Cambridgeskip

Hello from the U.K…. Been a wee while since I posted round here. Anyway I thought I’d swing by as I’m currently at scouts and it’s all gone a bit American! And I’m stood in a corner with not much to do with the PLs in danger of making me redundant. The scout program here while using the patrol system tends to use it as a way or organising a troop rather than the patrols being totally independent. At the moment however I have all 5 patrols doing their own thing having planned it all themselves. (Some looking a bit more organised than others but that’s teenagers for you) I’m in serious danger of having nothing to do. Two patrols pioneering, one cooking and the others getting creative with photography and clay respectively. A couple of adults are keeping an eye from a distance. The other two have vanished off to tidy up some camping gear. its all looking a bit American! anyway hope everyone is doing well, I must pop by here more often

There is no set way of doing it in the U.K. How my troop does it is that when one or more PL is moving onto explorers the PLC (including those leaving) collectively select their replacement. Patrols are more of a way organising the troop than a troop being a way of organising the patrols! More the point though is that this kid just didn’t understand the idea of youth members having any say on who the youth leaders are

Some ponderings from across the Atlantic.... This week at scouts one of my younger (11 year old) scouts brought a friend along. Nothing all that unusual in that, it's how we've had new sign ups in the past. However this time it wasn't a friend who was particularly interested in joining, he was just staying with a friend for a couple of days so tagged along for the evening. So far so good. I had a bit of a chat with him and he was particularly curious about the patrol system and in particular the concept of patrol leaders. It just did not compute with him that we have older scouts in charge of younger scouts, that scouts are expected to follow instructions from PLs, that PLs are invited to make decisions about the troop and what we do and how we do it. And when I explained that PLs collectively apoint APLs and collectively select their own scuccessors when they move on (I know that particular point is a bit different to you!) he was utterly bewildered. It just did not compute at all. Given that I know BSA are that much stronger on the patrol system than we are over here I wondered if you encounter similar. That kids who are not scouts just do not get it in terms of youth leadership?

Quick question, last night I was trying to access my PMs from the mobile version of this site but for the life of me couldn't find them! Can anyone point the right direction for them specifically from the mobile site?

This one is at the actual Kings Cross station in London where it is in the Harry Potter books. The staff originally put the sign up as a joke and it became a tourist attraction in its own right. We passed by on a trip to London and one of our new recruits asked to be invested there. We attracted a bit of a crowd!

Good afternoon all! Been a little while since I frequented this part of t'interweb Anyway just doing the rounds and posting my troop's review of the year. Been a strange one. Started in semi lock down and ended up somewhat normal! If you've got 5 minutes then enjoy

Never knew that! Things you learn. That said I generally try to avoid most things royal related.

Yes it will become the Kings Scout Award. Not quite sure what you mean about facing right or left??

At the risk of this getting political…. We had the same head of state for over 70 years without so much as anything inconvenient as an election. I think the U.K. could learn something from the USA on that front.

We're luck enough in Cambridge UK to have a small local airport, not suggesting you come over hear (although there is a convenient runway!) but if there is one near you it is a fascinating visit if you can arrange it. We do it every few years and the scouts all love it. Highlight is normally the maintenance hangars, seeing planes in pieces having various things done to them. The owner is also a troop old boy so does it for free. Alas we've never been allowed in the control tower. Reason being Cambridge is close enough to London Stansted that it is the first choice divert airport if they have to close the runway. If we had 30+ kids in the tower then from the word go they would have planes bound for Stansted landing before we even got them down the stairs! Someone above mentioned visiting an observatory. Again great fun, especially if you get the right weather for it. Also great fun if you have one nearby is a birds of prey resuce centre. We visited one as part ofour summer camp this year. The kids loved it!

Hi all We've just had a family leave our group and move from the UK to Boulder Co. They have found a scout troop for their older son to start with there but are struggling to find a cub pack for their youngest. Anyone here from that area? Can you recommend a pack at all?

Small incident with my scouts last night that really made me smile. we had an evening punting on the river in Cambridge. For those unfamiliar it’s peculiar to Cambridge and Oxford and a handful of other places with shallow rivers. Anyway as we could only put 5 scouts on each punt it didn’t quite work out as punting in patrols. So we asked the scouts to organise themselves into groups of 5. So far so good. But we’ve got that one scout who is a bit of an outsider. Goes to a different school to the rest, comes into scouts from quite a long way out. Doesn’t fit in quite as well as the rest. And then…. I saw one of the PLs make a bee line for him and bring him into her group with a big smile. It’s a small thing but one of those moments when you realise you have the right kids as youth leaders.

This story doing the rounds really is tiresome. Let's be clear, no one, certainly not children, have been banned from saying anything. The document is a style guide, pure and simple, issued as guidance for anyone putting out written comms to ensure consistency. To be honest I didn't even know we had a style guide till this story came out. Although if you work for any organisation of more than a few hundred people you probably have one that you've never read. The only people who look at it are marketing people. It's a load of stuff and nonsense and part of the whole tiresome trope about "woke" taking over the world or some such other drivel.

Indeed! I think she was just too polite to say it

Thought I'd swing by and share this. A short video made by one of my scouts for the teach a skill part of her Team Leader challenge award. Enjoy! (Warning, it's not for the squeamish!)