Scouts : Programme Ideas

Training Patrol Leaders

The success of any Troop is determined by the quality of your Patrol Leaders. Good Patrol Leaders don?t just happen they are moulded by the programme, their Patrol and the influence of the Scout Leader.

If you are starting a new Troop then you are in ideal conditions as the young people you have pinpointed as Patrol Leaders can be moulded and directed without the young people having any prior experience. It will be easier to explain the job, give guidelines and train them in before the main body of the Troop is recruited. However, in most cases you will be the Scout Leader of an established Troop and will have inherited the present structure and attitude of your current crop of Patrol Leaders. Patrol Leaders are made from the very first day a young person joins our association. How they are treated by their own Patrol Leader, what they learn and experience on

activities such as hikes and camps builds up their wealth of knowledge of the game of Scouting. In ideal circumstances each member of the Patrol will have a job – scribe, first aider, quartermaster, assistant Patrol Leader. Each of these jobs carries a level of responsibility and as a young person

progresses in Scouting they undertake more responsibility within the Patrol and the Troop. As an assistant Patrol Leader a young person works very closely with the Patrol Leader and will also have an opportunity to work with the Scout Leaders in planning meetings and activities. All the while a Patrol Leader is being created, in effect on the job training over a number of years. The ideal age of a Patrol Leader is 13 – 14 years of age. Any younger and they don?t have the experience and skills level necessary to run and manage a Patrol.

The job of the Scout Leader then is two fold – moulding the Patrol Leaders of the future and training the present crop to be more effective in the running of their Patrol. Normally, working on the effectiveness and leadership qualities of your present Patrol Leaders will have the spin off effect of bringing the rest of the Troop along the Scouting Trail.

The Patrol System

A Troop is made up of a number of Patrols. Each Patrol is a separate working unit or team and is never broken up during activities or games. A team spirit is instilled by the Patrol Leader in his/her Patrol and working together they overcome problems and challenges and carry on the work of Scouting. A Patrol should have 6 – 8 members to work effectively as a unit.

The Patrol is the main purpose of Scouting in the Scout section, its interaction as a Patrol, working and living together (at camp) over the period of their time in the Scout Section is the main platform for the development of young people. A Patrol is a family unit, a gang, a team, friends working

together. Therefore the main focus of any Troop programme needs to be centred around Patrol based activities and challenges.

The Patrol system, although the best and only method to use, is also the hardest to get right and many Leaders have been frustrated trying to master it often giving up in despair and slipping into the simpler options of cooking for everyone on camp, as it saves time, and running games of football.

The Patrol system can be viewed as organised chaos as Patrols set about their business. Some will be super efficient and have their campsites up in an hour others will take longer to get their act together. Similarly, some will be able to cook and present meals on time other will take forever. They key element of the Patrol System is that it is a learning process and often many simple lessons are been learnt by the Scouts along the way. Without a total commitment to the Patrol system you are doing your Scouts an injustice and not providing real Scouting in your section. On the other side of the coin if you have an effective Patrol system in operation there is less work for you to do as Scout Leader and your role becomes one of overseeing the process and devising ways through your programme to exploit it. Once the Patrols are working properly you can also undertake more adventurous and varied programmes.

Organised Training courses

Many Regions run specially organised training courses for Patrol Leaders. These courses concentrate on the job of the Patrol Leader, leadership skills and honing their skills in organising a team to undertake a project e.g. building a pioneering tower. Most course have 30 – 40 participants made up of current Patrol Leaders, assistant Patrol Leaders and older Scouts who will gain from the experience. Although these courses are great fun and effective in their own right without follow up ?on the job? training in their own Troop the skills learnt will be quickly forgotten.

There is only so much you can do over a weekend in an organised course. Some Troops in the country have special Patrol Leader weekends where the older members of the Troop, PLs, APL?s and selected others, are taken away with their own Scout Leader for special training. This could be related to map reading skills, cooking course, knots and lashing and related scouting skills. These weekends are also ideal for bring up the skill level of the Patrol Leader and the passing of Star Scout and Merit badges.

