What is Scout’s ?

The Scout Troop

The Scout section is for boys and girls aged 10 years to around 14½ years old (maximum 15 years old).

Our Scout Troop meets Tuesday nights from 7.30pm – 9.30pm.

Usually a Scout Troop is organised into groups of around five or six Scouts called ‘Patrols’. Each patrol is named after an Australian animal, and is led by an older Scout called a ‘Patrol Leader’ (PL), and assisted by an ‘Assistant Patrol Leader’ (APL). The PLs regularly meet with the Scout Leader at a meeting called a Troop Council to plan Troop activities and deal with the management of the Troop and its Scouts. The Scout motto is Be Prepared.

The Scout Section program provides opportunities for the development of relationship and leadership skills, values, initiative and abilities through increasing independence in participation in camping, outdoor activities, community service, training games and an award scheme.

Scout Award Scheme

The Scout Section award scheme has several components: Scoutcraft Badge, Target Badges, Proficiency Badges, Patrol Activity Badges, and Cords.

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Scoutcraft Badge

The first badge to be completed by every Scout after investiture is the Scoutcraft badge. It covers basic Scouting skills. The PL will help the new Scout learn or revise the requirements of this badge.

Target Badges

Target badges provide for going to places and doing adventurous, appealing things that young people enjoy. Target Badges cover the areas of: Air activities, Campcraft, Citizenship, Construction, Emergencies, Environment and Water Activities. The Target scheme is subdivided into three levels – Pioneer (Red), Explorer (Blue) and Adventurer (Green). The requirements for each Target develop skills progressively from Pioneer to Adventurer level. To gain the Pioneer, Explorer or Adventurer Badge, the respective Campcraft and Citizenship Target are compulsory, with one other Target to be chosen from the above list for each level.

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Proficiency Badges

The Proficiency Badge scheme is designed to encourage Scouts to develop individual hobbies, pursuits and interests. There are 34 Proficiency Badges in a wide variety of interests including Anthropology, Trade, Entertainer, Fire Awareness and more. These badges require at least 10 hours of effort or participation (depending on the nature of the challenge) but should not exceed four months. Inherent in each badge is the need to demonstrate increased proficiency in the activity or interest as part of earning a badge. For example if young people are taking music they must demonstrate an interest and proficiency in the subject beyond the level expected of them in their school work in order to qualify for the appropriate badge. Irrespective of the proficiency, skill or knowledge of a Scout at any point of time, these badges are only awarded after a Scout has accepted a challenge. Scouts may not obtain the objectives set out, but if they gave their best, they could still be considered as having carried out a satisfactory challenge. Some of the badges are shown below.

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Patrol Activity Badges

clip_image001[6]The philosophy behind the Patrol activity badges is the encouraging of common participation of Scouts in small Group activities organised and run by themselves with a minimum of adult involvement. The Patrol decides its own activity and the Troop Council approves the standards and decides when the Patrol Activity Badge has been achieved.

Cords

There are three Cords corresponding to each of the three levels Pioneer Cord (Red), clip_image002[12]
Explorer Cord (Blue) and Adventurer Cord (Green), as for Target Badges. The requirements are as follows: Pioneer Cord – Pioneer Badge, two Proficiency Badges and one Patrol Activity Badge; Explorer Cord – Explorer Badge, a total of four Proficiency Badges, and two Patrol Activity Badges; and Adventurer Cord – Adventurer Badge, a total of six Proficiency Badges, and three Patrol Activity Badges.

Scout Leadership Courseclip_image002[14]

The aim of the Scout Leadership Course is to provide suitable leadership skills for Scouts developing through the Troop and Patrol environments utilising a practical ‘hands on’ approach. These are run by Districts within Victoria.

Australian Scout Medallionclip_image002[16]

The Australian Scout Medallion is the highest achievement possible for a Scout. The Australian Scout Medallion is awarded when a Scout earns their Adventurer Cord, and has completed a Leadership Course and participated and demonstrated their leadership skills in a Scouting activity. This would involve the organisation and planning of an activity or event, which would cover a minimum of one full day or overnight. There are two major ceremonies each year (May and November) when the medallion is presented.

Section Handbooks

The following handbooks outline the award scheme for this Section. They are available at Snowgum or through your Scout Leaders:

  • The Scout Record Book
  • Fieldbook for Australian Scouting

Major Activities

Troop camps – most Scout Troops go camping at least once each term. Each patrol has its own equipment and is usually responsible for its own cooking and campsite. Camps may have a theme, such as water activities or survival skills.

Scout hikes – most years the Troop will go on at least one overnight hike.

Jamboree – A Jamboree is held in Australia every three years, which means a Scout will have only one chance to attend one. It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience of around 10 days non-stop fun and activities. Up to 16,000 Scouts and leaders attend from many countries around the world.

Badge Placement – Scouts

All badges are provided by the Scout Group, and are presented by the section leaders at an appropriate time

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