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Original poster

What are your thoughts on the new girl guides program?

18 replies

wonderstuff · 16/01/2019 17:25

Dd bought new badge book home yesterday and I’m extremely underwhelmed. Reads like an advertising agency wrote it.

OP posts:
MeetOnTheledge · 16/01/2019 17:31

We haven't been told anything much about it. I think my DD is coming to the end of the road with Guides if I'm honest.

Original poster
wonderstuff · 16/01/2019 17:42

Lots about brands, apparently we all have a unique brand. I dunno if I’m just old ..

OP posts:
Zwischenwasser · 16/01/2019 17:42

I was a leader.

I’ve stepped back, it just seemed too prescriptive. It is too much like bloody school. All targets and tracking.

To me guiding is about fun and a safe place to try new things.

TheFirstHorseWoman · 16/01/2019 17:58

Idea is that girls will spend 60% of their time using the programme resources created by CHQ; & 40% doing stuff they’ve come up with themselves. My Unit probably do a bit closer to a 50/50 split I think...

The idea is that girls now do interest badges at home, while doing skills builders & Unit Meeting activities to work towards Theme Awards & eventually the Gold Award (they need to do 5 hours worth of each theme in the Guide Section). This academic year & next there’s a transitional award (in all sections) which I’ve had 4 Brownies complete so far.

It is certainly a big change & a significant adjustment for everyone involved (my girls were VERY upset at no longer getting to come up with All The Ideas & our Unit demographic causes issues with doing badges at home but it’s working well in lots of places: have your DD’s Leaders’ promoted trying out the badges to her/offered any support? Have they transitioned to the new programme in meetings &/or discussed it with the girls?

I do love Guiding. I believe in the values at the very core of it & I get to see every week what a difference we can make. But yes, every now & then it does break my brain a bit. However, please don’t despair - Leaders (as a quite senior one told me in the summer when I was worrying about the changes) are used to taking what Girlguiding give us & making it work for our girls.

Makinglists · 16/01/2019 18:11

Im a guider of 20 years (gulp!) Im a bit lukewarm about it. I like all the activity resources however there is a lot of recording for us to do and in this respect Its becomming too much like a job and frankly I dont have time/energy for that. Our group has always been quite free-flow - keeping to the 5 Guiding essentials but not putting much pressure on the girls to complete specific targets. Most of our Y7+ girls are not that interested in doing badges at home (unlike their geeky Guider who loved it) mainly because of the demands of school. We will probably adapt the programme, working broadly within the scheme, to meet our girls needs and the time/resources we have.

SalrycLuxx · 16/01/2019 18:20

It’s designed so a new leader has something to just pick up and get on with, as there were previously lots of complaints about lack of guidance.

I’m finding leaders are just adapting activities to suit, and signing off the various bits provided the main aim is achieved, regardless of whether the precise activity has been followed.

14allall41 · 16/01/2019 18:32

I don't know much about it yet, but dd2 came out of guides last week and said it was the most boring session she'd ever been to. She said it felt like being at school. Up until now her unit has been fun and the first session is spent with the Guides helping to work out the term's activity plan, but that didn't happen last week. She's been going to guides for 2 years.

SalrycLuxx · 16/01/2019 18:36

They should still be planning what To do. It shouldn’t be leader led in that regard as that would be against one of the other requirements of the programme.

MeetOnTheledge · 16/01/2019 18:39

My DD has never shown any interest in doing badges, and I wouldn't know where to start (online I guess). She's happy enough going along to meetings and other group activities but doesn't talk about what they are doing much. TBH I wouldn't have known there was a new programme if it wasn't for MN/FB.

Hen2018 · 16/01/2019 18:40

Blimey. We used to go for walks and cook pancakes on the base of upturned baked bean tins. Occasionally we’d bring in stuff from home to get a badge.

Original poster
wonderstuff · 16/01/2019 18:47

I don’t expect my dd will be too interested, it’s mainly about seeing her friends, but they were yesterday saying that they would have liked an animal care badge and when I had a quick read through the language seemed so alien to me and the focus of the badges was odd in some cases.

OP posts:
underneaththeash · 16/01/2019 18:53

We've had another thread on this recently, but yes new programme is very worthy and dull. Many of the activities start with 'get a pen and paper'.......
Rather than making the leaders role easier, its made it considerably more difficult, as I need to think up ways of tailoring the basic ideas to make them more fun for our unit.
And yes, it was clearly formulated by a combination of advertising people, educationists and well-meaning psychologists (none of who have ever run a guiding unit.)
Last term we probably ran with 50/50 new programme, this term its 75/25 and next term we'll do even less. I want to get them outside making fires, playing cricket and going to the local fire station.

Makinglists · 16/01/2019 20:15

I do feel, though, that I missed the memo that said I was now taking on a second job with all the planning and recording. I qualified as a teacher many years ago and the approach feels vaguely familiar. We will probably be a unit where the girls wont get huge numbers of badges and awards but to be honest if they have fun, learn new skills and Its done within the ethos/values of Guiding thats fine by me.

My son goes to a very relaxed scout group. They spend a large proportion of time Outdoors/playing games and only do a few badges a year. My son enjoys it I'm sure if was more specifically programme based you wouldnt see him for dust.

MeetOnTheledge · 16/01/2019 22:20

I had a chat with DD tonight. She says she doesn't like the new programme, its too much learning and not enough fun stuff.

Lyricallie · 23/01/2019 09:20

I’m a a fairly new guide leader although I was a guide when it changed to go for it cards rather than badges. I find the new programme so boring. It’s a lot of sit and thinking. Our girls don’t engage very well with that. So now we have to spend more time fitting it in. So if we know they love X game then we try and fit that in.

It feels like school. Too much writing on post it notes.

MeetOnTheledge · 23/01/2019 10:06

My DD has decided to quit. Not because of the new programme, she just has too much going on with other extra-curriculars, but the new programme has made the decision easier for her as she hasn't been enjoying Guides as much since it started.

MissisBee · 23/01/2019 10:18

I'm a guide leader. Thoughts are pretty mixed so far. We only did a small amount of the programme last term and are only really starting properly now. There have been a few complaints that it's a bit too like school, so I'm trying to stick bring out fewer "sit down and chat" activities. What is really working is letting the girls lead the activity themselves. We've had zero uptake on interest badges so far

Helspopje · 23/01/2019 10:21

The brownie one is underwhelming too

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