The Answer’s Out There
Tuesday 26th January 2016For this issue we asked the following…
“Do you plan your programme around the individuals within your group i.e. If you have a majority who prefer being creative and making things, or a very sporty bunch… do you adapt the programme to suit or offer a free choice of activities? If so how do you meet the needs of all whilst trying to provide a balanced and engaging programme?”
In response to this a number of leaders have shared their thoughts.
“It is important to adapt the programme to the interests of those in the group, but at the same time equally important to provide a balanced programme, as not all will like the same things. Every so often we give the group a list of activities to choose from and try to plan the programme for the forthcoming months based on the most popular choices. This ensures that the group members feel their voices are being heard as they are playing an active role in deciding how the programme is formed. We do, however, make an effort to ensure there are a wide range of activities – at present we have a very sporty group but not all of them enjoy playing sports all the time. Sometimes, they find they enjoy an activity that they hadn’t previously considered trying!”
Tom Boorman, 3rd Enfield
“Our Company Section programme is arranged through discussions with our young people. They help through telling us what they enjoy and what they never want to do again! Rather than asking them what they would like we come along with a range of ideas and from this we develop themes and they add to the ideas. Our young people working for their Queen’s & President’s Badges organise evenings from scratch for the Company Section and often the Juniors. They tell us what they would like the leaders to do; these evenings always seem to go very well.
Ian Rumbelow, 2nd Stoke-sub-Hamdon
