Cambridgeskip

If it is all about the money they may be onto a looser. Did a bit of googling and looks like this side of the pond the official uniform skirt is no longer even made it was so unpopular. It's now a case of any navy blue skirt is permitted as uniform if girls don't want to go with the trousers. If they'd been making money out of it they sure as hell wouldn't have stopped making it! Although I should add a lot of groups here don't even enforce uniform trousers. My troop it's optional. We recommend them as they are quite practical but not many scouts actually have them.

If you turn out anything like the UK the girls stuff will quietly disappear. Theoretically there is a uniform skirt. If memory serves I have seen precisely one adult wear it and not one single youth member. The girls just go for the trousers, same as the boys.

If you're wanting the media to get the terminology right I wouldn't hold my breath. The UK Scout Association dropped the term "boy scouts" in the 1960s and has been fully coed since 1991 but read some newspapers and you'd be surprised to learn that. As someone else said, just roll with it!

As it happens that Patrol has a brother and sister in it who are half French. It may we'll be their influence! there were a couple of other good efforts including one lot that did survival after a plane crash. The way they shot it using a paper aeroplane and three heads behind it was quite impressive! I'm away for the weekend now but might upload that clip when I get a moment.

Weird thread title but.... we had an inter patrol movie making competition tonight. Each patrol had one hour and a phone to produce a short film on a subject of their choice. Entering the Dark was the winning entry. Hadn't anticipated scout aged kids producing anything quite this creepy or genuinely well made. Sleep well everyone!

Not really! Younger sections, ie beavers and cubs, might sometimes have a themed camp which mind involve outfits of some sort but it's not something that would be done as a matter of course. We certainly don't have anything resembling OA at all.

Thank you! My protagonist certainly gets into some mischief. The most fun is hoodwinking the campsite staff to get her onto things like sailing and rock climbing There's also some more serious theme running through it, all the stuff teenagers have to deal with as they go through puberty. Jealousy, school bullying, boy meets girl, relationships with parents and all those other joyful things.

That's broadly the idea. It seemed like one of those if not now then when moments. Fact is that most writers don't make enough to live on but if I don't give it a go I'll never actually know whether I could do it or not.

Thanks TT! It's more of a YA book so I'm not planning on it being illustrated. The idea is that it explores some of the themes of growing up with my protagnist, who is a particularly awkward and moody teenager gradually coming to become comfortable in her own skin. I find prose hard as well. Dialogue relatively easy though. Maybe I should become a script writer?

Now fired and laid off are two different things to us. Made redundant is, I think, the equivalent of laid off. ie your job no longer exists due to cut backs, closure etc. Which is what happened to me. Sort of. Basically HMRC is changing from about 180 small sites and condensing to 14 massive sites. I could have gone to a new one but it would have meant 4 hours commuting a day or move to East London. No thank you to either option! So I took redundancy (with a pay off generous enough I can spend some time writing!) To us fired means something different, it means dismissed or sacked, typically for gross misconduct or incompetence. Anyway "half eleven" means half past eleven or 11.30. As it happens Midsomer Murders is filmed in and around Cambridge. Gets a bit annoying when they tinker with the geography though! A couple of recomendations, if you are fine with "robust" language give The Thick Of It a try. Political satire at its most biting. The central character, Malcolm Tucker, is losely based on Alistair campbell who was press secretary to Tony Blair when he was Prime Minister. The Royle Family is alo wonderful comedy. Basically follows the everyday life of a working class British suburban family. And the best part is that nothing ever happens! They lead the most dull, middle of the road life imaginable but it is so wonderfully onbserved and written that it is compulsive viewing. It's mostly them sitting round in front of the TV talking. Genius!

On the topic of scouting books...... Back In November I was made redundant from my job (I worked, for HM Revenue and Customs, broadly our equivalent of your IRS) and since then having been taking a bit of a career break during which I'm attempting to fulfill a bit of an ambition to write a book. And this particular book is a children's book set in a scout troop. I won't give the whole plot away, you can all buy it if it's published! But broadly it concerns a scout who, after getting into trouble at school, is pulled out of scout summer camp by her (my protagonist is a girl. Sorry!) parents completely unjustly. Her patrol promptly help her to stowaway to summer camp. I'm quite enjoying writing. It's certainly more fun than tax! Will it ever get published? Who knows. Even if it is I doubt I'll ever become the next Joanne Rowling, but you never know

An update on this.... Last night at scouts I asked my 11 year old if she would like to be a PL, explaining that the PLC had selected her but I wanted to speak to her personally about it. She was a bit shocked and flattered. Clearly a bit daunted about taking it on but said she'd chew it over and let me know.

