Updated 15 May 2024
Additional Needs
All Young People take part in a programme that raises awareness in disabilities and faiths and how everyone is part of the community.
Scouting believes that it is our responsibility of to make changes to remove or reduce any disadvantage a young person might face when joining in their Sectional or Group activities.
What is reasonable is dependent upon the effectiveness of the adjustment, whether it can actually be done; and the cost and resources available to the Group at that time.
Reasonable Adjustments
Reasonable adjustments should, as far as reasonably possible, remove or reduce the disadvantage faced by Scouts being inclusive to Disabled Young People.
Scouts use the social model of disability. Scouts believes that Disabled People are disabled by society and therefore it is the responsibility of the organisation to make changes to remove or reduce that disadvantage. Our commitment is outlined within Policy, Organisation and Rules (POR), chapter 2 Key Policies.
Learn more here about making reasonable adjustment including to badges and awards.
Cambridgeshire’s learning team delivers Module 36, which has a particular focus on exploring disabilities. This is to help you gain a better understanding of how to facilitate and make reasonable adjustments in Scouts, in a way that’s constructive and effective. Check out the County calendar for an opportunity to book on a course [include link to the county calendar].
Additional Needs
There are many practical ways in which we can ensure all young people can fully participate in Scouting. We are a values-based movement and membership is open to all those who share our fundamental values.
Scouting is designed to be flexible to support all young people to take part, achieve and reach their full potential. When joining a Group, moving between Sections or just “growing up”, the young person should be encouraged to progress through Scouting with their peers.
An additional need is any personal condition or situation that could make it more challenging for a young person to participate fully in Scouting. All our leaders are supported to remove real and perceived barriers to get young people participating.
Additional Needs Scouting
These are some of the many ways we achieve this:
- Team Leaders and Team members communicate carefully with parents and carers
- All team members are trained in making scouting accessible to all
- All our badges can be modified to make them achievable by all. Each young person should face a similar degree of challenge and team members can adapt requirements according to each young person’s abilities.
- Young People who need one-to-one support can have their parent or designated person attend with them
Who can you ask for help and support?
Here are some of the places that we can go to for help:
- The young person themselves
- Their parent(s) or carer
- The Group Lead Volunteer or other adults volunters in the Group
- Your District Team
- The County Team
- Diversity & Inclusion Team at Gilwell
- External specialist organisations and agencies
Please remember, when discussing individuals to respect confidentiality
Support Materials provided by The Scouts include:
Working in partnership with Parents and Carers
- Find out more on how to work in partnership with parents and carers when supporting young people with additional needs
Funding to support those with additional needs
- Find out more here
Cognition and learning
This includes information about how we best support young people with Cognition and learning needs. These include:
Communication and Interaction
This includes information about how we best support young people with Communications and interaction. These include:
Sensory and Physical Needs
This includes information about how we best support young people with Sensory and Physical Needs. These include:
- Allergies
- Asthma
- Epilepsy
- Hearing Loss
- Visual impairment
- Sensory processing differences and disorder
Social, Emotional and Mental Health
This includes information about how we best support young people with Social, Emotional and Mental Health issues. These include:
