Scouts & DofE

• Home >
• Information >
• Junior Squad >
• Scouts & DofE

We welcome Scout members to our events to help in working through a number of badges including:

• Navigator Stage 1 to 5
• Scout Orienteer Badge
• Chief Scout Awards - Skill or Physical
• Duke of Edinburgh - Skill or Physical

Orienteering is a great way to engage young people in navigation and maps. We generally use maps that are 1:10,000 and include lots of fine features, which are fun to spot. The element of challenge and competition helps to engage young people to get interested in maps, which can then translate to great spatial awareness when using OS 1:25,000 and 1:50,000.

Courses

Our courses are colour coded according to technical difficulty (TD) and length. We would expect anyone working through the navigator staged badge to work through the technical difficulties, so that they gain all the skills they need. NB TD1 is often not available at local events, so it is fine to go straight for TD2:

TD 1 (White) Route all along tracks and paths. No route choice, including at the start banner.

TD 2 (Yellow) Route all along obvious line features such as tracks, paths, fences, walls, rivers, large ditches and very distinct vegetation boundaries. No route choice, including at the start banner.

TD 3 (Orange) For controls not on a line feature then a route along line features to an obvious attack point should be possible. Simple route choices.

TD 4 (Light Green) Significant route choices. Controls can be placed on features in the middle of blocks of wood.

TD 5 (Short Green, Green, Blue, Black) Significant route choices. Course should force regular changes in technique, e.g. long route choice followed by short intricate legs.

Children can be shadowed by parents on all courses free of charge, so long as we have a record of who is out on the course.

District League for Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorers

We have started up an Inter-District league table to help Leaders see how many events their members have attended (to help with monitoring badge progress) and to add in a bit of Inter-District competition! The league points are available for Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorers. The league is focused on our local 'SOG' which take place over the Autumn and Spring - sixteen events in total. When entering one of these events, remember to select your Scout District to ensure you get onto the league table. Select the 'Event' tab on the menu to the left to see our future events.

Coaching

Join one of our free coaching sessions to develop your navigation skills - open to Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Explorers and Leaders. Courses are also available from British Orienteering on how to become a coach.

Chief Scout Award and DofE

Orienteering is a great sport to take up to satisfy the criteria of either the Skill or the Physical element of the higher Chief Scout Awards or the Duke of Edinburgh Award. We have club coaches who are happy to be assessors, monitor progress and sign off when ready.

There are also opportunities to get involved in mapping or coaching.

Check out the Junior button on the menu to the left to see what our current junior members get up to.

Contact

If you'd like to discuss anything to do with Scouts or DofE and Orienteering contact Anna Chapman.