Scout Meeting 19th February

Another good meeting tonight it was our week to be back in Uniform and there was a great standard on show. After the Opening Ceremony Brendan and Ciaran took the Scouts outside for a game of ‘Hospital Tag’, it was an energetic and fun game and by the looks of the Scouts as they came back in they certainly burned off some energy.

It was time for a chat with the Scouts when they came back in and we gathered round the benches and sat together in a circle (well it was more of a square really!) The leaders have been reviewing how things have been going since we started up and we wanted to share or thoughts with the Scouts and talk about things can be in the future.

It was a great discussion talking about what sets us apart as Scouts and how we can try and use the skills we learn in Scouting in our everyday lives but most of all it was a discussion about how we interact with each other as a group and Scout Family and most of that is not for sharing here on this blog.

One of the main things we are going to try and do every six weeks or so is make sure we set aside a night for Patrol’s to gel together and get to know each other better. This is important because the idea of Patrols is a huge part of Scouting. So in between each of our programme cycles we will set aside this time with the leaders being available to support the Patrols and get feedback from them about how things are going and how the Scouts want things to be going. Youth Empowerment is important and for that to be real we need to be listening to our young people at a local level and then allowing them the opportunities to make their voices heard at a County, Provincial and even National Level.

After our chat the PL’s were invited to present their knot boards, as you can see from the pictures there was a lot of effort put in. Definitely something for the walls when we get our own Den.

The games we play are not only about having fun (although what’s the point if we don’t have fun) but also about Scouts learning skills such as working together. The next game we played tonight certainly required the Patrols to work together and communicate with each other. Ciaran explained the game which was called ‘Chair Relay’, basically the Patrols had to start at one end of the hall and get to the other end of the hall using only chairs and most importantly with no one touching the ground!!!! The game was great fun and the pictures alone certainly don’t do it justice. The Jaguar Patrol (who had a few less members on the night) were given one less chair than the other patrols. The game is a lot harder than it sounds and requires good communication within the Patrol and a lot of cooperation. Emma’s Jaguar Patrol excelled on the night and not only did they make it to the other end of the hall without touching the ground they decided to make the return leg while the Raven’s and Cobra’s struggled to get even half way up the hall. Chair Challenge Video

We finished off another great meeting with our Closing Ceremony. The PL’s and APL’s were asked to stay back for a few minutes to talk about the next Patrol Leader’s Council meeting and also the County Shield coming up over the Easter Weekend.