Adult Training
Adult training is designed to support you as a volunteer, so the training provided is relevant and tailored to each role. The Cambridgeshire Training Team recognise there may be learning and skills you have gained elsewhere, and our training is designed to complement these with further opportunities to enhance your expertise.
Can I see a list of the training modules available in Cambridgeshire
To see when a particular course is being run in the county click here – if you don’t see a particular course you require you can contact the Adult Training Team.
| Module & Availability | Description- plus further details from the Scout Association website |
|---|---|
| 7: Scouting for All | The module aims to help participants to develop a general understanding of inclusion topics and how to provide inclusive Scouting for all |
| 8: Skills of Leadership | To provide Section Leaders in Scouting with the knowledge and skills to define what leadership is, plan systematically, lead effectively by demonstrating a range of leadership styles and understand how different leadership styles impact on learning |
| 9: Working with Adults | To provide Section Leaders in Scouting with the knowledge and skills to communicate effectively with other adults and understand how teams work, including the different roles people play and how different personality types impact on teams |
| 10: First Aid | Mandatory Ongoing Learning – to be renewed every 3 years. Also serves as the validation for the Young Leader Module K. This module is either delivered as a single session as First Response training, or is split into two parts; part A covers the theory and part B is the practical validation. The modules aim to cover the skills and knowledge necessary to enable adults to manage an incident and provide basic first aid |
| –10: First Response | A face-to-face session lasting 6 hours that covers modules 10a Theory & 10b Practical |
| – 10a: Theory | A tutor-led webinar covering the theory parts of the First Aid module |
| – 10b: Practical | A face-to-face session lasting about 15-20 minutes – you must have completed module 10a before you attend 10b |
| 11: Administration | To provide information, and an opportunity to consider and learn about best practice when managing the administrative tasks required in your role |
| 12: Programme Planning | Provides section leaders with an opportunity to plan and review a sectional programme including the use of a variety of methods to generate programme ideas |
| 13: Growing the Section | Covers ways in which an adult volunteering with a section can assist their line manager and others to plan for and contribute to the growth of their section and/or group |
| 14: Supporting Young People | To enable adult volunteers working with young people to understand and meet their needs |
| 15: Promoting Positive Behaviour | To enable adult volunteers to proactively promote positive behaviour and appropriately manage challenging behaviour in their section |
| 16: Introduction to Residential Experiences | To enable section leaders and those who may support residential experiences for young people, as part of their role in Scouting, to understand the role that residential experiences play in Scouting |
| 17: Running Safe Activities | To enable adults to plan and run exciting, safe and developmental activities for the young people in their section |
| 18:Practical Skills | For Section Leaders and Section Supporters in Scouting wishing to train, coach or otherwise help young people and adults develop practical skills. It requires participants to gain at least two new practical skills of their own/td> |
| 19: International | To provide participants with a global focus appropriate to their section and an appreciation of the international nature of Scouting |
| e-learning modules | A number of modules are offered as e-learning from The Scouts’ website, including the mandatory Safety & Safeguarding training courses. |
How do I access Scout Association e-learning courses, including Safety & Safeguarding?
Other e-learning Modules from the Scout Association
| 1: Essential Information » | To provide all adults in Scouting with the essential information needed to get started in their role. |
|---|---|
| 3: Tools for the Role (Section Leaders) | To provide the basic information on the individual’s role or area of responsibility and some practical help to get the individual started in the role. |
| 4: Tools for the Role (Managers and Supporters) | To provide key information about the individual’s role, areas of responsibility and where they can find further information and support. |
| 5: Fundamentals of Scouting | To consider the Fundamentals, Religious Policy and guiding principles of Scouting; the core values which The Scout Association stands for and believes in. |
| 6: Delivering a quality programme | To provide leaders, managers and supporters with information about how we deliver quality Scouting to young people, and how we ensure it meets their needs. |
| GDPR | To provide all adults in Scouting with an understanding of what the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) means for them, their Scout Group, District and County and how to effectively align with it. |
| Safety | Mandatory Ongoing Learning – to be renewed every 3 years. To provide all adults in Scouting with an understanding of safety practice and responsibilities as a member of Scouts, to keep everyone safe. |
| Safeguarding | Mandatory Ongoing Learning – to be renewed every 3 years To provide all adults in Scouting with an understanding of safeguarding practice and responsibilities as a member of Scouts, to keep everyone safe. |
| Trustee Introduction | To provide the Charity or managing Trustees with information on their legal responsibilities and current regulations. You only need to complete this module if you have a role as a Trustee. |
What training does an Occasional Helper need to do?
Occasional Helpers are not entitled to membership status or benefits (including certain member insurances) and the recording on Compass is only provided to enable the Personal Enquiry and criminal records disclosure checks to be conducted. No training is required. They are volunteers who will be:
-
- assisting in overnight activities
and / or
-
- only helping out once a week (or on four occasions in a thirty-day period)
and/or
- having unsupervised access to young people.
How does the training scheme work?
The adult training scheme is made up of various modules that cover a range of different development areas, all related to your role. It is a national scheme, so the training you complete in one part of the country will be recognised in another. There are two parts to each of these modules: learning (which may not be required) and validation (always required).
