{"alias":"blogEntry","byline":"","standfirst":"Sean Stacey\u2019s a Scout Section Leader and full-time primary school teacher in Wales. Having spent lockdown in front of their devices so they could carry on Scouts through Zoom, 1st Pentwyn Scouts started the new term face-to-face. We caught up with Sean to find out what it\u2019s been like since then.","content":{"layouts":[{"type":"singleColumn","areas":[{"items":[{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"gtmId","gtmClass":"gtmClass","image":"/media/11628/cubs-sean-pic.jpg","width":1180,"height":894,"altText":"","caption":"","link":null},{"type":"Promo","cta":"","body":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen we chatted to Sean, his group were only able to meet outside. Check out the \u003Cspan\u003E\u003Ca rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 href=\u0022https://prod-cms.scouts.org.uk/media/10832/getting-back-together-safely-a-framework-for-restarting-scout-meetings-and-activities-v3.pdf\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Einformation on getting back together safely\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/span\u003E to find out what you need to do to restart face-to-face Scouts where you are.\u003C/p\u003E","link":null,"colour":"#002f6c","title":"","image":null,"imageFocus":"","imageId":0,"imageKey":"00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000","imageCrop":"","gridType":"card","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow did you get prepared to start again given the guidelines in your area?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFortunately, we have our own meeting place so we\u2019ve got outside space that we can use. We were lucky enough to get a communities grant, so we spent that money on lighting and shelters outside.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGetting ready was slightly stressful, but it\u2019s worth it once you\u2019ve got the kids back together and you can see that they\u2019re really enjoying it \u2013 it reminds you of why you\u2019ve spent so long getting ready for it.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHave all the young people come back?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESome young people didn\u2019t engage with our Zooms at all, but interestingly, since we\u2019ve started again, they\u2019ve all come back. Our Beaver Colony has even had new members who aren\u2019t siblings or anything \u2013 when they heard we were back and doing things outside again they got some new members, which was fab!\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat activities have you been doing with your troop?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe\u2019ve seen it as an opportunity to really hone their typical Scouts skills. We\u2019ve focused a lot on fire lighting and the skills of using the equipment to do that, as well as thinking what we can do with a fire. We\u2019ve done a lot of backwoods cooking and building camp structures \u2013 our thinking is to treat it as a night at camp. We\u2019re also thinking of doing some other things like an outdoor cinema. We\u2019re being as creative as we can, making sure we use this time wisely to develop their skills so that when we can go camping again they\u2019ll all be in a good position to pick it up.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhere did you get the ideas for the activities from?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe\u2019re lucky to have quite a breadth of experience within our leadership team. I started as a Cub and stayed with the group all the way through to being a young leader and then a section leader when I was 18, and I\u2019ve got some older volunteers with me which is great. When the resources came out from Scouts UKHQ, we did have a look through those and think about what the young people would enjoy. We also did one online forum, where we asked the people what they wanted to do. That was really interesting because it showed me their maturity \u2013 they understood that we need to socially distance so that impressed me.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow have you adapted the activities to work within the guidelines?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe had to be quite frank with people that we didn\u2019t want to put them in hula hoops, for example, because they were mature enough to maintain the distance. Level with your young people and they get it.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDid it feel different to a usual Scout meeting?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIt has, to be honest, as the structure has changed. We usually start with a game and just pick one off the top of our head, but now we\u2019re thorough in our planning as there\u2019s no wiggle room to go wrong.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe\u2019ve had to change the timings of our meetings to another evening and Saturday morning, as it was going to be too dark if we did it after Beavers and Cubs like normal. We asked our young people what they preferred \u2013 although some said they could come one day and not the other, they\u2019re now coming to both because they love it so much.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDo you have any top tips about the risk assessment process?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDon\u2019t overcomplicate it \u2013 keep to the basics of what you need to do to keep everyone safe.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat do you think you\u2019ll do when the weather gets really bad?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOnce our local lockdown restrictions have been lifted, we\u2019re still going to aim to be outside as much as possible \u2013 when we\u2019re inside we\u2019ll still have to wear masks and our building isn\u2019t that big, so it\u2019d be quite hard for everyone to distance. We\u2019ll do a rotation if needs be, but everyone\u2019s pretty prepared for being outside most of the time. If the weather was horrific, we\u2019ve got a load of back up Zooms that we can do.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat advice would you give other leaders about getting back together?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJust because you\u2019re a section leader, it doesn\u2019t mean that you have to bear the brunt of taking on all the paperwork \u2013 you could delegate it out to someone who\u2019s better at it. If you\u2019re worried about how the kids will react to the new restrictions? I\u2019d say that they\u2019ve dealt with it very well and they understand the rules are there to keep each other safe.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EKeep a youth focus and see what the young people want to be doing. If an activity works well, don\u2019t be afraid to roll it out again; we\u2019ve done backwoods cooking twice as they loved it and came up with loads of other ideas. Finally, be flexible \u2013 have a bank of ideas so that you can pick and choose depending on the weather.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""}]}],"config":null}]},"searchDescription":null,"pageType":null,"location":null,"versionDate":"21 October 2020","reviewDate":null,"furtherReading":[],"relatedLinks":[],"id":48591,"nodeName":"Advice from a Scout leader about getting back together safely","title":"Advice from a Scout leader about getting back together safely","type":"blogEntry","image":{"url":"/media/11628/cubs-sean-pic.jpg?width=800\u0026height=450\u0026v=1d9becd13035960","caption":"Cubs Sean Pic","type":"jpg","size":160142,"width":1180,"height":894,"altText":""},"assets":null,"headerOptions":{"headerTitle":"Advice from a Scout leader about getting back together safely","headerSubTitle":null,"headerCta":null,"headerCtaText":null,"headerCtaLink":null,"headerBackgroundColour":null,"showSEOImage":false,"headerBackgroundImage":null,"quickLinks":null},"subHeader":"We found out what it\u0027s been like for 1st Pentwyn Scouts since they\u0027ve started the new term face-to-face.","browserTitle":null,"silktide":"eyJjbXMiOiJVbWJyYWNvIiwiZWRpdG9yVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9wcm9kLWNtcy5zY291dHMub3JnLnVrLy91bWJyYWNvIy9jb250ZW50L2NvbnRlbnQvZWRpdC80ODU5MSJ9","canonicalUrl":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/news/2020/october/advice-from-a-scout-leader-about-getting-back-together-safely/"}