March already!

At the risk of sounding like I should be sat on a rocking chair far into my retirement, “Hasn’t the year gone by fast!” We are now into our third month of Scouting in 2019, and as you’ll likely have seen from event invites, updates shared around recent trips and the group calendar, it’s shaping up to be another busy one.

We’ve decided to stick with the revised structure of this post: group updates at the top, followed by section reminders and then throwbacks to the week gone by. We hope this works for you – we are happy to take feedback and comments; its evident to us that Rewind / Fast Forward work given the parent/guardian engagement and the significant reduction in texts/emails querying the weekly programme or events over the past twelve plus months. There may be the odd week where a section update is a little ambiguous or missing, our apologies for that – it won’t be because nothing’s planned, typically something else has meant the related section volunteers haven’t had the opportunity to provide details for sharing. The adult team do a great job, and I’m extremely grateful for all that they do for the young people.

Group (All sections)

Parent Portal

Last week, we highlighted how our group make use of a product called Online Scout Manager. We’ve heard of a couple of teething problems from a handful of parents/guardians; if you have any issues, please do let us know so we can work with you to get the best out of the platform. As a reminder, there’s a great video introduction to the portal on the vendor’s website, here.

Maintenance days

Our next maintenance day is in the diary for the 10th March. We plan on getting all of the tents and associated equipment out so we can ensure it’s fit for use throughout the year. Additionally, we will progress some more of our decluttering, cleaning and building maintenance. If you can support us, please let us know by emailing Rob. Your support, even if only for a few hours on the day, makes all the difference. Thank you.

Cleaner sought (Paid service)

Our regular, twice weekly, cleaners are looking to step back from regular cleaning. The group is therefore looking to secure a cleaner to tackle the Activity Centre floors, surfaces, toilets and kitchen areas. We can’t employ directly, but the group can pay those who own their own business or work for themselves. If you would like to be considered for the role, or can recommend someone who could take this on, please drop an email to [email protected] Thank you.

Section Leaders

The next planned Section Leader meeting is Sunday 10th March @ 16:30. If you are unable to attend, please send a deputy. Just a reminder that there were some actions from the last Section Leader meeting you might want to revisit prior to the session, please.

Back in the here and now, let’s take a look at the coming week:

The week ahead (4th March 2019 onwards)

Beavers

Section meetings

All colonies – This week, we tackle part two of the builder badge and therefore we will need cardboard, Pringle tubes, kitchen towel inner etc please to use to make the designs. We are keeping the designs under wraps so no previews until the great reveal next week.

Future Beaver events

Night in the Museum sleepover –  Just a few short weeks to go. Over the weekend we sent out the event briefing pack and medical forms. If you can’t locate your copies, they can be found on the dedicated event page.
Space camp – invites have been launched and Beaver’s opportunity to launch their bookings within your email boxes. For a copy of the letter, have a look here on the dedicated event page.  Deposits need to be paid, please – details within the letter.

Cubs

Section meetings

All packs –  All three cub packs will be meeting on Thursday at Baggerwood, Thurgoland. Usual meeting times of 6:30 – 8 pm. Drop off and collection from the Woodland Trust car park. Please make sure your Cub is dressed appropriately for the weather with sturdy shoes, a head torch and a drink (if required). Please remember that there are no toilet facilities in the woodland. There will be no meeting on Tuesday for Alegre cubs as this will replace our usual meeting.

Future Cub events

None to highlight at this time

Scouts

Section meetings

All scout troops – This week sees our Scouts taking on their Photographer badge. If Scouts have their own camera, they may bring it with them; if their camera is part of a mobile phone, that’s also okay to bring – we just ask that they keep it in aeroplane mode during the troop meeting. We must also stress that the Scouts will be responsible for anything they bring in.

Future Scout events

Monopoly Run – the final installment of £25 is now due if you haven’t already paid in full. We are missing a substantial amount of our consents, mobile phone agreements and no one has emailed Shauna their lunch selection for the Saturday as per the briefing pack!

Several events were shared recently; a reminder to all to please ensure deposits are please paid this week via bank transfer using the details contained within the invitation letters. If you’ve not booked on yet, some of the events are nearing capacity so please don’t wait for the last-minute to book a place – your young person may miss out. We’ve already had that this week where someone wanted to join the Monopoly Run in two weeks time!

Explorers

Section meetings

Explorers will be cooking pancakes on tin cans and fires ( if they can get them lit) as it’s pancake day!

Future Explorer events

Similar the to Scout update above: Several events were shared recently; a reminder to all to please ensure deposits are please paid this week via bank transfer using the details contained within the invitation letters. If you’ve not booked on yet, some of the events are nearing capacity so please don’t wait for the last-minute to book a place – your young person may miss out.
With the reminders out-of-the-way, let’s recap the week.

This week:

Builder Beavers

Our three Beaver colonies spent time developing their plans for this week’s construction task; essentially the new Builder Badge split into two halves. They created designs for a crazy golf hole in their lodges. Some of the designs are really crazy and we are excited for this week when we are junk modelling to make the holes and try them out. Beavers from the Millstones Colony also made bridges and towers out of spaghetti and marshmallows.

Science badgework (Alegre)

This week Alegre cubs began work on the science badges, this will be completed later this half term. Many thanks to Rob and Shauna for coming down and delivering the program this week.

Science badgework (Bella Vista)

Bella Vista cubs spent this week learning about chemical reactions and how we can use them to achieve various things so as inflate balloons and extinguish fire. We also learnt about heart rates and constructed spaghetti and marshmallow towers. Thanks Becs for visiting Bella Vista Cubs this week and helping us to find our pulses!

Resilience and Adaptability training (Raptors)

This week the Raptors completed resilience and adaptability training. This was comprised of 4 different activities.
  • Making and cooking pancakes on tin  cans.
  • Creating a sculpture from newspaper and tape only.
  • Marshmallow and spaghetti towers.
  • And plans to survive if we were locked In for the night.

We also invested Florence!

Langsett, in the dark

Enigma Scouts took full advantage of the unusually warm February evenings and took a stroll around Langsett up to the ‘Americas’ and back. It made a nice change walking around Langsett and not being eaten alive by midges!

T-shirt challenge

Wibbles Scout’s tried the T-shirt Challenge this week which had mixed results. With limited resources scouts had to light a fire in order to melt the ice block holding a frozen T-shirt. All T-shirts won the challenge unfortunately and will survive another day but fair play to the scouts for effort. Some fires were started but the damp wood got the better of the evening.

Paracord evening

Viernes scouts learned about the diverse uses of Paracord and even had a go at creating some things from the versatile material themselves.

Games developers

Our Explorers had a games evening and spent some time designing games for the other teams. Some worked better than others and everyone learned that finer details and planning help when giving out instructions.
And finally

Active Listening

This week saw some fantastic national coverage for Scouting brought about by Headquarters and various Scout Ambassadors. The focus was on active listening; a skill we encourage and nurture with the young people.

Click the below image to listen to a short interview between Tim Peake (Astronaut & Scout Ambassador) and Chris Evans (Radio DJ):