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Scout Pages
Hi, welcome to the
Scout Troop page of 7thA Rochdale Scout Group.
Here you will find
information about the Scout section of our group.
What is a Scout Troop?
A Scout troop is a group
of young people aged between 10 1/2 and 14 years guided and assisted by adult
leaders. The troop is organised into patrols consisting of up to seven members,
each patrol has a Patrol Leader (PL) and an Assistant Patrol Leader (APL) who
as senior members look after the rest of the patrol and assist the adult
leaders in training. Each patrol is identified by their patrol badge, which is
worn on the right sleeve and operates as a team within the troop. The adult
leaders are generally called by name although some stick to the tradition of
'Skip'. The Scout Leader (SL) in consultation with the Troop Council plans the
programme of activities. Now I hear 'What's the Troop Council?' Well it's the
Patrol Leader's & older Scouts’ getting together with the Leaders to
discuss the activity programme, the running of the troop and to ratify awards.
Our Scout Troop
Our Scout Troop is
a co-educational troop and meets on a Thursday evening. The patrols in our
Troop are named after birds and animals. Currently there are the Swift Patrol,
the Wolf Patrol, the Kestrel Patrol and the Stag Patrol. There are a wide
variety of activities for the scouts to enjoy, and don't imagine it's all hard
work and serious training. There are outdoor training activities such as
survival skills, camping, cooking and navigation exercises. There are indoor
training evenings where the scouts learn basic Scouting skills, the theory of
outdoor skills and practice handling equipment used for the outdoor and
adventurous activities. There are adventurous activities including canoeing,
climbing, hiking and camping where the scouts can build on the skills learnt in
previous training sessions. The rest of the programme is made up of interesting
local visits where the Scouts will visit a local facility or landmark and learn
about it's role or place in the community, we also have visitors to give talks
on various subjects. All the activities even the training are planned with
enjoyment in mind, if you enjoy something you learn it! The emphasis is on
outdoor activity let's put the out in scouting!
Programme Zones
The programme of activities
undertaken by the Troop is designed to help the Scouts develop as individuals.
The Scouts’ start work on these zones when they first attend a Troop meeting.
The activities together help the Scouts’ to earn their badges, to be worn, with
pride, on their uniforms, as many Scouts have done before.
The
programme zones are as follows:
Scoutcraft
And Adventure.
Global.
Community.
Fit For Life.
Exploring Beliefs And Attitudes.
Creative Expression.
The
Scouts can gain any number of the seventy “Activity” Badges, four staged
“Activity” Badges (Available to all sections), three “Group Awards” (Gained
throughout the Scout Group) and the eight “Challenge” Badges. In addition, the
Scout can qualify for the “Chief Scouts Gold Award”.
In
addition, a “Participation Badge” is presented on the anniversary of the Scout
first joining the movement, one badge every year, until they move on from the
Scout Troop at 14 years old.
The last
badge in the series is the Moving On award. It fosters links with the Local
Explorer Scout Unit, whilst allowing the Scout to complete the membership award
of the Explorer Scout Unit. They will undertake this badge when they reach 14
years old, or thereabout’s.
Other Bits
We have a bi-annual
troop camp for a week, where we use a different site every year. Last year was
at Sandiway, in Cheshire, two years before that at, Great Tower in the Lake
District. In the year where there is no annual camp we organise at least two
weekend camps during the season. We encourage all patrols to have weekend camps
each year so in all there may be 3 or even 4 camps in a year!
General Activities:
Here is an example
of a Scout working hard (?) in a camp kitchen, and a photo of a reflector fire
place, made on a “Backwoods” cooking day at a local camp site.
If you would like
to contact us by E-mail, Please Contact Skip.