Page 34 | Guiders' staff room - tea, wine, chat and optional dancing around the toadstool

MadBadandDangerousToKnow · 2009-03-03T21:57:13+00:00

Thought it might be nice to have a place to swap ideas and experiences. Shall we do introductions first? My name's MadBad and I've been a Brownie guider for about 5 years.

LadyGlencoraPalliser · 01/06/2009 10:43

Aargh - just found out our hall is being used as a polling centre on Thursday - Brownie night! Would have been nice if they had let us know we wouldn't be able to use it!

Original poster

MadBadandDangerousToKnow · 23/05/2009 23:50

Hi Pookamoo.

We're currently opening a bank account. When I took over as Leader, we didn't have any bank account and it's taken me this long.

I first applied to Lloyds, but they had given me an old-style form and were adamant (after I'd spent ages gathering documents and signatures) that I'd have to start again on the correct form and so I decided to take my valuable custom elsewhere. I'm now applying to NatWest. There's an agreement between Girlguiding UK and Nat West which (allegedly) means that there are fewer hoops to jump through to open an account for Brownies or Guides, but that's not my experience. They rejected my first application because I took too long to send the form back (they hadn't mentioned that there was a deadline and it took a while because I don't see my helpers every week to gather signatures). So I submitted a new form, but meanwhile they lost the certificate you have to obtain from CHQ to prove you're a bona fide Leader and so I need to contact CHQ to get another one. Grrr. So I can't see how this is any less complicated than opening an account with any other bank - the Nat West requirements aren't any different from Lloyds' - but nevertheless this is the arrangement CHQ have made.

These accounts were publicised in Guiding about a year ago. I think there was a second bank offering something similar - maybe you could track down a back copy of Guiding? Sorry. That was a bit long.

I'm liking the idea of a parents' evening. It was an innocent question, but there was a thread a few days ago when a Brownie mother asked whether the leaders on a pack holiday would be washing all the Brownies' clothing every night.

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pookamoo · 22/05/2009 15:47

Hello, have posted once on this thread before, but I need to pick your brains.

We need to open a new bank account for our guide unit because we are merging with the Brownie unit for admin purposes. Which banks do you use for your units? We're currently with HSBC and the Brownies are with Lloyds, but I had heard that some banks don't pay interest on "charity" organisations' accounts... ?

And Itsthawooluff I know exactly what you mean - they don't realise Guiding isn't your full time paid job! We had a parents evening when it got really bad, did a slide show of photos from the year, and also a "get to know your guiders" bit, where we told them what we do in our "other" lives, a gentle way of letting them know we are volunteers!

Original poster

MadBadandDangerousToKnow · 12/05/2009 13:22

Nice to meet you, Itsthawooluff.

Your post made me smile as I recognise so much of what you say (even though I'm a Brownie guider). One reason I'll never move up to Guides is that I don't think I could cope with the attitood. Ours arrive in the hall just as Brownies are tidying away, lollop right in front of the Brownie black hole cupboard and look amazed when anyone asks them politely to get out of the way. I believe they are quite articulate with their own leaders but they mostly communicate with me by means of grunts!

Please don't get me started on the mothers who expect us to stay at home waiting for their phone calls and/or late night visits to pay subs which should have been paid a fortnight ago.

And yes, I enjoy it too, but I do also think I could write a sit com about it all!

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Itsthawooluff · 12/05/2009 13:12

Hi -just found you. I'm a Guide Unit leader. Why is it they never say anything to you, so that after flogging your guts ou for weeks to organise something all you see is a room full of preteen / teenage attitude.........and then you speak to some of the mums who say how much their daughters love it, and come home raving about how much fun they are having?

Also, why do most of the mothers assume that you are a SAHM because you do Guiding? I've lost count of the number of slightly bemused telephone messages that say, "I tried calling you at 11.00 am, and 12.00, and it's now 3.00pm, and I need to ask if Gerty Guide needs to bring X tonight, can you call me back before 5.30?" Errmm , sorry, no because at 5.30 I'm speeding back down the motorway from work.

