Register your child in good time! (Rainbows / Brownies)

[brownieleader]

Shameless posting for traffic on a new account but I hope it’s not unreasonable to ask you to please put your children on the waitlist for Rainbows and Brownies in good time.

www.girlguiding.org.uk/information-for-parents/register-a-child/

I’m a leader and I’ve had an influx of just turned 7 year olds applying for Brownies but we have a 2-3 year waitlist in our area so if your child isn’t registered by her 5th birthday, she isn’t joining! And I hate sending the emails saying so to parents as I’m sure their daughters would all be an asset to my unit. There are actually so many that if we had the volunteers we could open a whole new unit.

So please, if you’d like your daughter to join Rainbows (4-7 years) or brownies (7-10) in the future get them on the waiting lists now!!

(wait lists vary by area - my friend has a 4 year plus waitlist for her unit).

Also whilst I’ve got you - would love it if anyone was able to share their girls favourite Rainbow / Brownie activities as I’m about to plan the new term.

Yes.

And I honestly could not have predicted their personalities or interests. Both DH and I grew up doing Scouting, very outdoorsy, sporty personalities. Eldest point blank refuses to have anything to do with Beavers (and Squirrels before that) or any sports clubs we’ve suggested. Youngest is super girly and does ballet and tap and outright rejects offers of Squirrels etc. despite me being adamant that there’s no way I’d have a ‘girly girl’.

Im a Rainbow and Brownie leader. My own DDs have been on the waiting lists since 3months and 1month old respectively 😅 (They are not going to my unit as I'm not going back to my original unit once my "mat leave" finishes).

@brownieleader , are you in the leader only FB groups? There are lots of great shared ideas for planning activities in those groups.

You do realise that if you put your child on a waiting list for rainbows, you aren’t forced to push your daughter on it when the time comes or else?!!!

It is about being prepared
And ultimately if you’re not, then it’s your kid that loses out.

Literally nothing to lose by signing up but a potentially a very disappointed child if you don’t

get it?

We opened a new rainbow unit and still have 18 month + waiting lists for both units. I got a rather angry response to a new enquiry stating that she was told that as soon as her daughter turned 4 that she would get a place. Wouldn't tell us who told her.

But often it's a case of trying something and seeing if you like it. If you don't put their name down and then they think they would have liked to have gone, they have missed out if there is high demand.
Most children don't know whether they will like whatever activity it is unless they have a go. Even some kids might love playing football at home but then not enjoy joining a team.

My kids tried a lot of things - some they didn't like, some they grew out of, some they loved. Some they hated the first time, but 6 years later are still hooked.

The point being, they were given the chance to try things, to find the things they loved.

Got to kiss a few frogs and all that...

If the waiting list is 2-3 years then does that mean you need to sign your child up for rainbows at 2/3? My daughter is nearly two and I’d love her to start rainbows when she’s 4.

Yes, you can sign up your daughter at any time and they will just sit on the waiting list until nearer their birthday. Then a leader will contact to tell you when a place is available. I will say (as a leader with 10yrs plus experience), that some of them find it a bit tricky to start immediately at 4. I tend to find girls do best who start at 4.5y or once they've started primary as that little extra development time just makes things a bit easier for them.

@MalcolmMoo depends on your area but yes in theory! It’s really easy to do via the Guiding website so I’d recommend it - https://www.girlguiding.org.uk/information-for-parents/register-a-child

@brownieleader @GuidingSpirit thanks :) I’ve signed my daughter up

Is that all you can offer?

Best thing my dd even done...been in since aged 4 and now 9... It's literally the last thing in the world she drop and the girls are so close....I thank the leaders for giving up their time free. No problems if you want to join rainbows or brownies in my town as there is space.

Fully agree!

My daughter was on the waiting list for my own unit from a few days old because we have such long waiting lists.

We could honestly open several more units with our waiting lists but there just aren't the leaders.

We don't even start until 5 - having them for 2 years rather than 3 increases the turnover and gives more girls the opportunity to experience girlguiding - we already have a 2 year+ wait.

If people moan about the wait time we advise can start the following term if join as a unit helper. Funnily very few do

Yep I agree. 4 is too young for many of the activities, and especially for the sleepovers and trips. We start at 5.

My daughter was added to the wait list at age 18 months, yet they’re not sure they’ll have a space for her. Total change from when my eldest started, I sent an enquiry and she went along the following week!

I tried to register my DS for squirrels at just before 3, they just ignored me! I tried again at 3 and he's on the list now. I reckon they think I'm nuts but I don't want him to miss out. I went to brownies and guides and I think it was really valuable. I also registered at nursery before my DS was born, I'm a planner!

We’re actually opening a new Rainbow unit so anyone who applies now will be able to start in Sept but I’m anticipating it all being full and back to waitlists within a term. Arguably I’m just creating a bigger problem in the future as all these girls will then want to do brownies and we don’t have a new unit for that! Time to recruit some parents….

We moved to a new area when my DD was 4. I tried to put her name on the general waiting list (choice of 4 units in the town) and was told she was too old and would never get a place. I’d been a Brown Owl in my previous town, so I offered to open a new unit with a friend on the condition that my DD would get a place in my unit when she turned 7 which she did.
As an interesting aside both of my DDs have also been Brownie and Guide leaders.

When DS did cubs, he didn't enjoy it because they mostly spent the time playing football, which was never his thing. We were also expected to put in lots of time fundraising for a trip to the US which I was never going to let DS go on - they never did explain why it was so important and why they couldn't just go camping locally. The last straw came when the leader started a raging affair with DS's friend's very much married father.

So I'm really not bothered about putting any more children down for cubs or brownies.

Wouldn’t it make more sense to only put children on the waiting list when they’re old enough to join? It seems to me the waiting list is so huge because there are 5 year olds on it.

Our local beavers shut due to lack of interest and the brownies look to be headed the same way.

Its like a babysitting circle, it relies on all the parents being free to volunteer and in our area everyone is at work/gets home too late or is simply shattered.

You realise that brownies and cubs are two totally different organisations though? So the fact you have (what sounds like) a very poorly locally run cubs has absolutely no bearing on what happens at brownies. Its like saying "well my DS had a terrible swimming teacher and the classes are rubbish so im not going to put my daughter on the waiting list for football".

This is sadly the case in lots of girlguiding and scouting units. There is a massive crisis in the youth sector because there is noone stepping up to volunteer anymore. Then you have all the other issues - as you say, both parents often work FT, kids are too tired after school + after school club,venues becoming too expensive (in London, some of our units are paying £30-40 per week just to hire a hall for an hour) which pushes up the amount units have to charge just to cover basic costs, paperwork / bureaucracy / risk assessments are a huge part of being a leader now. Ultimately, these activities will just close which will be a shame for the DC who do want to take part.

We generally have long waiting lists for rainbows, generally need to have your name down by 3 to ensure a place. We don’t start them until 5 and keep them for 2 years. 4 is too young for most activities and I don’t know why girlguiding changed it to 4. We prioritise places on brownies for our rainbows and as yet, there’s always been a space, although brownie leader knows who is coming up and keeps a space available.

What the groups do can vary quite a bit depending on the leaders and the set up on their area.

scouting has a completely different system