The new way of investing Scouts

Scouts investing Scouts

In a bold move this term, 4 of our senior scouts were given the responsibility to lead and assist the most junior member of their watch to understand what scouting is and why we do the things we do.

For 30 to 45 minutes they took them aside in one-on-one session while the rest of the troop were engaged in outside activities and instructed and mentored them in the meaning of scouting the way we do it.

This culminated in the investitures of the 4 young scouts (and a fifth on a separate evening).

 

Congratulations:

	Sam
	Trinaya
	Toby
	Maddy
	Ella (couple of weeks later)

2020 - Term 4 - News and Roundup

Hi, So the summer term began, with regattas and sailing and kayaking and swimming and even cycling.  Certainly this term we packed a lot in.  Our sailors and rowers were a credit this term, taking home some good wins, including a first time junior crew who took honours in seamanship at the Onepoto Regatta. This was also our first full term of our new "Youth Lead" approach, giving the older scouts the opportunity to lead programme evenings and activities.  They even lead some parts of regattas, assigning crews and organising the boat unloading, loading, rigging and derigging.

Term 4 roundup

Rowing and Sailing We had several evenings of dedicated rowing and sailing instruction this term.  The majority of the training came from the youth leaders at scouts.  Clearly it was quite successful as is demonstrated but the amount of success we had at regattas through the term. Ethan, Hamish and Magnus are worthy of mention when it came to these evenings, leading them all exceptionally well.

Visit to Whitby Scouts Whitby Scouts invited us to attend one of their programme evenings on a Tuesday.   Our scouts opted to have two scout evenings that week and had a blast at both.   Whitby entertained us with "Panto-horse races" which were a novelty to us.  There are lots of pictures here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/ypcw771QrUNe8BJW7

Onepoto Regatta This years Onepoto regatta had a few weeks lead in which meant we got everyone a little practice before getting them on the water.   Saturday was fantastic sailing weather with light breezes and calm waters.  Sailing was brilliant and the rowing even better. Sunday was drizzly and misty but still warmish.  Iron Scout, Kayaking and Seamanship all recorded good results for us, with firsts in Iron Scout and Seamanship and several second places in all of them. More is on the blog:   http://ngatitoaseascouts.blogspot.com/2020/10/onepoto-regatta-2020.html The picture below is our junior seamanship crew doing a dry run of the seamanship exercise before the real thing.  These are the guys who won!

Levin & Kapiti Regattas Levin was not a regatta in the traditional sense, more like a visit to Paraparaumu to sail with our sister troop, Kotuku.  The days started reasonably well, but the weather got the better or us.  More news and pictures here:  https://ngatitoaseascouts.blogspot.com/2020/11/2020-levin-regatta.html Kapiti Regatta was far more successful and we even had some good results out of it.  More on this here: https://ngatitoaseascouts.blogspot.com/2020/12/2020-kapiti-regatta.html

Bike ride, Swamp tests, Campfire & Beach fun The rest of the term was a mass of fun organised by the youth leaders in the troop including all of the above.  Some fo them (Bike Ride & Swamp Tests) have write ups of their own but the Campfire and Beach Fun evenings were special for their own reasons. The campfire organised at the home of one of the Youth Leaders, provided a an informal evening to cook sausages and marshmallows and run around in farm paddocks for an evening playing wide games.  It was not a traditional camp fire but that did not detract from the fun that was had. The last night of term, we kayaked some scouts over to Plimmerton Beach while the rest walked and we all had a picnic on the beach, playing games and swimming in the sea.  A great evening, again, organised by the youth leaders as an end of year send off.

Individual achievements

Invested Several of our new scouts were invested during the term this year and are now fully fledged members of the troop.  The investiture was held outside in the dark, to allow parents to watch during the Alert Level 2 when we were contact tracing.  This was something different and quite fun.  They are: Rose Ruan Welcome to the troop and we wish you loads of scouting fun. Sandford "Young Leaders" course This course is a full on two days of learning and doing on how to lead (and how to follow a leader). 3 of our scouts completed this course successfully in October. Max Sean Charlie Well done, all of you.