Sorry for venting - I really do enjoy it, honestly I do.

skramble · 28/04/2009 23:15

So what are the rest of you up to this term?

I am becoming a leader (just a unit helper atm) then as BO has given up her post I am taking over as BO after the summer . How did that happen I only came along to help with the crafts

So doing a couple of nights to finish the seasons badge, 2 nights on brownie traditions and 1 night agility, a fun theme night and then a party. Also getting adventurous and going on a day trip.

Once you start you just can't stop!

skramble · 28/04/2009 23:11

Don't know if it is in the adventure files, I got it from Guiders.co.uk.

Briefly....

Packaging quiz- Give each six a bag of jelly babies and tell them they have 2 mins to study it. (you have to tell them not to open it ). Then collect in the bags and give each six paper and pencil. Ask 10 questions eg, How many grams in the bag, What is the green jelly baby doing? How many flavours of babies?

Jelly Baby game- Like port/ starboard. But shout. Babies on skateboards, babies sleeping, babies play in 3s (they have to get into groups of 3.

Jelly baby anagrams- give each six the letters JELLYBABIES on seperate cards then give clues like. 1. A loud shout (YELL). 2. Part of a boat (SAIL), they have to work out the word then lay out the letters or hold them up to spell it.

Design a Jelly baby- Each six designs a baby, picture, name, hobbies, age, accesories etc. Present to the pack.

Jelly babies acrobatic display team- Give each six a bag of babies each and a pack of cocktail sticks, explain they have to make a model together like a tower or a pyramid (they get it if you say like cheerleaders).

Jelly Baby song- (happy birthday tune)

Jelly babies are fun,
they skip and they run,
I love jelly babies,
The're bright like the sun.

Jelly babies for me,
The're cute and cuddly,
I love jelly babies,
and I know they love me.

I made up little bags of jelly babies to take home as they ones we used were a bit mangled.

So 4 bags for challenges (one for each six) and 4 divided up into 18 bags to take home.

I can email full details.

Original poster

MadBadandDangerousToKnow · 25/04/2009 23:02

Ooh. Tell me more about the jelly babies thing. Is it in one of the adventure files?

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skramble · 22/04/2009 00:34

Time to get back to it ladies .

Well looks like I will be planning this terms programme, Brown Owl is standing down, not sure who is taking over, horrible feeling they may look to me . Anyway, in the handing over period, I am doing programme, one leader is doing the finances and register etc and the other is doing badges (well I am making her ).

So planned a few nights at our meeting but not much planning as most of the night was at the announcment.

Thought about doing the Jelly babies theme night tomorrow night. Has any one done this? How did the packaging quiz go? I thought it was a bit simplistic as they just read it and go back and write it down. I thought about doing it more Kims game style where they get bag to study for 2 mins then take away bag and ask questions.

Also how many bags will I need for 4 sixes about 18 girls in total? trying to think how many they might use for the jelly baby towers.

Any thoughts

skramble · 04/04/2009 16:57

Unfortunatlly my job and studies (ok studies nearly finished now) involve a lot of the same night as Brownies, so I really don't want to commit further as I feel it is unfair.

But finished studies, well one more assignment then a big huge project and the focus of my work is changing a bit, so perhaps in the future I could commit to being a fully signed up leader.

I do seem to be the designated craft and actvity person, which I am happy to be, but really should be coming up with activities within a more structured plan I think.

I basicly planned the whole camp programme, Brown Owl thinks she did but hers was more of a timetable where I fitted in the activities. It was our units first camp and I was happy to take some of the pressure off BrownO she had enough to worry about what with our horrible licence holder to contend with.

