{"alias":"blogEntry","byline":"","standfirst":"A decision about whether to go ahead with Scouts for four and five year olds at this time is being considered by the board in six weeks\u2019 time. While we continue to assess the impact that this potential new section could have, we spoke to parents and volunteers who\u2019ve been involved in the pilots \u2013 which have been called \u2018Hedgehogs\u2019 during this trial period \u2013 as they reflect on the young people\u2019s experience. Here\u2019s what they had to say.","content":{"layouts":[{"type":"singleColumn","areas":[{"items":[{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"gtmId","gtmClass":"gtmClass","image":"/media/6635/dkscouts-436.jpg","width":5760,"height":3840,"altText":"Girl in Hedgehogs - early years pilot","caption":"","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2018We don\u2019t come to hedgehogs to improve our writing or do school stuff. We are here for the Scout experience.\u2019 \u003C/strong\u003E- Phillipa Francis, parent of a child involved in the pilots.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPhillipa shares her thoughts: \u2018My son is four, he\u2019ll be five in July and is in school, but he\u2019s the youngest in his class. He\u2019s also autistic. At school he struggles with certain environments and situations. He finds lunchtime overwhelming so he eats in his classroom and not in the dinner hall. However, this same little boy bounds into Hedgehogs.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018He has a brilliant relationship with the Group Leader, and he\u2019s making new friends, who importantly, don\u2019t go to his school. The sessions are enjoyed, but honestly, those more school type sessions aren\u2019t as fun as the very brilliant den building or campfire s\u2019mores sessions. We don\u2019t come to hedgehogs to improve our writing or do school stuff. We are here for the Scout experience.\u2019\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMy elder daughter is on the cusp of moving to Cubs. She\u2019s one badge off her Bronze Award and her little brother sees what she does and wants desperately to do it too. Prior to starting school, we attended weekly Forest School which was all about taking risks in a safe environment. That is something that I really hope Hedgehogs will become.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Also, only negative comment relates to the stickers. They really are a bit rubbish. Young kids get stickers for everything, so they become rather diluted and lack importance. The badge system in Beavers is great and four and five year olds have the understanding that you can work towards something, and over a few weeks can earn a proper badge. They don\u2019t need instant gratification all the time.\u2019\u003Cbr /\u003E\u003Cbr /\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2018We\u0027re lucky in Scouts [compared to school] that when the young people start losing concentration, we can get them to jump up and do a running around game.\u2019\u003C/strong\u003E \u2013 pilot leader Amanda Wallace at 13th Southampton\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFrom Amanda\u2019s perspective: \u2018If you have a shy child the project helps with their confidence and relationship building. If you start younger [than Beavers] how much better would it be for them, especially before starting school? They\u2019ll be more confident for school and be used to team activities...\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The reflection part of the programme is great as it uses their memory skills and gives leaders feedback from them [the young people] on what they like [during the meetings].\u003Cbr /\u003E\u003Cbr /\u003E\u2018We\u0027re lucky in Scouts [compared to school] that when the young people start losing concentration, we can get them to jump up and do a running around game, we have that opportunity... The evaluators saw this and were impressed with how we kept that engagement in the young people.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We\u2019ve had lots of help from the Hedgehogs pilot. Claire [a mum completely new to Scouts] has joined, Kelly [another mum] is taking over the Cubs along with another parent. She didn\u0027t want to help with Hedgehogs as she felt it was important to give her son who is a Hedgehog some independence, but she wanted to become a uniformed leader.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe\u2019ve also had three adults join the Group Executive Committee, two of them cut the grass in the grounds during the Hedgehog meetings. We also have two new parents from the eight new young people [after numbers increased to 24] who\u2019d like to get involved. One is considering going into uniform.\u2019\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"gtmId","gtmClass":"gtmClass","image":"/media/5852/62011945_10156367641626313_6712638420239253504_o.jpg","width":1880,"height":1250,"altText":"","caption":"","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2018A surprising amount of people [are] interested in how it\u2019s getting on.\u2019\u003C/strong\u003E \u2013 David Bowers, Commissioner at 13th Southampton\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDavid says: \u2018I\u2019m really lucky that the team have taken on the pilot. They\u2019ve been fantastic and have kept me up to date... their passion shows through.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The pilot has a very good reputation in the District and County with a surprising amount of people interested in how it\u2019s getting on... It\u0027s been amazing, there\u2019s a real appetite for it [the early years provision in Southampton].\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2018Hedgehogs has led to an incredible change in Eleanor. She\u2019s been able to make friends and join in with tasks. She\u2019s absolutely flourished.\u2019\u003C/strong\u003E \u2013 Emily Norman, parent and a 1st North Devon secretary\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThoughts from Emily: \u2018For my daughter Eleanor, Hedgehogs is the highlight of her week. Our daughter was born quite deaf due to glue ear issues and she has always had a few issues socially, due to children not understanding her, or her not being able to hear them.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Hedgehogs has led to an incredible change in Eleanor. She\u2019s been able to make friends and join in with tasks. She\u2019s absolutely flourished. The leaders are incredible. They\u2019ve brought together such young children and turned them into a patrol, into a group who interact well with each other, learn to listen, to sit still and to engage. This is no easy feat.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor Eleanor, Hedgehogs is a structured environment that teaches such important skills, but it also has an element of fun.\u2019\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFor more info on the early years\u2019 pilots, you can \u003Ca rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 href=\u0022https://vimeo.com/427301633\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ewatch the webinar recording here\u003C/a\u003E. Though the Board will be making a decision in just six weeks\u2019 time, we encourage you to watch the webinar and \u003Ca rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 href=\u0022https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/32b8dca7f1cc4111b9038a2e0b546707\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Elet us know your final comments\u003C/a\u003E as soon as possible.\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/em\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022/about-us/strategy/our-programmes-of-work/early-years/\u0022 title=\u0022Explore early years provision (4 and 5 year olds)\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Escouts.org.uk/early-years\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/em\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""}]}],"config":null}]},"searchDescription":null,"pageType":null,"location":null,"versionDate":"15 June 2020","reviewDate":null,"furtherReading":[],"relatedLinks":[],"id":48525,"nodeName":"Reflections from the early years\u2019 pilots","title":"Reflections from the early years\u2019 pilots","type":"blogEntry","image":{"url":"/media/6635/dkscouts-436.jpg?width=800\u0026height=450\u0026v=1db342982449dc0","caption":"DK.Scouts 436","type":"jpg","size":2677755,"width":5760,"height":3840,"altText":""},"assets":null,"headerOptions":{"headerTitle":"Reflections from the early years\u2019 pilots","headerSubTitle":null,"headerCta":null,"headerCtaText":null,"headerCtaLink":null,"headerBackgroundColour":null,"showSEOImage":false,"headerBackgroundImage":null,"quickLinks":null},"subHeader":"While we continue to assess the impact that Scouts for 4 and 5 year olds could have, we spoke to parents and volunteers who\u2019ve been involved","browserTitle":"Reflections from the early years\u2019 pilots","silktide":"eyJjbXMiOiJVbWJyYWNvIiwiZWRpdG9yVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9wcm9kLWNtcy5zY291dHMub3JnLnVrLy91bWJyYWNvIy9jb250ZW50L2NvbnRlbnQvZWRpdC80ODUyNSJ9","canonicalUrl":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/news/2020/june/reflections-from-the-early-years-pilots/"}