, but I thought that you would appreciate a detailed response to your queries. I would be happy to discuss this matter further should you so wish.
---Ends---
In fairness this is a very full reply from Tom. I'd be interested to know whether I'm alone in having an issue with the policy itself, and the way it's been implemented. Perhaps we could discuss it at a District Scouters' Meeting?
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