Beavers : An Introduction to the Beaver Scout Section
Information for parents/carers of new Members and adults new to the Section.
- Introduction
- Who is Beaver Section for?
- The Beaver Scout Promise
- The Motto
- The Beaver Scout Uniform
- How Beaver Scouts are organised
- Investiture
- What do Beavers Scouts do?
- Beaver Scout Programme
- Programme Zones
- Methods
- Badges and Awards
- Beaver Scout Sleepovers
- Beaver Scouting…its just the start!
- Beavers on-line
- Resources for Beaver Scouts
Introduction
Since Beaver Scouts became a part of The Scout Association in 1986, it has been one of the quickest growing Sections. It currently has somewhere in the region of 100,000 members in 7,000 Colonies! The Beaver Scout Colony will tend to meet weekly for about an hour, but they will also have the chance to go on a residential experience every year and there also might be day trips away.
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Who is Beaver Scouting for?
Beaver Scouting is open to young people aged between six and eight years old of all major denominations and faiths who can make the Beaver Scout Promise.
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The Beaver Scout Promise
Scouting differs from many organisations in that it requires its Members to make a Promise. The wording for Beaver Scouts is simpler than that of the Scout Promise, it is:
I promise to do my best
to be kind and helpful
and to love God.
Different wordings of the promise are available for those of different faiths who may prefer not to use the word “God” and for those with special circumstances and needs.
By making the promise a young person becomes a Member of the worldwide Movement; they become a Scout.
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The Motto
The motto for all Members of the Movement is: Be Prepared.
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The Beaver Scout Uniform
Beaver Scouts wear a turquoise sweatshirt. They also wear a scarf (sometimes called a “necker”), which varies in colour from Scout Group to Scout Group. They also have a woggle, to keep their scarf up. Traditionally all Beaver Scouts wear a maroon coloured woggle, but they may also wear a woggle of the colour of the Lodge they are in (see below on how Beaver Scouts are organised). There are several other items of optional uniform.
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How Beaver Scouts are organised
Beaver Scouts meet together as a Colony and work within a variety of small groups called “Lodges”. A team of adults will run the Beaver Scout Colony. Some will be uniformed Leaders, others may be informal Assistants or helpers. Explorer Scouts who are Young Leaders might also assist the leadership team in the running of the Colony.
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Investiture
Making the Promise is the most important act in Scouting and is common to every Section. Scouting has a special ceremony for making the Promise called Investiture or being invested. When they make their Promise they receive their Group Scarf, The Membership Award and are welcomed as a new Member into the Scout family.
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What do Beavers Scouts do?
Beavers take part in a wide range of activities. These include making things, singing, playing games, going out on visits, investigating nature, listening to stories, learning how to be safe and most importantly, making new friends. They do this through taking part in a programme of activities provided by the leadership team.
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Beaver Scout Programme
The philosophy underpinning the programme is that every Beaver Scout should participate in a Balanced Programme over a period of time. This ensures that all young people experience a quality programme covering a wide range of subjects, so that they develop in all the Personal Development Areas. To help, the Balanced Programme is divided into a number of Programme Zones, Methods and Underlying Ways of Working.
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Programme Zones
The following are the five Programme Zones for Beaver Scouts
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Methods
These Zones are delivered using 12 methods, which give the programme variety and range. The Zones give Beaver Scouts the opportunity to:
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Underlying Ways of Working
Underpinning the programmes offered to Beaver Scouts are Six Ways of Working, which should be present in every programme. This gives the opportunity to Beavers to.
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Badges and Awards
Even though the emphasis is on a Programme that is balanced with a variety of activities, there are still badges and awards for Beaver Scouts to aim for during their time with the Colony. Badges and awards are given in recognition of the effort made by each young person at their own level.
- The Membership Award
This Award helps the young person understand the commitment they are making when they make the Promise and become a Member of the Movement. It covers the history, traditions and practices of Scouting.
- Joining In Awards
The Joining In Awards recognise a commitment to Scouting. They celebrate Beaver Scouts participating in a Balanced Programme over a period of time. They are awarded on the anniversary of the young person joining Scouting.
- Challenges
The Challenges complement the Balanced Programme. These have been developed to extend Beaver Scouts' skills and experience in a particular area. There are three Challenges in the Beaver Scout Section:
- Outdoor Challenge
- Discovery Challenge
- Friendship Challenge
- Activity Badges
Activity Badges are optional, but they provide an opportunity to reward a young person who has taken part in an activity over a period of time. They should raise interest and extend a young person's skills throughout their time in Scouting. There are five Beaver Scout Activity Badges:
- Animal Friend
- Creative
- Experiment
- Explore
- Faith
- Staged Activity Badges
In addition to the Beaver Scout Activity Badges, there are four Activity Badges staged across the all Sections, which gives a young person the opportunity to develop an area of interest throughout their time in Scouting from 6 - 18. They are:
- Information Technology
- Swimmer
- Musician
- Nights Away
- Group Awards
The Group Awards are designed so that all members of the Scout Group can take part in the Award, to encourage Sections to work together. There are three Group Awards:
- The International Friendship Award
- The Environment Award
- The Faith Award
- Chief Scout’s Bronze Award
This badge is the highest award available in the Beaver Scout Section. It is gained by completing:
- the Outdoor Challenge, plus
- the Friendship or Discovery Challenge
- and a personal challenge
The Chief Scout’s Bronze Award can be worn on the Cub Scout Uniform once they move onto Cubs.
- The Moving-On Award
This helps ease the transfer of a Beaver Scout to the Cub Scout Pack. It also allows the Beaver Scout to be invested into the Pack immediately, recognising that they are already Members of the Scout Movement.
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Beaver Scout Sleepovers
Sleepovers give young people their first experience of a night away from home without their parents/carers. They are intended to plant a ‘seed’, which then grows as the young person moves through the Sections. Leaders have to be specially trained before they may take young people away, so you know they will always be in safe hands Sleepovers in the Beaver Scout Section must be indoors and must not exceed 24 hours. They provide an excellent opportunity for young people to try out activities that are not possible at the regular Colony Meeting. As you might imagine, the whole atmosphere of living together even for a short while, as a Colony is very special for the young people involved.
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Beaver Scouting…its just the start!
While a young person is in Beavers they will have fun, make friends and get to do exciting activities that they wouldn’t get to do anywhere else. But this is just the start! Beavers is the first step in Scouting for future development as individuals and Scouts. It will seem that they have only just started and it will be time to ‘swim up’ to Cubs!
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Beavers on-line
Beaver Scouts have their own colourful pages on The Scout Association’s website where they can find out information, play games, puzzles and quizzes. Find out more by ‘logging’ on to:
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Resources for Beaver Scouts
Beaver Scouts have their own special handbook called My Beaver Scout Logbook. It is a Beaver Scouts guide to the programme and has lots of space for them to colour things in, draw and learn about Scouting.
Beavers... Dive right in!