I think me and the other helper will have to push her to develop some more of her own ideas but sit back a little bit ourselves.

frasersmummy · 04/04/2009 16:48

the thing is skramble as a unit helper or even assistant guider you shouldnt need to be worrying about having an activity just in case.. thats brown owl's job

The biggest problem I found on "coasting" nights were that my guiders didnt know what was in my head and therefore didnt get involved. Frustrating for them and me.

Now I am an assistant guider I wouldnt think to take an activity with me unless brown owl said can you do XXX or I am on holiday can you organise next week completely

Sounds like you are ready willing and able to take on a bigger role

skramble · 04/04/2009 15:45

Thanks its good to see how others tackle planning. I tend to take some sort of standby with me in my bag of tricks, but it really should be a standby.

frasersmummy · 04/04/2009 08:54

I gave up the role of brown owl abou 4 years ago now but when I was brown owl our planing started well and fell away

We are in Scotland so we start in August and we run till May. We would sit down in July and plan fom then to Christmas. In Jan we would say we would need to do next term.. we would get a few meetings laid out and say okay we'll have a think. By Easter we are deffo running week to week

And yes I have to admit some weeks I have just coasted...

having said that I have 3/4 different treasure trails all sitting in the cupboard that can be laid out with 5 mins notice. I also have loads of square paper for origami which can fill loads of time and we have worksheets for simple badges that can be completed in a few weeks

So I guess its only coasting cos I have done the prep weeks/months/years before

The girl who took over from me had been with me since she was 14 .. is now mid 20's.... and she has the same attitude to planning!!

Original poster

MadBadandDangerousToKnow · 04/04/2009 00:21

Hmmm. Training for new leaders isn't all that it should be, in my (pretty grim) experience.

I agree that there ought to be something planned, even though not every week can be a sensational blockbuster event. There are lots of instant activities and fillers in the Brownie Adventure resource packs (of which there are now 3) and on the website - do you use those? Do you really use the Adventure and Adventure On books? I have finally convinced the Brownies to bring them every week and we now use them if we have a spare 10 minutes to fill - again, there are lots of quick activities in them.

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skramble · 04/04/2009 00:14

Ah see I wouldn't mind if it was planned the night before or whenever, but there is a lot of coasting as you call it.

maybe I am a closet BrownOwl, but while I can't commit to everyweek I will remain a parent helper. It is still a fairly new pack and to be fair BrownO and the other leaders have had bugger all guidance, me and the other parent helper (ex cub leader) do what we can.

Original poster

MadBadandDangerousToKnow · 04/04/2009 00:09

Ah. Maybe we're at cross-purposes here.

I always turn up for meetings with a clear plan of what we're going to do. We never just 'coast' through a meeting. But what I don't do - which I know some other leaders do - is have every meeting for the term fully planned from the beginning of that term. Some of our meetings are planned the day before. But they're always planned and always have a central activity. I wouldn't regard handing out badges as an activity, even though it's a fun part of our Brownie circle.

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skramble · 03/04/2009 23:46

i see what you mean, but we seem to have a lot of unplanned nights though, we turn up and nothing is planned.

Luckly the other week I took a few stand bys with me as BrownO was meeting with the parents, but the other leaders hadn't been asked to plan anything. So I used all my ideas and we had quite e good night.

This week I was off, feedback fromother parent helper was nothing was really planned a bit of a post camp chat, a few games and handing out badges, they seemed surprised that the girls were wild, I thought the week after camp and lst week of term they need something quite interesting to keep them busy.

Original poster

MadBadandDangerousToKnow · 03/04/2009 23:35

We tend not to plan very far in advance. When we're doing an interest badge or Right Now, that is the basis for several weeks' meetings but I'm reluctant to plan a whole term at a time because (a) it means more time spent on admin and planning meetings and (b) more importantly, it makes it more difficult to pick up things from Guiding magazine or elsewhere. I quite like the flexibility of having gaps which can be filled at short notice.

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skramble · 03/04/2009 23:15

The whistle never works after the first blow .

