Easter weekend saw three of our Scouts compete in the Stradbroke Cup Camp at Treetops in Riddells Creek as part of a mixed patrol with 1st Milliara. A rainy start to the weekend and setting up camp but fun had by all with some good tip and tricks learnt and shared by the mixed patrol for future competition camps. Rudy especially happy after winning the Easter hamper.
Congratulations Alex, Michael and Rudy on achieving a GOLD pennant and co-holder status of the cup.
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The Fitzgerald Cup is my first experience of competition camping. I found the weekend dirty, dusty and hard work but also a very interesting experience. The camp is designed for the kids to take responsibility for everything with little help from leaders or parents. I’m the no-muck-around, get-the-job-done type of person, so it was a challenge to stand back and let things happen.
Now a few days on, I have had time to process things and want to share with you some the things I will be taking away as a parent.
These kids are capable and they are learning to build their confidence. Each time the patrols did something their confidence grew. Even when the cooking looked more like disaster kitchens instead of Masterchef they did a great job.
It’s always amusing at the wonderful flare for the dramatic that kids have. The weekend was hard work and tiring for our two patrols and emotions and un-operative, oppositional and defiant behavior was in full swing. What I saw was that the kids were unsure, uncomfortable and under pressure. When the time was spent working through some issues, things calmed down and progress happened. Learning patience takes time and I’m grateful to the all the leaders who offer their patience and help.
An important one for my scout is that he thinks making mistakes is not OK which at times means he doesn’t give things a try. The weekend confirmed to me loud and clear to not give up on telling him mistakes and failing is OK. It’s how we learn to do it better next time. ‘Practice makes progress, not perfect!’ We need to keep reinforcing this with our kids because it builds resilience.
Communication, Communication, Communication! As capable as our patrols were, communication was the hardest task. Being open to what was being said, not interrupting, not making judgment and talking nicely to others was difficult for everyone. In time our kids will learn these skills and in the mean time we can also help them practice attitudes of friendliness, support, goodwill and acceptance of others as a way to help them learn how to interact and communicate with others in positive ways.
I got dirty, slept on a deflating lilo, worked hard and was exhausted but what a great opportunity to be with a team of young scouts and two dedicated and patient leaders. Thanks Karen and Enid.
Written by Danielle Marum
Our Scout meeting on Monday, March 17th shall be a special occasion to mark the awarding of the Adventurer (green) Cord and Scout Medallion to Sam Randle and Ben Grant.
See Event for details.
Last year our Cub Scouts participated in Clean Up Australia Day, and this year we hope that interested youth and parents will join in again! See details in the Events section of the Scouts, Cubs or Joeys pages. Or click here.
Billy Cart Building – A Patrol Activity 18/01/2014
by Michael Davis
Participating scouts Michael Davis, Gene McLay, Kenneth Wong and Thomas Bramich
Gene, Kenneth and Thomas met at my place (Michael) and we made plans to build a billy cart for the Kensington billy cart race on Australia Day down Macaulay Road.
We organized the wood, paint and things we had and then scavenged some wood left for hard rubbish across the park from my house. My dad took us to Bunnings to get wheels and rope and big bolts.
We built the billy cart to specifications on the race form then painted it.
Kenneth and I tested it out on the hills at Holland Park the next day after the paint had dried.
I drove the billy cart on the day and unfortunately placed third out of four but we had fun.
Report by Ben Grant on the Adventurer Hike from 15 – 17th November 2013. Scouts participating were: Ben Grant, Sam Randle, Jack Walter, Jack Clausen, Quinn Higgs, Martin Burke, Leonardo Morandini.
“I arrived at the scout hall on Friday night and we packed our bags, got
into the cars, and drove to Powelltown. After a while, we found a spot
to camp, and set up our tents. It was then that we realized that the hike
was going to be full of leeches. In the morning, we had some porridge
and packed everything into our backpacks. Using our maps, the 7 of us
hiked 17 km through the bush on a path. Near the end, there was a very
steep hill that took us a long time to climb. That was the most difficult
part of the hike. After many snack breaks, we arrived at Starlings Gap,
where we set up our tents for the second night. Everyone was very tired
so we did nothing for a while. For dinner, we had Couscous surprise,
then everyone went to bed.
The next morning, we had breakfast, then set off for the remaining 13
km. Halfway through, I stepped on a snake, it was a scary experience,
but luckily it didn’t bite me. We made good progress that day and after
a couple of snack breaks, we reached the end — one hour early. It was
a great hike to go on and it was the last thing some of us needed to get
our Scout Medallions.”
Ben Grant
We had two patrols attending Gilweroo 2013 at Bay Park, Mount Martha. Many exciting, fun, new and dirty activities were tried and enjoyed by the twelve scouts that attended.
It’s on again with great prizes including a Toyota Prius C Hybrid and only a $2 ticket price.
100% of the funds raised from this raffle come back to our Group, and we use them to offset some of the Branch membership fee and keep the cost of Scouting low for your family. It also covers all our costs to insure and run our hall.
The Group has organised several selling days in neighbourhood shopping strips, and believe me, no-one can resist buying a ticket from a Joey Cub or Scout in uniform!
Please check out the rosters at the following links and put your name down for as many days as you can manage.
We are holding an information night for all parents interested in their children joining Joey Scouts. Please click on the attached flyer to read the details.
