I saw this video about gangs today. Very thought provoking – take a look.
Pi and Scouts
Yesterday, I managed to place my order for a Raspberry Pi. For those of you who don’t know what that it is, it’s –
… a credit-card sized computer that plugs into your TV and a keyboard. It’s a capable little PC which can be used for many of the things that your desktop PC does, like spreadsheets, word-processing and games. It also plays high-definition video. We want to see it being used by kids all over the world to learn programming.
– from their website.
They w
ant kids to get back into using computers to make their own programmes like many of today’s software engineers did when they were kids on the Spectrum or the BBC B. In fact it can be seen as a kind of successor to the Beeb, as the company that produced them, Acorn, were responsible for the ARM architecture the chip on the Pi uses!
When I was looking on their site the other day, I came across this article about Boreatton Scouts who had managed to get hold of one early on and were using it for a robotics competition. They seem to be a very techy Troop and have had a fun time using it.
I’m very impressed with what the Troop are doing with the Pi, not to mention the more ‘normal’ Scouting activities. I think it will be worth keeping an eye on how they get on and maybe this could be something we can do as well.
I wonder if any other Troops are looking at using a Pi in their programmes?
Raspberry Pi is a trademark of the Raspberry Pi Foundation
Captain Picard Likes Scouting
I came across this video on Youtube from 4th Golcar Scout Group today. Being a bit of a Trekkie, I was very impressed that they had managed to get Patrick Stewart to record it for them.
I wonder if we could get someone famous to do a video for us??
But It’s Boring…..
…is the kind of response you get when asking the Scouts (etc.) to go to St. George’s Day Parade on a Sunday afternoon. And in a sense, they are right! It’s not the same as hanging off a rock on a rope, paddling down a river in a canoe or even spending the night in a tent for the first time away from Mum and Dad.
However, when asked to attend, they do and do so in numbers! Last Sunday it was very pleasing to see so many of the young people from my Group had turned out for what was a rather soggy parade (the rain had been on and off all day and naturally was chucking it down when it was time for the parade!) through the centre of Newcastle. In fact the whole District had a good turn out and it was an impressive site to see virtually the whole of one ‘street’ (the Ironmarket) filled with Scouts and Guides. There were people watching on either side of the parade and they were not just family and friends. This is where such things as these parades come into their own as it shows to the general public that we’re still here and that a lot of young people are involved in Scouting!
The other good thing was that we got to show off our Drum Corps again. This time they had the junior section (the Cubs) with them for the first time and they were great. Hopefully, they will be at the front of the parade next year!
See piccys and video from here.
Scouting Grows In Numbers
It was very pleasing to read yesterday that the number of Scouts in the UK had risen again for the seventh year on the trot (see here). It was also pleasing to see that the number of 14 – 18 year olds showed a 6.8% increase.
Watching the social medial etc. it was quite noticeable that a lot of Counties and Districts were making quite a noise about the increase in numbers and trying to promote Scouting as the positive movement that it is. It’s just a shame that the total silence from my County was deafening! A couple of adjacent Counties were really pushing the good news and one County Commissioner was on their local TV. Us? Not a peep. I got my Counties figures from my DC (still waiting for a reply from the County…) and our figures are up. The County grew a modest 1.7%, but that is still growth. One of the Districts even grew their numbers by 13%, so well done to them.
The other downer yesterday was that the National Secular Society decided to start moaning again about the Scout Promise (see this from 2008) and the faith bit. Anyway, rather than going over old ground again, see what Chris at Be Prepared has to say – he makes a lot of sense.
Anyway, back to numbers! My District did actually lose a few young people over the past year, but that was mainly due to the (hopefully temporary) closure of a Beaver Colony due to the usual reason – lack of adult support. My Group increased its numbers by 19% on last year, and I’m sure it’s a lot higher now judging the number of kids I see at meetings!
I’m sure that this time next year we’ll be celebrating the huge increase in numbers across the District and in my Group (we’ll need more room to meet in if this goes on!).
My Group’s Drums
Following on from my last post about something from the past of my Group, comes something very up to date! Last night our Drum Corps had their first annual Band Inspection. All Scout Bands have a yearly inspection to ensure that they uphold the correct standards for a Scout band which performs in public. Happily we passed!
Â
It’s very impressive to see how much effort the young people put into their playing and how good they are considering how short a time a lot of them have been playing!
I am very impressed and proud!
My Group’s Remembrance Site
Today the part of our website that pays tribute to the members of the Troop who were killed in World War 1 and World War 2 is being relaunched
When it was originally set up in 2005, the site had the list of the names that are on our War Memorial in St. Andrew’s Church with links to each man’s commemorative page on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s website. It actually took a while to locate all the men and it has only been in the last couple of months that the last one has been properly identified.
On the new site, you can see information about each of the men, such as where they lived, information about their parents and siblings, what jobs they had, their grave or memorial and in a few cases a photo of the man himself. There is also some information on our Memorial and the Porthill War Memorial.
In addition to the men on the Memorial, we have found one Scout who was killed in World War 2 and four more, from a list we have of our original Scouts from 1908, who were killed in The Great War (WW1). These men are now commemorated here as well.
It is especially poignant that the site is being relaunched today as it is exactly 94 years to the day that one of our Scouts, Harold Bailey, died of the wounds received in battle (25th March 1918). He died while fighting on the Somme with the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.
Internet Safety
I was at an internet safety conference this week and a couple of things caught my eye with regard to Scouting and thought it would be worth sharing.
Firstly is the Professionals Online Safety Helpdesk. This is for anyone who works with young people, whether voluntary or paid. If adults are worried about how their online presence can affect their career (or role in Scouting), are asking ‘is it ok to friend young people on social networking sites?’ or feel they are being bullied online, they can contact the helpline for advice. Contact them by ringing 0844 381 4772 or email helpline@saferinternet.org.uk Oh yes and it’s free!
Next is the OnlineCompass tool. It is a simple tool that shows you what you need to do to make the use of technology safer for your group. Once you rate where you are, it gives you advice on how to improve and the means to get you there. It is designed for any organisation that works with young people. See the other flyer. This would be used by Groups who have internet access at their HQs. This is free as well
29th February
Nothing really interesting or insightful to write today, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to write something on the 29th of February! Won’t be able to do this again until 2016.
Washing Dishes and Rhododendron
I spent the weekend at Barnswood Camp (that’s the view from the gate at the top of the page) with our Cubs and those from Berry Hill. This is our traditional yearly camp with them, although we are a couple of months late this time!
This camp I spent my time on the cooking team and was, what seemed to be, constantly washing up! If you’ve ever catered for over 60 people you’ll know that they create a LOT of dishes! However, despite my dish-pan hands, I had a really good time, and more importantly so did the Cubs!
The odd thing about the campsite now is that they’ve had to remove all their rhododendron bushes due to disease. The site was surrounded with rhododendron and now its all been removed, the camp looks oddly open. Each camping pitch used to be quite secluded. Now you can even see the camp properly from the road, which you’ve never been able to do before! The character of the site has changed somewhat, but it’s still a great place to camp!
On Stage
Last week, the Scouts were given a guided backstage tour of the Regent Theatre
in Hanley by our Assistant Scout Leader. There was no show on, so we were able to go to areas the public never see. We even went the top of the stage – 21 metres high!
While we were on the stage, I was able to present one of our Scouts with his Chief Scout’s Gold Award.
After which he got a huge round of applause from the rest of the Scouts sitting in the auditorium!
That’s probably the first and last time that I’ll be standing on the stage of a major theatre and get a round of applause!
Nick & Kiff Discuss:- Should Girl Guiding UK & the Scout Association Merge?
As I mentioned last time, Chris and I have had another discussion this time on the topic of “Should Girl Guiding UK & the Scout Association Merge?”.
This time it’s on Chris’s blog, Jabbering All Day Long. Have a read, here, and tell us what you think by leaving a comment. We look forward to hearing what others have to say.
I Do Wonder Sometimes…..
Last April, the Scout Association launched the My Badges App for the iPhone / iPod Touch / iPad. This app has all the requirements for all badges, from the Beaver’s right through to the Queen’s Scout Award. And very useful it is too.
At the time, I was not too impressed that it was just for the iDevices and not for the Android platform. The Scout Association said an Android version would be coming soon, er later in the year, no early in the new year, when pigs fly etc.
So today, you can imagine that I’m not overly impressed to read that the SA are releasing a game app for both iDevices and Android called Secret Island Adventure. Now why are they releasing a game for both platforms when they have yet to release the badges app on android? I’m guessing the game app won’t be free.
The badges app, I would buy for my phone (when it eventually comes out), but a game? An app that will be very useful seems to be being ignored for the sake of a game. I do wonder sometimes……
On a happier note, after last September’s discussion between me and Kiff, we were both keen to do another, but we both got a bit distracted by additions to our respective families! However, after Kiff has done a little housekeeping on his site this weekend, he will be publishing our next discussion. Watch this space!
The Need for Volunteers
There was in an interesting article in one of the newspapers the other day by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. In it he said that the likes of the Occupy London movement and Fred Goodwin use their skills to become volunteers for the Scout and Guide movements. Now to be fair he did also mention a lot of the other youth organisations, but the Scouts and Guides were his main focus.
Now I’m not too sure if the some of Occupy people or Sir Fred would make suitable volunteers, but Boris does make the point that the various youth organisations are crying out for adult help and that a volunteer run youth group can work wonders with kids, before there is a need to spend oodles of money on clearing up crime caused by gangs etc.
According to Boris, there are 8000 kids on waiting list as there is a lack of suitable adults to help out. This is why it was so important that when the Duchess of Cambridge decided to volunteer it was stressed that she would be doing it on a flexible basis.
I do think there a lot of people are now realising how important the work that all the youth organisation do and that there is more importance and a greater positive image being placed on adults volunteering.
Busy Evening
Phew! Last night I managed to visit the Troop, complete an Incident Report Form (not a quick thing to do), complete our annual census (our numbers are up – yey!) and reply to an enquiry from a prospective new Cub’s mum! So I think that’s all the outstanding jobs done. Oh wait, Exec meeting next week to plan!
It’s busy being a Group Scout Leader!