Yes! There is no better way of promoting scouting than lots of photos of kids doing fun stuff with sniles on their faces. It won't work for all parents but show them what their childre are doing an they'll more likely want to get involved.

Don't say I didn't warn you though.... Anyway a quick guided tour of Gilwell based on photos on our group website. The view over North London at sunset from The Quick (That's not the Thames, it's the Lee Valley reservoirs) Smame view with a bunch of my cubs in 2009 in daylight. Two of that lot are assistant leaders now! Same cubs absolutely exhausted at the same event, hot chocolate and a story from the Jungle Book before they go unconscious (that's me in the chair reading) Neckers from groups who have camper there on the ceiling of the souvenieer shop The 3G swing, one of the preferred activities among my scouts! Essex Chase, one of the main camping fields, January 2010 High ropes course One of our patrols in the camp square Same mob outside the white house (national HQ, training centre and also used as a hotel) "Big Mac" clock in the camp square The outdoor climbing wall Gates to the large campfire circle Campfire circle in full swing "The Lid" Used for stuff like this day time and evening entertainment at big events Please don't buy organise a trip expecting there to be more. There really isn't. Various statues. The various chapels. That's all I've not shown of Gilwell. Please don't go buying a plane ticket based on that!

No worries! I would add though that while Gilwell is worth sticking your head into if you are passing I wouldn't make a massive detour to see it if you only have limited time in the UK. There is some scout history there but you can probably see all of it in a couple of hours. The majority of the site is a run of the mill (for the UK) scout campsite and activity centre. Eccles (BP's caravan) may be there depending on what time of year it is. Easiest way to get there is to drive but if you are using public transport take a train to Chingford and get a taxi from there, or it's about 45 minutes walk. Similarly I would combine Brownsea with something else. When we went it was the same day as the Bournemouth airshow nearby which we combined it with.

As it happens I am at Gilwell Park as I type! Massive event called winter camp, big weekend jamboree affair. We come every year it's great fun Gilwell are quite welcoming to visitors, phone in advance and they'll have you there. Be aware that's it's in a transitional phase. A lot of the old buildings are being closed knocked down and replaced. So the famous camp square looks quite run down but is due to be totally rebuilt. Brownsea is indeed run by the National Trust which is a charity that looks after a lot of historic sites. It's open to visitors all year, no need to book advance. There's a passenger ferry from Poole harbour. Very beautiful and the original campsite is still there. Scouts can camp there but need to book years in advance! If you have any problem with wasps be aware it's infested with them. There are plenty of places to camp near Poole and you can do a day trip there. We went for the day in 2015 while camping at a place called Ferny Crofts in 2015. Photos here http://12thcambridge.org.uk/summer-camp-2015/

More than happy to oblige! I'm a scout leader in the UK. A few of our troop's favourite games..... George and the Dragon For this you need one scout to play the princess and however many you want to be the dragons (two works well), the rest of the troop pair up as knights and their horses. At one of a field mark out two squares, one inside the other. In the inner square is the princess who cannot leave until rescued by a knight. The outer square is the only area where the knights can dismount from their horse and is where the dragons start the game. At the other end the knights mount their horses by going piggy back and on the whistle charge across the field towards the princess. The dragons aim to tag the knights who are out if tagged, and also out of they dismount outside the square. The knights aim to avoid the dragon and be the first to rescue the princess. Electric Chair An indoor game good for killing a few minutes. Whole troop forms a circle and joins hands. In the middle is a chair. Object of the game is to drag other scouts so that they touch the chair in which case they are out. Also out is anyone that breaks the circle. Hunt the Shoe More popular with cubs than scouts but still great fun. Each scout removes one shoe and puts it on the floor before leaving the room. Once they've left the room adults mix them all up, turn out the lights and the scouts come back in. Winner is first scout to leave the room with the right shoes on. Quiz relays Great inter patrol game. For this you will need a mutiple choice quiz. There needs to one fewer potential answers for each question than there are patrols. Patrols gather one end of the room. At the other end are a line of chairs, 1 fewer than the number of patrols. ie same as the number of answers. For each question 1 member of each patrol has to run forward and sit on the chair allocated to the correct answer. If someone is already on it they have to sit on their lap. Different points depending on how far down the pile you are! As an extra twist have a leader stood behind each chair who tries to convince the scouts that they have the correct answer, call my bluff style. Honey pot Good one for a hut summers day and works best with a large patrol. You need a chair, a blindfold, a water gun and some keys. One scout sits blindfold on the chair, keys or anything else noisy underneath. Rest of the scouts sit silently in a circle about 10 meters away. by whatever method you chose scouts get chosen to try and get the keys from the under the chair, blindfold scout has to try and shoot them with the water gun. Works best using a water gun that needs regular pumping to maintain the pressure to stop them holding down the trigger. Human Knot races Another good inter patrol game. Each patrol has a rope. Every member has to hold it in one hand only. Its then a race to tie a knot in it, getting increasingly complex as you go along. I'll add more later if you want?

