Recommendations for Patrol Makeup

[KL Wisconsin]

Our troop is relatively new and just got large enough to really make a patrol system work in the last year or so. We have been reconfiguring patrols every 6 months when new SPL and ASPL are elected.

Up to now, we've had patrols of mixed ages of scouts plus one New Scout patrol. This time the Scoutmaster made up 4 patrols of scouts divided by their longevity in scouting: 1st year scouts, 2nd year, 3rd year and a new Venture Patrol of 4th year and above, in effect the High school-aged scouts. I commented that this seemed like a continuation of Cub Scouting to me with Wolf, Bear, etc, age group divisions. These patrols each have 5 - 6 scouts in them. I think the patrols are too small, in practice the scouts cannot always attend meetings and if the patrol leader and asst. patrol leaders and only one or two others from the patrol attend a meeting, it's all chiefs and no indians.

I'd like to hear how other troops handle patrol configurations. Thanks.

[OldGreyEagle]

I think a patrol should have 10 -12 boys in it as you are right, they wont all show up at once and on outings, a significant amount of them should. I think a variety of ages is the best. The troop i belong to keeps all the ages separted and all that does is continue cliches and encourages division (i have tried to change the system, my failure is why i am old and grey)

 

If you mix the ages, the younger boys will have role models plus older kids they know. As the new members progress they establish traditions for the patrol and develop into the assitant patrol leader or patrol leader. I think a system with a new boy patrol for one year and then after that year placing the boys in set patrols is the best. Over the years the patrol flag will weather and the boys talk about each event, you cant do that in patrols that hardly last a year

[smtroop181]

I personaly don't buy the advice of the new scoutmaster handbook on this one. Our Troop used a system from a 1972 scoutmaster handbook and it has been working very well. The only criteria the scoutmasters have added is the policy of seperating brothers. (1)Each scout puts his name on top of a card and underlines it. (2)Each scout then lists names of other scouts he would choose to be with in a patrol. (3)Cross reference and match up names accordingly. I imagine that you could do this before or after the troop elects a SPL. Our main goal is that the troop is boy run and when a new boy joins the troop if he was not recruited specifically by a certain patrol, the troop (boys not leaders) along with the new scout decides which patrol he will join. We have found this system works very well, of course there will always be small adjustments, but overall it allows for maximum boy input.

[scouter659]

We're planning on re-configuring our Patrols, again, next month. I do like what the Old Grey Eagle says about the young ones having older ones to follow & learn from. We try very hard to establish a balance and, in a Troop of approaching 50, it's a tricky task. The one thing we also strive for is that we have 1 or 2 Junior Leader Training Candidates in each Patrol. The PL's & Youth Staff are already JLT Trained. We subscribe to a very elaborate process of Training and now that it's in its 3rd year we're beginning to see excellent results. No matter what you decide to do, keep in mind that creating the fabric of a good solid Troop is a process that doesn't happen overnight. Don't be afraid to experiment a little bit. If one system doesn't work exactly too well, try another. God Bless "The Patrol Method", but---remember---as in most rules, it's a guideline. Just try to get as close as you can and you'll eventually get good results. Sorry about the broken record thing but, TRAINING IS THE KEY.

[Uncle Bob]

Old grey Eagle>>>>>>>>>> I have feeling you've been around a while. What's the best story to tell at a campfire? One thats been passed down over many years. What's the best patrol flag? One thats worn and experinced. What's the best memories? Ones you can share with younger patrol members before you move on. I remember a time in Scouting when younger boys were mixed in with older ones. I don't ever remember anyone taking advantage of anyone else unless you refer to knowledge. I wish this was still the way but i do have mixed feelings. I joined a Troop with my son and seven boys from his Den. After being with these boys for five years and they with each other, I feel and treat them as nephews and they treat each other as brothers. So you can see my mixed feelings on this. They are happy together but I thnk they would benifit with the old style patrol program. But how do you decide what is best. We asked them if they want to go into other patrols the answer is a BIG NO. Matter of fact newer Scouts to the Troop want to join them. So I guess what I'm saying is how you organize the troop depends on the boys. If the troop is new it's easy and if you have older Scouts have THEM promote having new Scouts join differnt Patrols. Good luck.

 

Merry Christmas to all and God Bless.

