Scouts

Scouts has been around for over a century and is more relevant in today’s communities than ever before. Even if we were founded in 1907!

Sea Scouts…on the land?

While we are a Sea Scout Group, we do not have readily access to activities on the water. We try and get the Scouts out experiencing Water Activities whenever we can and we as a group are striving towards offering more opportunities to our young people.

Ceremonial Information

The Colours Ceremony is the opening ceremony of every Sea Scout meeting. Once ‘fallen in’ to their Patrols the ceremony will start. When the Duty Patrol Leader is ready to hoist the flag, the still is sounded on a bosun’s call, and the Troop salutes. When the flag is secured, the PL salutes, the carry on is piped, and the salute is ended.

Sunset Colours is the closing ceremony of the night and is the same as the Colours Ceremony, but for lowing the flag. The scouts will normally have a reflection time straight after this.

Drop Off and Collection

Scout sessions in the hall start every week at 19:30 and finish at 21:00 (Unless otherwise stated on the Programme section on Online Scout Manager)

If Cubs are in the hall beforehand and you have a child in both sections you will be able to drop off your Scout at the same time you pick up your Cub Scout.

If Cubs are not in the hall beforehand the doors to the hall will remain locked until 19:20 to allow time for the leaders to set up for the evening, so if you arrive slightly earlier please be prepared to wait outside. Please remember that your child’s safety is your responsibility until they have been registered as being in attendance with the Scout Leader when they arrive.

The meeting starts promptly at 19:30 to allow maximum time for your young people to enjoy the programme as there is so much to do in so little time!

When it comes time to pick up your young person please wait at the end of the hall near the doors or just outside in the hallway. Please pick up your child promptly at 21:00, as most of the time the adult leaders have other personal commitments

Once you have come into the hall and your young person has been ‘passed’ over to you, their safety is now your responsibility, as leaders will be busy packing away or talking to parents to sort queries.

Scouts Walking Home

We understand the Scouts, as they get older, have more personal responsibility and you, as a parent, might feel happy for them to start walking home after Scouts. To allow the leaders to release the Young Person from their care, they would need to produce a letter, signed by their legal guardian, to state they are happy to let them travel home alone. We will never allow a Young Person to travel home alone without a letter, stating otherwise.

Investitures

Once your young person has been with us for a little while (normally around 6 weeks) and you have finished the Getting Started Process they will then take their Scout Promise and become an invested member of the Troop. Parents will be notified of when this will take place and be encouraged to come along and see the ceremony.

The new Scout will then be allocated to one of the Patrols, all shown by the named woggle they have been given.

When a Scout is invested they make the Scout Promise, to do their best and to keep the Scout Law.

PL and APL

Within their troop, Scouts are part of a Patrol. A Patrol is a smaller group of Scouts, led by a Patrol Leader (PL) and Assistant Patrol Leader (APL). PLs and APLs are normally older Scouts who are chosen to take on leadership responsibilities, such as welcoming new people to the troop or taking charge of a particular game, activities, evenings and give their feedback to the leadership team through Patrol Forums.

They wear leadership stripes to celebrate their hard work and make sure everyone knows who they are.

PLs and APLs will be invited to attend a separate training weekend to develop their leadership skills.

Chief’s Scout Gold Award

This is the highest award you can achieve in Scouts and should be the goal for every aspiring Scout, click the badge below to find out more!

Scout uniform and badge placement

What do Scouts wear?

Scout uniform consists of a navy-blue sweatshirt with your badges sewn on and group scarf to represent you come from 2nd Bognor.

Uniform Required for a Normal Evening

We expect Scouts to take pride in their uniform as it shows they take pride in being part of the Troop! Full uniform is required on a regular Scout night and consists of the following items:

• Scout Jumper (Badges sewn on)
• Group Scarf and Woggle
• Group T-Shirt
• Black Trousers/Leggings/Joggers (We ask that girls refrain from wearing skirts, unless they have shorts on underneath, because we are a very active group and we want them to be as comfortable as possible while joining in all the games)
• Black Shoes (these can be school shoes or black trainers/plimsoles)

Why is uniform important?

Wearing a uniform is comfy and practical. It means no one feels uncomfortable or left out and helps everyone feel part of the troop. It also gives you a place to show off all the badges you earn.

Please see badge placement diagram to see wear to sew on all those badges!