The whole adult team raised an eyebrow! Everyone agreed that she's a pretty sound kid. I think what concerns everyone is thinking of that moment where she's got a 13 year old 18 inches taller than her that she needs to tell "pack it in, you're meant to be collecting fire wood." Fact is that there are older scouts than her in the troop that the PLC have over looked for being a PL, and they've been overlooked for a reason. No comments from parents as we haven't said anything to them. Having slept on it I am increasingly of the opinion to go with the PLC decision but make sure she gets that bit of extra support as finds her feet. Assuming she wants the gig of course! Another option is we're expecting to lose 5 more to explorers in June so APL until then.

I guess this is the broader question. If we put aside the specific situation, at what point should an adult intervene and say this really isn't a good idea? I'm sure you'd agree on a point of safety where the decision was going to get someone hurt or worse. But are there other times?

I've never been completely convinced by that, at least not in a scouting context. What is true is that girls become more articulate than boys at an earlier age which can give the impression of maturing more quickly. I think it a mistake though to necessarily see that as a sign of excessive wisdom. Boys and girls tend to bring different things to the troop/patrol.

If it works out anything like here no one will buy them. There is a uniform skirt for girls but in all my years I've seen precisely one adult wear it and not a single solitary youth member. Your girls will go for the shorts and trousers I'm sure!

As Tahawk says, the patrol system runs a bit differently here. Ultimate call does rest with the SL albeit they give as much responsibility to the scouts as possible. The view of the forum is simply to get some outside opinion. In any walk of life it's sometimes easy to miss something that you may wish to consider when only seeing things from the inside. Getting an external view can be very helpful!

Right, thought I'd get the perspective of you chaps across the Atlantic on this one.... First for those not familiar with UK age ranges scouts runs 10-14 years old, explorer scouts 14-18 years old. I run scouts. So far so good. So.... first night back after Christmas tonight and we had a PLs council before hand. On the agenda was who should be the next batch of PLs. We're due to lose 3 out of 5 PLs and 2 out of 5 APLs to explorers at Feb half term and they'll need to be replaced.The current PLC selected, among others, an 11 year old (12 in June) to become a PL in February.Selection of PLs here doesn't follow a set process like it seems to with you. Each troop has its own way of doing it. With us we have traditionally had the PLC (both those due to remain and those due to go) select the next batch with me reserving the right to over ride them if I deemed it appropriate. In reality I don't think I ever have done for a PL. I think I drew the line once or twice about the odd APL but I have typically let them get on with it.This 11 year old is exceptional for her age, intelligent and mature and there is family history in that her older brother is a current PL and a complete super star. If she follows in big brother's foot steps she'll be fine.She is though only 11 and we do ask a lot of our PLs including leading patrol camps on nights away passports (ie no adults with them). I find that stressful enough as it is (I don't sleep well when they are doing it), I think realistically if she was a PL I'd have to draw a line there and say no, we'll need adults on site.So I guess the question is 11 year old PLs. Who's done it? Has it worked? Any thoughts or comments? And with your big emphasis on scout led, would you just let them chose and see what happened?

The centre the course operates from is in the village of Lochearnhead, Perthshire, South Eastern Highlands. Nearest major mountains are Ben Vorlich, Stuc-a-Chroin, Ben Lawers, Ben More. Depending on weather they sometimes get a bit further afield places like Bridge of Orchy.

A couple of our explorer scouts (14-18 year olds) have just got back from the Advanced Mountaineering Course run by our neighbouring scout county in the Scottish Highlands over new year. Piccies here! Our mountains aren't quite the Rockies but as you can see they certainly found themselves in a winter wonderland. I'm quite jealous! I'd have tagged along (adults can do the course as well) if I hadn't been on the grand tour of the family over Christmas and New Year.