[VaScouter]

We too started with rebuilding an existing troop, in 2 years we have gone from 10 scouts to 55, with 40 showing up for troop meetings. After much consideration and experimentation we hit on the following which seems to be working. First, so that we could get a decent size turn out at events per patrol we went to the 10-12 member size. (So many of the scouts are active in other things, when we were at the 7-8 level only 2 would show up in some of the patrols). This has worked great!!

Second to build the patrols we picked 4 experienced boys and put them in front of the room, and let them each take turns picking someone to be in the patrol. (These Scouts were not necessarily going to be patrol leader.)The person they picked then picked the next person for that patrol. (This way everyone was with at least one person they liked to be with). Scouts had the option of either accepting or not. It was amazing! The dynamics of the patrols included both new and experienced scouts of all ranks. We also allow the Scouts to change patrols if they want and can find another patrol to take them in.

 

Some folks had a little problem with the last person picked problem like we all experienced in school when choosing up teams. YET, what happened was the Scouts that were picked last were those that never attended outings, or did nothing but sit around if they did attend outings.

 

This worked even better that we thought, because some very popular Scouts found that their peers recognized they were not contributing to the troop, and they are now participating more actively.

 

There seems to be no perfect solution to this, especially in the BOY RUN TROOP concept. Boys today are busier than ever, but even at 11,12,13,14 years of age they know they want to camp with people they can depend on. As leaders we all work hard to make the troops succeed, and what works for one troop may not work for others. Luckily our troop has a high percentage of Adult Leaders.

 

Hope this helps

 

[jmcquillan]

In the 16 years I've been with my troop, we've tried many ways to tackle patrol makeup. We've followed the National guidelines. We had a New Scout Patrol long before National suggested it. We've allowed the Scouts to pick their own. Etc. What we have now seems to work well.

 

With reference to patrol size, and specifically to the size suggested above, the National guideline for optimum size is 6-8 Scouts. We go for the high side, but never higher than 8 if we can help it. If we have to go to 9, so be it.

 

With reference to age, rank, etc., we have mixed patrols now, except for the New Scout patrol. That patrol lasts only from cross-over to September, when the school year starts, and the weekly meetings start again. During that time, the new scouts are encouraged to watch the existing patrols, meet the other scouts, see what they do and how they operate, and when the first meeting comes in Sept., let the Scoutmaster and SPL know which patrol they would like to join on a permanent basis. We never reconfigure the patrols after that (unless a serious discipline, behavior, or personality issue forces our hand). All the other patrols are made up of varying ranks and ages. The idea is to have a variety of experience within the patrol to teach and reinforce the skills of Scouting and the Patrol Method. Making the Patrol Method work without the varying ages was impossible for us. Practically all of our events are done by Patrol...camping, cooking, skills, hikes, fund-raising, community service, etc. We're fortunate in that we have 60 or more Scouts in the troop. This allows us to have what we refer to as a Senior patrol. The make-up of this patrol is a little different. Its members are the officers of the troop, other than the SPL and ASPL's. The members of this Patrol camp and cook together, but during troop meetings and other events, each of them has a specific responsibility. Each of the Troop Guides has a patrol for which he is responsible. He is the 'guide' for the Patrol Leader. With so many Scouts, the SPL can't always give attention to each patrol, but the Troop Guide can. He doesn't take the place of the PL, and doesn't run the patrol. He is there for guidance and question answering. This comes in real handy when the PL can't make the meeting and the APL has to take over. Usually this scout has limited experience, and the TG really helps him. Each Patrol stands together in formation, including the Senior Patrol. But when the agenda calls for it, they break out to their assigned partol to perform their magic. It works for us. And having the variety of experience within each patrol is invaluable for us.

 

Hope this is of some help.

 

[FScouter]

bump

[ozemu]

Our Troop elects the PLś and APLś (with PLs having a say in the APL allocation).

 

Then the Scouts also nominate three mates. We match Scouts up with a PL/APL combination that they chose and have at least one mate in the Patrol with them. A bit of a headache for a few minutes but seems to work.

 

OA type election procedure is followed.

 

Siblings separated normally (ask them)

 

Invariably the oldest and most diligent Scouts become PL.

 

PL and APL must be at least First Class (our equivilant is Pioneer level).

 

Girls concentrated in just two of four Patrols so there are three or more in a Patrol.

 

Patrol size is 6-10 (6-8 preferably) but as we expand we delay forming another Patrol until numbers are really strong when redivided amongst the Patrols.

 

Ages always end up mixed fairly evenly. Good to watch PLś fighting over who gets the next Cub who has shown promise.(This message has been edited by ozemu)