Oh well, who has there programme planned up to the summer yet? We are meeting after Easter to plan our programme, its always a bit vague, so I am going to push for a more defined programme. As the craft and activity person I need to know whats needed and it helps the leaders to actualy know whats coming up.

How far ahead do you all plan? Do you have it all set in stone or is it a case of seeing what happens?

Original poster

MadBadandDangerousToKnow · 03/04/2009 23:08

Thanks, skramble.

Well, it's all come to a head today. I've just heard that we will not be going to our region's big centenary event because it was massively over-subscribed and we're getting nothing. We applied well within the deadline but we would have applied three weeks earlier if it had not been for the late applications/payments. So, maybe it would not have made any difference, but maybe that three week wait for the chronically disorganised cost us the chance of going to the event.

So now I'm going to be ruthless about deadlines!

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skramble · 03/04/2009 18:55

oh didn't see these and aw they are so cute.

skramble · 03/04/2009 18:49

I suppose I am one of those parents who is crap at paperwork and I have real memory problems, but being on the other side too I know how much of a pain it is for leaders.

With booking forms etc I would maybe give a week extra, explaining that if it is not in that week child can not go as it has to be paid to the centre by that date. Then cut it off.

For subs that is difficult, we were weekly then went monthly as girls that were off one week simply didn't pay the next week so missed out on money. Again I would give them a week or maybe two if it is per term and then let them know the child can't continue to attend as they are not covered by insurance or something like that as they have not paid so can not be classed as members.

But to help the parents give out reminder notes when things are due and give all information straight to the parent, my DS's scouts are bad for just telling the boys the information and with most of them as daft as my boy they forget by the time they leave the hall.

Original poster

MadBadandDangerousToKnow · 02/04/2009 00:10

Skramble -

Can I pick all your brains on some of my current dilemmas: what to do with late payers and late bookers?

Our subs are payable termly. I am happy to accept instalments but our policy is that late payments (ie more than a month into term) attract a supplement. Perhaps that sounds harsh but I don't want to have to spend weeks and weeks chasing parents for subs and not being able to budget because I don't know what our income's going to be. Even so, we have parents who pay extremely late. We also have parents who ignore booking deadlines for events and send forms back weeks after they're due.

I think maybe I've created this problem by being too laidback - hence the late payment supplement to try and get things back on track. Is that too harsh? And should I refuse to take bookings after deadlines? Again, I think I probably should, but I've always taken the line that I shouldn't penalise the Brownie just because her parents are not good at paperwork, although it does create a lot of extra hassle for the leaders.

What do others do? Any tips to share?

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skramble · 31/03/2009 23:22

There will be further action taken re License Holder, we had a stand in on the Sat as said LH had another engagment. A lot was said to her and she will be further updated on more things I am just hearing about now as I missed some of the antics when I went home to my lovely peaceful bed .

Apparantly she is the area camp advisor, I can't honestly believe that anyone would allow her to get this position, she has only had her license about 1 year and done 1 camp with her lot on that license, I think. Regardless she is totally unsuitable for that role and did more to put off our leaders from getting their license than anything else.

She also contradicted herself and did things wrong, like telling us to prop open fire doors at night, the key holder told us it was ok while loading our gear in but they should be shut once girls arive. Also did not put down an alleged tomato allergy on her form, and told the cook she had to have an alternative for her dinner. Told BrownO not to sweep incase anyone had asthma but swept under the tables in tha hall all weekend when the girls were in the room. Never again!

frannikin · 31/03/2009 14:19

Ooooh guidey thread!

I was a Rainbow and Brownie Guider but then selfishly moved abroad and BGFIC don't seem to want to know me. I'm still Division Guiding Development Advisor for Adult Leader Support though, as I can do that from a distance. I've never quite figured out why I need such a long title for being our division's chief mentor honcho but there you go. And it looks nice on the appointment card.

skramble at your license holder - she sounds awful!