skillsforlife – Explorer Scout 84

Final WSJ camp

My last World Scout Jamboree meet up camp stared with boarding the minibus and drinking custard – a tradition we have upheld since our very first camp as a unit. Soon, we realised we had no speaker to play music with so started playing I-Spy.

This did not last very long.

Soon, we got the radio on and began listening to BBC Radio 2 – at first the music was substantial until it soon became clear it was mostly 60s music (which none of us knew). We then proceeded to sit in silence for the rest of our journey.

That evening, it was patrol 1s cooking duty where we cooked hot dogs with onion – the onions were so strong that we were all in tears cooking. After supper, we watched a movie called Hot Fuzz before heading to bed.

The next morning we all awoke at 8 o’clock due to the sound of unfashionable music – to say the least. Personally I’m still loving golden hour from our journey up. We then waited for the rugby to be put on except that ITV hub seems to be down – due to the amount if traffic.

We watched the rugby – no spoiler but we lost which was disappointing. Nevertheless, we then played a game of ‘Pigs’ which some of our unit learnt on the Jamboree before doing some reviews. We reviewed our personal unit kit, selection process and then fundraising – which was followed by lunch.

Blue writing down his favourite fundraising ideas

After lunch we played an odd version of netball before heading back inside to review how many camps we had and whether this was substantial enough as well as reviewing our leaders leadership. Following this, we then listened to the county commissioner of Shropshire discussing the Queen Scout Award as well as other Scouting activities happening. We then a went back outside to play the odd version of netball.

In the evening, we were supposed to go on a hike to see a firework display except our dinner was running very late – I learnt a couple of new card games during the wait. After dinner (of chicken and … PASTA!), my patrol quickly finished washing up before we headed on a mini walk to try and watch the fireworks. We saw a few fireworks before heading back and eating pudding.

In the evening, we watched a movie of our World Scout Jamboree experience which included photos and videos from all of our pre-camps. Many laughs later, it was time to head to bed which was around 00:45.

The next morning, we woke up at around 8:30 and started to pack away. Breakfast consisted of pancakes with maple syrup – taking me back to Canada. This was then followed by free time as well as a whole unit reflection. We also played with frisbee and a a game of Ninja.

It was then time to say goodbye to everyone before we headed back home via the minibus. This was very sad with lots of I’ll see you very soon, before we grabbed some lunch and headed back home.

And so it’s not a goodbye, it’s more of a see you later …

Leading Questions with Blue.

Hey everyone, guest blogger Blue here again!

I got to spend a few days with 84 again after meeting back up at one of her county’s events. Since she interviewed me last time I thought I’d do the same.

So 84, you’re looking a lot better by the way, what was the day about?

This day got together the patrol leaders in my county who were leading a patrol on the 24th World Scout Jamboree. We took in a range of activities to learn different leadership skills and techniques.

That sounds good. So what sort of things did you talk about?

We talked about different personality traits – drivers, thinkers, feelers and entertainers. They told us how each different section are motivated as well as push and pull factors.

We briefly talked about what makes a good leader as well as the characteristics they should have; they should be allowing everyone to have equal responsibility, able to handle all situations as well as giving credit where it is deserved.

On top of this we learnt about how to delegate well and the ladder of unconsciously incompetent to unconsciously competent.

Did anything in particular surprise you or make you think “oh yeah”?

I learnt about the ladder of unconsciously incompetent to unconsciously competent.

At the bottom of the ladder you have those who are unconsciously incompetent.

These are the people who have seen a new skill and believe thoroughly that they are able to do this without even asking for help the very first time. They are usually very happy and excited to give a new skill ago; this is until they give the skill ago and become consciously incompetent.

They now have tried the new skill and are unhappy as they are not able to do it; as time progresses they will become consciously competent.

This is where they are still a bit worried about the activity but are able to now take part with very little assistance; this is until they become unconsciously competent.

They now are able to do the skill without really thinking about what they are doing such as tying a reef knot. This is a good place to be in but sometimes they can forget the specific steps in the task and forget exactly what they are doing.

So what would be your top tips for other patrols going out to the Jamboree?

My top tip would be to learn about the different personalities in your patrol. to learn what motivates each individual and the main category of people they fall into.

Are they a “Thinker” who like to work out the problem step by step or are they a “Feeler” who cares about how the rest of the patrol are feeling and doesn’t think about themselves as much?

Are they a “Driver” who drives to make sure that everything has been done on time and to task or are they even an “Entertainer” where they have the most fun with others joking and laughing around?

The more you know your patrol the easier it will be in the long run to delegate specific tasks to and help them to drive towards their target all whilst having fun and enjoying them whilst doing even some of the more boring tasks.

Finally, tell me one thing you learnt about yourself.

I learnt that I am partly a thinker and a feeler; I like to plan ahead of time to make sure that everything will get done whilst checking that everyone is happy; I need to be able to be a bit more firm with others when they are not listening and to also make sure that I not only play to the strengths within my patrol but also can teach them new skills.

Finally I have learnt how the patrol leaders team has been arranged. Personally in my patrol leadership team we have an entertainer (who can also be partly a driver) with me being a thinker and a feeler – everyone has all characteristics which work well together within a team.

Thanks 84, sounds like it was a really good day. Can’t wait to see you again!

Planes, (Steam) Trains and Automobiles

This week I have been helping the community by helping at my county’s Vintage Fair. On Scout Scarf Day (Wednesday 1st August), I wore my scout necker with pride whilst line painting out pitches – we measured out the distance of the paths and the roads and then painted lines on the ground. We also put up barriers in the afternoon to set out areas for the main event.

On Thursday we helped to park all the exhibitors into the pitches we painted on Wednesday. On Friday, we set up our free stall and helped to direct more people to their pitches and in the evening we watched as the vintage cars, tractors, fire engines, steam engines and trucks drive around the site.

On Saturday and Sunday, we helped to run our stall. There were a range of activities including splat a Scout (which was refreshing as it helped to cool us down from the heat), a donut challenge (where you had to eat the donut from the string without it dropping, using your hands or licking your lips), a tombola (where all the prizes were kindly donated by some of the stall holders), a balance the coin on the lemon (where if it held for 5 seconds or more you won 5x the amount you put on the lemon), a teddy tombola (where you could win a prize every time) and finally a surprise tube (where under every tube there was a different prize ranging from good to bad e.g. there could be a tin of mushy peas to sweets to toilet roll to bookmarks).

On Sunday, before my shift I looked around the fair and took photos with my camera. I saw a Dennis fire engine from Dorset, which we believe my Grandfather may have driven as a fireman. Mum says one of the “vintage” cars I took a photo of was newer than her first car.

I also saw the Poppy Parachute Team who raise funds and awareness for the Royal British Legion.