Adventure Skills
Introduction
There are nine defined Adventure Skills; Camping,
Backwoods, Pioneering, Hillwalking, Emergencies,
Air Activities, Paddling, Rowing, Sailing. This range
of skill areas has been chosen to
provide a framework for an active
and adventurous outdoor
programme providing fun, friendship
and challenge. Competency in specific
Adventure Skills allows our youth
members to carry out a great variety
of Scouting adventures and activities
in a safe and competent manner.
Approached correctly they will provide our Scouts
with a sense of pride and confidence that comes
though developing a knowledge and level of
competency in the skill areas they choose. They
also provide ample opportunity for young people to
develop instructing and coaching skills while
passing on their skills to others.
Adventure Skills encourage young people to
progressively increase their skills level. They
should be undertaken alongside the Personal
Progression Scheme, so that they support their
personal development as well as their outdoor
skills development.
Scouters should support youth members, using the
appropriate youth participation model for each
Section, in planning, tracking and reviewing their
competence with their chosen Adventure Skills,
this will help to ensure that each Scout achieves
the Adventure Skills Stage Awards they decide to
pursue.
Stages
Each Adventure Skill is organised into nine stages.
Each stage builds on the previous and leads on to
the next. Stages are not aligned to any Section.
While a Beaver Scout may naturally start at stage
1 and move through the stages in their time in
Scouting, a new Scout joining at 13 years of age
would be expected to start at stage 1 and move up.
So Adventure Skills present a progressive standard
for all youth members.
The Adventure Skills Award for each stage
indicates that the young person has achieved a
specific level of knowledge and ability in relation to
that Stage of that Adventure Skill. Therefore, the
young person must be able to carry out the skill
safely and competently to that level and have the
knowledge required at that level.
The number of Adventure Skill stages each Scout
pursues will probably decrease as they move
through the Sections. The Stages are progressively
challenging. It is more than likely that each young
person will favour a few of the Adventure Skills as
they progress and will narrow their focus to
become truly competent in those.
When it comes to assessing progress in an
Adventure Skill, as in every other aspect of the
ONE Programme, the Scout Method should be
used. In keeping with the “Learning by Doing”
aspect of the Scout Method, Adventure Skills
should be pursued and assessed in a practical
manner as an active part of the Programme.
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Requirements
Risk Management
Each of the skill requirements are presented as
a statement of competency-I know how, I can do,
etc. These Competency Statements outline the
knowledge, abilities and experience that the young
person must display. Each Competency Statement
is further broken down into a set of Skills
Requirements. The Skills requirement section
outlines the details of knowledge and experience a
Scout is expected to display to fulfil the
Competency Statement.
Safety is one of the cornerstones of programme
delivery. ‘Be Prepared’, the Scout motto, in effect
sums up our approach to any activity, by that we
mean all the elements which make up a successful
and safe activity or adventure.
Safety
Throughout the skill requirements it is possible
to observe the key safety competency expected.
Scouters and Scouts should be aware that these
Competency Statements need to be fully
implemented. Every Adventure Skill will contain
within its skill stages activities that will, by their
nature be adventurous and involve some risk.
Therefore an awareness of safety, carefulness and
assessment of risk should always be present in the
mind of those participating in these activities. It
is everyone’s responsibility and not solely the
responsibility of the leader of the activity whether
they are a Scouter or a Scout assuming a
leadership role.
Risk is an everyday occurrence in our lives, given
the natural survival instinct in each of us, coupled
with the awareness taught to us by our parents
and others as we grew up, managing risk is
something each of us do without thinking.
Within the Adventure Skill stages Scouts will
encounter many situations, while undertaking
adventure in the programme that will challenge
their mental and physical skills. Risks will be
present at certain times as local weather
conditions and terrain affect a journey or activity.
What is expected of Scouts is that they are first
and foremost prepared and trained and secondly
have confidence. They need to constantly assess
a situation and employ measures to ensure the
safety of themselves, and that of their Team.
Risk management is the process whereby
situations, activities, etc. are evaluated; firstly
identifying hazards (those which can cause/lead to
accidents or incidents) and secondly putting in
place procedures/training whereby the hazards
identified are removed or reduced, in order to
prevent the hazard causing an accident/incident.
Scouts undertaking Adventure Skill stages
should display an understanding of this process.
Assessing Competencies
Competencies need to be assessed. This can be
done by the Scouter, a mentor, external expert/
specialist, or a Scout that has a competency that
is two stages above that being sought by the
Scout.
Awarding of badges
Scouters are encouraged to present badges
immediately they are gained and in a timely
manner so that achievements are fully
recognised.
If a Scout is assessing a Competency Stage, it
should be agreed and signed off with the Section
Scouter before the Stage Badge is awarded.
When assessing the skills of a Scout seeking
a Stage Badge it is important to understand
that the competency statements are specific.
It is not about ‘doing their best effort’ So, if a
Scout is required to complete and manage the
construction of a pioneering project..then that
is what they need to do. Helping someone else
or undertaking perhaps 60% of the work is not
sufficient to fulfill the Competency requirement.
Some of the Adventure Skills are paired to
external qualifications and some competency
statements will be linked directly to statements
made by the external organization. Other people,
expert/ specialists, coaches, teachers can help a
Scout complete competency statements, it is not
expected that a Scouter is an expert in all
Adventure skill competencies. Such personnel
should be suitable and approved to do so under
the Governmental Child Protection Guidelines.
Scouters should ensure the bona fide of outside
experts before a Scout attempts to undertake a
stage Badge using outside expertise.
There are 81 different adventure skills badges.
They are divided into 9 adventure skills with 9
stages for each skill.
The top rows illustrate the basic design of the
badges. Levels are indicated by a small number
and the amount of folds in the neckerchief design
element.
The square layout shows all of the level one
designs as they might appear on the uniform.