How old was your child when they first slept over at a Scout / Guides type camp

[MonChoufleur123]

DS who is 7.5 has been invited to go for a camping weekend during school summer holidays with his Scouts group. He's in Beavers but there will be Scouts up to the top age group there (18). It's 10am Saturday to 4pm Sunday.
He's been going for about 9 months and knows two others in the Beavers group well from school. I'm worried he'll find it overwhelming and feel uneasy about it being such a large age range. We'd be about 45 mins drive away if he wanted to come home early. Or I'm wondering if I could ask if he could just go for one of the days.
How old were your children when they first did something like this? Would you let your 7 yr old go? Not sure how to approach concerns with the group leader.
Thanks x

DD was 5 with Rainbows - she loved it and did 2 more soon after. She’s never stayed away from home with anyone else

I'm actually away myself but DH will be home (and we're literally 5 minutes up the road). The leaders know him well, he's done several full day activities with them and I'm sure they've dealt with pretty much everything over the years 😬

I was about 7, long ago. It was too young and I remember being quite homesick. Never let on to my parents though as I was too ashamed.

my 2 children (close in age) were both cubs, so 8 / 9 ish

BUT covid meant that camps didnt happen when they were beavers

I'm currently sitting in a field "supwrvising" my Cubs sleeping. (As in, I'm sitting outside their tents stopping them playing with torches and chatting)

We have Beavers to Scouts, aged just turned 6 to 14.5. The older ones like helping the younger ones. They have completely different sleeping areas, lots of activities are separate etc.

Were lucky...the scout group own a campubg field so we are in our regular meeting place. The beavers are in their den

@TheNightingalesStarling presumably you go into these things expecting zero sleep and a few hours is a bonus? My child has been known to go to bed at 9pm, wake up at 11pm, and then stay awake for the rest of the night, straight through an entire day of school etc. Then go to bed at a normal time the next day. I've got a feeling he won't be invited back 😆

Volunteer your DH. He might actually enjoy it. It's good to see what the kids get up to.

Normally we do get involved in things but the whole reason we joined him uo to beavers was to help develop his independence which it absolutely has and the leaders actually encuurage us not to be there unless theyre desperate for that reason. We've always said one of us is happy to support if needed (we both enhanced DBS certificates which can be checked at any time as we both work with vulnerable adults and children) and my husband did stand in on a recent day trip when another parent was unwell. Think he had more fun than the kids tbh!

As long as they know you'll pick them up if you need to and the leaders know they can ring you if they need to that's pretty much all you need!
They're normally all so knackered that they fall asleep pretty much straight away and the leaders are the only ones who don't get much sleep 😆
We had ten last time and all were staying overnight for the first time. They were all buzzing the next morning when they realised they'd done it!

I got 8hrs sleeping this weekend! I consider that good going.

I felt fine until I got home half an hour ago.

Its hard work but I do it because I genuinely love it and seeing the children achieve new stuff.

7 but they had the option of staying for one night only which they did and was quite honestly long enough.

7 for beavers. All of them loved it!

Ours went to Beavers camps and sleepovers from age 6. They loved it.

im a beaver leader myself so I’ve done loads of overnights with this age group.

we leaders are all parents ourselves so we get it.

occasionally we will need to send a child home if they are not coping. We would never make anyone stay if they weren’t happy. But it’s not common. The sense of achievement they get from a camp and they skills they learn are amazing.

it will be cubs your DS is going to.

try and avoid the one night thing. It’s really disruptive when parents arrive. We really discourage this unless there are additional needs.

Both boys were 6. They both absolutely loved it!

Youngest is off for a full week this summer, and a solstice camp next weekend with a hike and train ride. So great for growing independence and confidence. Long live scouts!

Oh yes on guiding camps (ex leader) I was often in bed at midnight and back up at 5am as many never had a watch so woke with the sun. On Sunday I would get home, shower and sleep the afternoon away. Wouldn't have changed these great memories for the world.

DD will be going with Brownies just turned 7 next year.

A lot depends on the child. I went on a camp at 10 and was homesick. However I was quite a clingy child. DD at 6 is very outgoing and gets stuck in so I know she will thrive.

As for the poster mentioning SA. There is a difference between a parent from school and a leader who is DBS checked, first aid trained and does regular safeguarding training. You can't compare the two. As an ex guiding and now as a scout leader I would not treat any child differently to how I would treat my own child I.e privacy and dignity. The only difference with your child is that I wouldn't do anything alone.

7

Mine was 7.5 (Beavers) - 2 nights/3 days and was Beavers, Cubs and Scouts. He loved it! They did have a daytime option at a reduced cost for those who didn't want to stay.

10 and 7.. but they have only been going a few months. I may have let them go earlier had they joined sooner. They had the time of their lives and we got a childfree weekend.

7 is very reasonable, especially for just one night.
The older ones will likely be there longer (a week, or the whole weekend), and so they will have the camp established for when the Beavers arrive.
The older ones will be helpful in setting the example for the younger ones, but it's likely they'll be doing different activities, and have a later bedtime than the Beavers.

There's likely to be a parents meeting, where you can ask any specific questions, but all adults are DBS checked, and have had safeguarding training, and are likely very experienced at taking lots of young people away.