Greetings to everyone involved in Scouting in Queensland. I feel very privileged to have been chosen to be Queensland’s new Branch Commissioner for Scouts. Before I introduce myself I would just like to take this opportunity to thank my predecessor Steve Marshall (Wolf) for his dedication to this role over the last 6 and a half years. Having worked with Steve during most of this time I witnessed first hand the dedication effort and leadership he provided to the Scout section in this position. His guidance was truly remarkable especially considering he was also the Qld Contingent Leader to the past two Australian Jamborees. Thank you Wolf on a splendid job.
Later in this article I will focus on the Scout Leadership Course but I just want to tell you a little bit about myself first.
I have been involved in scouting in Queensland since I was eight years of age. I moved through each section as it was then achieving my Gold Boomerang, Adventurer Cord, Queen’s Scout Award and Baden Powell Award. Before completion of the youth phase of my involvement in the movement I was also a leader in Armidale and Weipa. After finishing my youth involvement I was also a leader in Stanthorpe, Karana Downs, Flinders District, St Johns Wood and most recently Brisbane North Region. During this time I have met many wonderful people that have helped me on my journey and I thank them most sincerely.
During the last month I have reviewed a number of Australian Scout Medallion applications. This involves checking that dates correspond and that all requirements have been met. Already I have found that there is an issue with the time frame on the Leadership Course Project. Could I please draw everyone’s attention to the Scout Section Resources on the Branch website. Please read through the article on the leadership course and project requirements. Projects need to be completed within 6 – 12 weeks after completing the course. In some cases this hasn’t occurred. If a scout is unable to do this then they need to make sure that they communicate with their course leader to negotiate a time frame to do so before the 12 week period is over. At the end of the day we want scouts to achieve their ASM but we need to make sure that we adhere to our guidelines.
In November I will be part of a National meeting that will review important topics that we believe should be covered in the Leadership Course. If you would like to make comment could you send me an email to my BC address and I will email you a survey form for you to fill out and send back to me. A number of leaders have already done this for me and I thank them for taking the time to do this.
I look forward to working with all the leaders across Queensland over the next few years.
“If you make listening and observation your occupation you will gain much more than you can by talk.”
Sir Robert Baden Powell
Chris Foreman (Taipan)
Branch Commissioner Scouts
bc.scouts@qldhq.scouts.com.au