Scouter Skills Day
Do you need a little help with all of the technical skills required to run a great Troop program? Do you have difficulty instructing skills to Scouts? Are you looking for different activities in which to practice a skill? If you answered yes to any of these questions then you need to make your way to the next Scouter Skills Day. The next one will be on Sunday the 15th of May on the south side of Brisbane (location to be confirmed). Registration will be from 8:30am with activities kicking off at 9:00am. Leaders from any Section are welcome. Come prepared for a day in the outdoors. Don’t worry if you miss out on this one as there will be more days throughout the year. Check out the Branch Calendar for other dates.
SSS
Applications are about to open for SSS. In the past you would have forwarded an expression of interest which was filled in by a Patrol Leader and the application process would follow. This year we will be using the Branch’s application management system which requires Scouts to individually apply online. Patrol Leaders will be able to define who is in their Patrol from those that have completed an application. Leader applications will also use the same online system. Detailed instructions of the application process will go up on the SSS website and be emailed out. Applications will close on the 10th of June. The application system will not accept late applications so don’t let it slide once applications are open. The number of Patrols will be capped at 140 as in past years.
Which Badge goes where?
I’m sure that we’ve all had some exposure to the difficulty of fitting badges onto the coloured sleeve and yoke of the Scout uniform. On the left sleeve there is insufficient room to fit all of the target badges and the official diagram provides no clear direction. The image of the left sleeve to the right shows the correct layout of badges.
As a Scout moves up through the award scheme the Campcraft and elective targets from each level are worn at the front and rear of the sleeve respectively. At the centre of the bottom row, under the target award badge, the highest level of Citizenship is worn. The ASM badge is worn between the Patrol emblem and the target award. If the Scout earned the Grey Wolf in Cub Scouts then they can continue to wear it in place of the ASM until such time as the Pioneer Badge is awarded.
The Scout Craft is worn above the sleeve on the yoke of the shirt. Only the top and bottom edges are sewn to the uniform so that this badge forms an epaulette for the cords to be worn under. Cords are no to be worn around the neck. The Scout Craft badge should be earned by a Cub Scout progressing to the Scout section as part of the linking process.
Walkabout and Camper Award
The Walkabout and Camper award originated in Victoria Branch around 10 years ago as a Scout Section badge aimed at encouraging Scouts to have more of an active and enjoyable outdoor program. While there are plenty of rewards within the existing award scheme for an active outdoor program these badges promoted healthy competition and recognition due to their prominent display. Some Cub Packs and Venturer Units were also known to award the badges in Victoria and a few other states adopted the award in their Scout Sections.
After a number of Youth Forums at various levels expressed a desire to have this badge adopted nationally it was approved in 2015 with implementation to commence from the 1st July 2015. The award saw a much more widespread adoption with it being added across all Sections, not just the Scout Section. Nights and kilometres are accumulated from the 1st July 2015 onwards and the tally is carried forward into the next section when the Scout goes up. Scout Central now has the capacity to track these awards throughout a Scouts progression. The award is not retrospective before the 1st July 2016.
Requirements for the award are:
Camper Award
- This award tallies the number of nights spent camping either under canvas or under the stars throughout an individual’s time in Scouting.
- Indoor camps, school camps or camps outside of Scouting (eg with family) are not counted.
- This is an ongoing tally – records should be passed between sections and the count continued, not started again in the new section.
- When a new badge is earned it replaces the previous, only one badge is worn at any time. However, if an individual spends more nights camping than the currently available highest badge they may add other badges in 25 night increments to reach the required level (e.g. a 100 badge and a 75 badge to represent 175 nights).
Walkabout Award
- This award tallies the number of kilometres travelled under human power throughout an individual’s time in Scouting.
- For Scouts, Venturers and Rovers, the minimum distance travelled in each journey is 5km; for Joeys and Cubs the minimum distance is 1km.
- Journeys completed by canoe/kayak, skis or bicycle are counted as half their distance for the tally, eg a 20km canoe journey adds 10km to the Walkabout tally. Journeys completed by foot are counted as their full distance. (Note this is not the same distance multiplier as used in our Journey Guidelines)
- Both day and overnight journeys count towards the tally, so long as they meet the section’s minimum distance.
- This is an ongoing tally – records should be passed between sections and the count continued, not started again in the new section.
- When a new badge is earned it replaces the previous, only one badge is worn at any time. However, if an individual travels further than the currently available highest badge they may add other badges in 50km increments to reach the required level (eg a 200 badge and a 50 badge to represent 250km).
Badge Placement
The award badges are worn over the top of the left pocket, adjacent to the service badges as shown below.
““The object of the patrol method is not so much saving the Scoutmaster trouble as to give responsibility to the boy.” Sir Robert Baden-Powell
Steve Marshall
Branch Commissioner Scouts