Learning
Learning gives you the chance to gain or improve the knowledge and skills you need to develop for your role. There are a variety of methods available which means that you can choose ones that work for your availability and learning style, as well as fitting into your busy life. These include e-learning, learning by doing, small group work, courses, one-to-one or workbooks Importantly the scheme recognises and values prior learning, knowledge, and experience. This means you may not need to complete learning for every aspect of your training, provided you can clearly show that you are able to meet the module objectives by demonstrating these skills in your Scouting role – through the validation process.
Validation
This is simply you demonstrating to your Line Manager / Training Adviser (TA) that you can meet the objectives of the module by putting your learning into practice. There are various ways you can do this such as them seeing you “in action”, you providing evidence (such as an e-mail from another leader) or simply discussing the content of the module with your TA. Successful validation is essential for each module relevant to your role. Please remember the validation of your learning is something that you do as part of your normal Scouting role, so should not generate any extra work.
How long do I have to complete my training?
All roles that require training have 5 months from the date of your appointment to complete the initial modules (Getting Started) – if you are being invested these must be fully completed first.
You then have a total of 3 years from the date of your appointment to complete any remaining modules required for your role.
How can being a volunteer benefit me?
Firstly being a scouting volunteer is great fun! You can help organise or support some amazing activities for the younger members, giving you a chance to help make a positive difference to your own local community.
As a member of scouting you will gain access to a changing range of discounts, designed to support you in your scouting role with everything from camping kit to days out.
Volunteering can help you outside scouting too, especially if you make the most of the training scheme – in fact is externally recognised as a formal qualification through 3 different routes.
The skills and experiences you gain are invaluable, can enhance your CV and can be a real asset in everything from applying from college / university places to jobs. Not only will you have some great things to include in personal statements and on application forms but also some brilliant examples to use when answering interview questions, plus of course some ideal people to name as referees. Being a scouting volunteer really can help you stand out from the crowd.
Scouting is a national and global organisation, which makes it easy to continue scouting no matter where in the world life takes you and creates an ideal way to start meeting new people in your new community – whether that is when you go to University or move to another country.
Whilst no adult volunteer joins for recognition there is also a Scout Association Awards scheme
How do I book onto a training course?
Courses are not only a great way to develop new skills, or enhance existing ones, but also to meet other people from across Cambridgeshire in similar roles.
There are some basic “Getting Started” modules that are completed for all roles, with the details varying slightly depending on the role you take.
There is a wealth of online and workbook training material available, as well as a range of courses. To book onto a course for other leader modules simply take a look at the list of training modules available in Cambridgeshire and follow the link for the relevant course. You will need your membership number to hand.
If you can’t see a course listed then it may be possible for the Cambridgeshire Training team to arrange one, especially if you have at least 6 people who require the same course. This includes First Response (Module 10) and Group / District Executive workshops. Simply contact the Training Team to see what can be arranged.
What about learning more practical skills?
There will be lots of practical skills you already have that you can share with the young people, and many you will learn as you scout.
We also have County Active Support Units to help you (or perhaps you would like to join one, to share your skills in these areas) :
- Bushscout – training volunteers in practical scouting skills, so they can in turn train the young people
- Mountain Activities – helping volunteers experience hillwalking, mountaineering, climbing and mountain biking ; supporting them to earn relevant permits so they can then take their young people on such adventures too
- Water Activities – This Unit has 3 main priorities (1) Providing training and assessment opportunities for adults in Scouting who wish to obtain water activities adventurous activities permits (2) Providing a pool of permit holders who are willing to help other Groups and Districts run water activities and (3) Organising and delivering water activities for the County
What is mandatory ongoing learning?
For some roles you are required to keep elements of your training up to date, usually every 3 years. The good news is there are just 3 modules and it is really simple to do. Below you will find brief details, but as always if you have any questions please contact your Line Manager, Training Adviser, Local Training Manager or the County Training Team.
Safety – this is usually completed on-line . Once complete send the certificate to your Training Adviser who then updates your records*
Safeguarding – this is usually completed on-line . Once complete send the certificate to your Training Adviser who then updates your records*
First Response (Module 10) – all leaders are now required to undergo First Aid training every 3 years to continue in their role . If you have completed relevant First Aid training through another organisation then it may be possible to use this to validate this module, so please contact you Training Adviser for advice.
Due to the pandemic there are currently interim arrangements in place, and relevant courses are on the county calendar.
Outside a pandemic you normally have 2 options:
- if you have 6 months, or less, still left before your current training expires you can attend a 2 hour refresher course. If there are at least 6 of you interested please contact the training team via the Get In Touch page and we can arrange something bespoke until these become part of the core offering later this year.
- if you are unable to do so, or you have realised it expires very soon, you will need to arrange to attend a 1 day ( 6 hour) course. There is usually at least one of these courses every month held somewhere in Cambridgeshire.
*It is important that all mandatory ongoing learning is updated in on your Personal Learning Plan record on COMPASS by your Training Advisor, otherwise it won’t appear correctly. If you are not sure who that is please contact the training team.
What is “ongoing learning” then?
Things are constantly changing, as are the needs of individuals, so to do a good job for our young people its important that we are always learning and refining our skills as scouting volunteers. Over the review period relevant role holders are required to complete an average of 5 hours ongoing learning each year.
It is actually very easy to achieve this – through learning from others, attending a course, gaining a permit or completing external learning that can be used in scouting.
It is important that the details are logged into COMPASS as “ongoing learning” , contact any Training Advisor if you need help in doing so.