Practice makes perfect

Your Scout meeting should consist of a number of Patrol challenges usually 5 or 6 during a typical meeting. A challenge can be a inter Patrol game or the building of a runway, or dealing with a traffic accident. Each incident or challenge should last about 15 minutes with each incident given a strict time limit. Throughout the meeting a Patrol Leader will have many opportunities to lead his or her Patrol and win or lose as the case may be. The idea in planning a programme is to have a collection of varied challenges and incidents so that a skill level can be built up within the Patrol and members of the Patrol can practice these skills on an ongoing basis. The process of the meeting, with Patrol pitched against Patrol in friendly revelry and competition builds a Patrol spirit and strengthens the Scouting and organisational skills of the Patrol. The strict time limit means that Patrol must get organised, decide what they are going to do, and set about doing it. I have no doubt that any of the challenges can be completed if time is limitless. Putting the Patrols under pressure, by way of a time limit, increases their efficiency and ability to act under extreme conditions. A vital skill in the outdoors. Remember, this is happening every week, and at activities and camps more opportunities arise so the Patrols will quickly get better at doing it and more effective as a result.

Leadership on behalf of the Patrol Leader plus a body of Scout skill proficiency within the Patrol makes it easier for the Patrol to do well and gain from the Scouting experience. A Patrol Leader needs to know all of the basic Scout Skills, ideally they should be of Star Scout level. These skills will be learnt as a young member of a Patrol but will need to be fine tuned and improved with help from the Scout Leader perhaps on special skills days or weekends or in short instruction at the end of a meeting. This is a good way of preparing your Patrol Leaders for next weeks programme. It is the Patrol Leaders job to pass on these skills to his/ her Patrol in a practical hands on way with guidance from the Leader if required and the passing of basic Scout tests within the Patrol.

Review and appraisal

At the end of every meeting and certainly at Court of Honour meetings the Scout Leaders should sit down with the Patrol Leaders and talk about how the meeting went. Review each Patrol Leaders performance in a positive way and heap praise for a job well done. Point out better ways of organising their Patrols in future challenges. Your Patrol Leaders will have various skill levels and you may have to work with some Patrol Leaders more than others. This should be a friendly encounter and last for no longer than 10 – 15 minutes. The Patrol Leaders should be encouraged to interact and offer advice to others as long as it is constructive. A simple review process carried out each week will reap dividends in a very short time and real improvements will be seen in your Patrol Leaders performance. Patrol Leaders should also be encouraged to do the same with their Patrols during Patrol time or at Patrol meetings.

During Troop meetings it is also possible to give guidance and support to the Patrols and Patrol Leaders when undertaking elements of the programme. For example, if a Patrol is obviously losing a game or cannot get it together to overcome a challenge then the Leaders should offer advise and

guidance to the Patrol Leader so they can complete the challenge with honour. This is a very practical approach with the Leader interacting and improving the skill level as the meeting progresses. When on camp, this can be done at ease with guidance on fire lighting, cooking etc. given to Patrols on their campsites. However, a word of caution, don?t step in too soon let your Patrols make mistakes and learn for it.

Resource material and handbooks

The Association CD-ROM contains all the information you require for putting meeting together. Programme ideas, planned programmes and Scout skill resources are available to print off. There is also a chapter in the new Scouting Trail for Patrol Leaders that will help them with the finer points of

their job. The idea bank contains approx. 1000 programme ideas on all aspects of Scouting. Of particular interest is the sections on Patrol activities, initiative tests and incident trails which will provide you with many ideas for your Troop meetings and camps.

Ongoing

Patrol Leader training is an ongoing process and just when you have all your Patrol Leaders swinging it is normally time to start again as they move up to the Venturer section. The Assistant Patrol Leaders plus any other Scouts who are of the right age but perhaps are not able to find a position as an assistant or Patrol Leader are your next bunch of Patrol Leaders. Keep an eye on them and include them in special activities and training with your current Patrol Leaders. Your aim should be to have a smooth transition rather than a shock transfer. Replacements should be willing and able and waiting in the wings.

If you have no current method of training your Patrol Leaders then start today with small steps as outlined above. Get your programme right, exploit the Patrol system and use local help by way of training courses. If there are no training courses in your Region then start asking the question, why?