1st Tidbury Green (Wythall) Scout Group

Beavers is the first step of the Scouting family. We take children from 6 years, up to eight, when they will progress on to Cubs. This sheet is to give you some information and to answer some FAQs, but if you have any other questions, please feel free to ask me, either on a Wednesday night, or see my contact details below.

 

The 1^st Tidbury Green Beaver colony meets on Wednesday nights during term time at the Scout HQ at Wythall Park from 6 – 7pm.

 

The adults who run the session are Amik (Ah-meek) –Joanne Gakonga and one or two other parent helpers.

 

In the Beaver colony, we also welcome parental involvement. If you feel that you have any skill or knowledge that might be interesting to the group, we would love you to come and share that with us. For example, one father came in to talk to us about aeroplanes this year. Maybe you are in the medical profession and could give us some basic first aid, or maybe you sail as a hobby and could come and show us some knots. Please come and talk to me about it.

 

 

When your child first comes to Beavers, they will have a few weeks to settle in and find out if they like it before they get invested (and you invest in the uniform!). If they want to continue, your Beaver leader will tell you when that investment ceremony will be and your child should come in a Beaver sweatshirt that night. We have investments at about 6.50pm, just before close – feel free to being along grannies, grandpas, other family members and your camera.

 

During the investment, the new Beaver will say the promise after me:

 

 

They will then shake hands, (left hand in Scouting) with Amik (the Beaver leader) and be presented with their neckie, a certificate and badges (see attached sheet for where to sew them on!)

 

 

 

 

When your child is invested, they will need a Beaver sweatshirt and a ‘neckie’. Beaver polo shirts and trousers are available, but are not necessary. Any blue trousers will do.

 

You can get the sweatshirt from the Early Years shop in Shirley, or from John Lewis. They are also available on line from www.scouts.org.uk/shop

 

Your Beaver leader will get you a ‘neckie’ and woggle when your child is invested. The cost of this is £7.

 

In the winter, can you pleader make sure that your child brings a coat, as we try to get outside as much as possible.

 

 

Subs for Beavers are in two parts. Each term, you will be asked for Subs to cover the day to day running costs of materials, drinks, etc. This is payable at th4e beginning of each term and works out at 50p per week. I will let you know how much it is each term. Please give this to me in an envelope with your child’s name on it.

 

The second part of the subs is for the upkeep of the building, buying of larger equipment etc, and this is payable annually from April. It is £60 per year, but if your child is invested part way through the year, you only pay pro-rata. A letter will be given to you about this, including a Gift Aid form – please fill it out if you pay tax – it helps to keep our subs down!

 

 

At the beginning of each meeting, to get the Beaver’s attention, I shout ‘Chop, Chop, Chop!’ On this the Beavers stop what they are doing, reply ’Timber!’ and get into a circle near me (a Beaver dam). Then we all crouch down and shout the following chant:

 

(On the ‘S’, all the Beavers jump up and clap their hands behind their backs to represent a Beaver’s tail)

 

 

At the end of each session, we say the Beaver Prayer.

 

 

 

 Adult help

 

We have two to three adults running the colony on a regular basis, but if you would like to help out, we always welcome extra hands.    I try to get out and about regularly – to Tidbury Green woods, for example, or on hikes, and for this, I do need extra help as the ratio of adults to children obviously has to be higher. On  this subject…..     

 

 

We will be asking you to fill in a CRB check form. This is pretty standard in any organisation working with small children. I’m sorry, but even if you have one from another organisation, you need to do a Scout one.

You will need to fill in the form, and produce 2 forms of ID – one a passport or a birth certificate, and the other with your address on it (driving licence/ utility bill etc). I’ll let you know when to bring these, as the ID has to be sighted by our Group Scout Leader, who will come tot the meeting for this.

 

 

 

I sometimes take photographs of the Beavers to display on the board in the HQ or on the website as a record of what we have done. If you would prefer that I don’t take photos of your child, can you please let me know. Thanks.

 

 

 

Finally, we really hope that your child enjoys Beavers!

If you have any problems or questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me:

 

 

Alice Tracey
07771 392538
beaver@1sttidburygreen.org.uk