Scouts (The Scout Association)

Scouts
Owner	The Scout Association
Age range	10½-14
Headquarters	Gilwell Park, London
Country	United Kingdom
Founded	1908
Membership	124,714 young people (2014)[1]
Previous Cub Scouts Next Explorer Scouts Sea Scouts Air Scouts

The Scout section is the direct descendant of the original Scout Patrols which formed The Scout Association of the United Kingdom in 1908. The section is open to both boys and girls between the ages of 10½-14 years, and are now formed into local Scout Troops.

Scout Troops form part of a Scout Group. The Scout section follows on from the Cub Pack (8-10½ year olds) and Scouts will move onto the Explorer Scout section at the age of 14.

A general Scouting programme is adopted by Scout Troops, but it is possible for specialist troops to be formed. Sea Scouts and Air Scouts are example of specialist programme troops.

Organisation

Blitz Scouts in 1942

The Scout Troop forms the senior section of Scout Groups. Since the programme review in 2003, this section is open to 10½-14 year olds. The Troop is the longest running section within the UK organisation, although it was originally termed the Scout Patrol when the movement started in 1907.

Most Groups will have one Troop, while some others may be able to support two or even more, depending on the numbers of Scouts within the Group. This is quite rare, as new Groups would be created in areas of large Scouting populations.

Scout Troops have an adult leadership team consisting of an appointed Scout Leader and one or two assistant leaders. They can also be supported by adult helpers or Young Leaders.

The Scouts within the Troop are separated into Patrols, ideally of 6-8 members, with a Patrol Leader and an Assistant Patrol Leader. These positions are usually filled by Scouts who have shown an ability to be responsible and pro-active. they are normally around the age of 14 years of age but many scout troops do vary which is very interesting in some aspects of modern scouting life. Some Troops may also hold a position for a Senior Patrol Leader.

Within the Troop, the Patrol Leaders can hold a council and are able to plan and run activities under the supervision of the Scout Leader.

The Scout District may also hold a council for representative Patrol Leaders from each Troop to attend.

Awards

Scout Membership Award

The Membership Award is only actually received by young people new to Scouting, whereas those Scouts who have joined from a Cub Scout Pack will undertake the Moving-On Award. However, the Awards cover the same basic principles, and many Troops will have all new Scouts participate in the Membership Award, regardless of how they came to join the Section.

The Chief Scout's Gold Award

Challenge awards

There are ten Challenge awards, covering the six Programme Zones or key areas of the Scout programme. The Zones are: Outdoor and Adventure, Beliefs and Attitudes, Community, Fitness, Creative and Global.^[2] Each Challenge involves undertaking several tasks or taking part in activities related to a particular Programme Zone.^[3] Upon completing eight of the Challenge awards, some of which are compulsory, a Scout will have earned the Chief Scout's Gold Award.^[4]

Activity badges

Activity badges are awarded for demonstrating skill or achievement in a particular subject which may be an existing hobby or a new area of knowledge.^[3] There are currently 73 different badges available.^[5] Six other activity badges have different levels or "stages" to recognize levels of achievement on subjects like swimming, music and information technology; these Staged Activity Badges can be gained and worn in all four of the training sections, from Beavers through to Explorers.^[6]

Events and activities

Other activities

The Scout Programme includes many other activities — too many to fully list. The most common activities are:

• Hiking/Backpacking
• Rock Climbing
• Kayaking
• Sailing
• Caving
• Camping

All Scouting activities are properly supervised by qualified instructors for that activity.

References

See also

• Boy Scout
• Age groups in Scouting and Guiding

External links

• Scouts at The Scout Association UK
• Scouts at ScoutBase
• The Scout Association: Scout Troops at DMOZ

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