Looking ahead

2021 Whakaipo Bay Camp When: Sunday 20 January til 26 January Where: Whakaipo Bay, Taupo Harbour Race When: Sunday 14 February @ 9:00 am Where: Greta Point, Evans Bay Kapiti Coast Zone Raft Race When: Sunday 21 February @ 9:00 am Where: Pauahatanui Inlet Worser Bay Regatta When: Sunday 28 February @ 9:00 am Where: Worser Bay Yacht Club Hickson Regatta When: Sunday 14 March @ 9:00 am Where: Greta Point, Evans Bay Cutty Sark Regatta When: Sunday 2 April - 4 April Where: Napier Swimming Sports When: Sunday 22 May @ 3:00 pm Where: Canons Creek Pool LNI Prize Giving When: Thursday 17 June @ 7:30 pm Where: TBA

2020 - Term 3 - News and Roundup

Hi, COVID-19 has been a constant this term with the country moving up and down alert levels and keeping us on our toes.  First victim was the Turere Lodge hike which was booked paid for and arranged and ready to go.  Unfortunately we had to pull the plug on it based on advice from Scouting NZ.  But we still managed to get a lot in to a term that was fairly uncertain Term 3 roundup A quick summary of some of our programme evenings at scouts this term. Ice Skating Starting the term on the ice.  We went for a visit to the waterfront to get a evening of fun ice skating in. Fear Factor & Disability Understanding our limits and what we consider acceptable was the point of the evening with some groups doing a fear factor type challenge (finding dice in a box of worms) or eating worms buried in cream (right). The disability side involved a number of experiences that replicated having a disability and was enlightening for a lot of scouts Neil's sketchy activity evening A night of fun based on dubiously scout like activities, including hungry hippo on skateboards (right). The also built ladders and bridges in the den to cross between the rafters.  (see below) Cheese making Rachel taught us all how to make cheese, that we then used to make an Indian style curry.  There were some significant differences in the tolerances of some of the scouts taste buds though!  Some definitely "Like it Hot!" Making Covid Masks Angus took us through making covid masks during Alert Level 2 and several of the scouts actually finished their masks.  Given that we very quickly went down to Level 1, I would suggest that they probably did not see much use. Swimming & Boatsman quiz Trying to get our younger and new scouts evaluated for their swimming ability is important for us leaders.  We do this every year just before the sailing season really starts .  This year, due to the Alert level the pool would not allow us to bring the whole troop, so only those who needed to be evaluated went.  The rest stayed back at the den and learnt some boatsman skills.  The Watch Leaders had 2 minutes to teach the scouts in their group the knowledge they needed for the questions that were asked at the end.  The Watch Leaders were not allowed to answer or help and the points gained all counted to wards the Watch Leaders skill.  Individual achievements Invested Several of our new scouts were invested during the term this year and are now fully fledged members of the troop.  The investiture was held outside in the dark, to allow parents to watch during the Alert Level 2 when we were contact tracing.  This was something different and quite fun.  They are: Kalina Zoe Hannah Alex Nathaniel Freddy Welcome to the troop and we wish you loads of scouting fun. Sandford "Young Leaders" course This course is a full on two days of learning and doing on how to lead (and how to follow a leader). 2 of our scouts completed this course successfully in July. Ethan Magnus Well done, both of you. Future Sandford "Young Leaders" and Cossgrove "Practical Skills" courses These courses are all planned for the rest of the year.  Dates as follows: Sandford Course 18-20 October - This is a young leaders training course and will be recommended to a few senior scouts.  It is held at Brookfield. Looking ahead Please remember that we are Sea Scouts.  The regattas are a VERY important part of what we do and we do expect a good level of attendance.  We would reasonably view this as at least half of the scout events below. 2020 Onepoto Regatta Starting on Labour weekend with our own regatta, the Onepoto Regatta  will start on the Saturday with Seamanship, iron scout and kayaking events, and the sailing events on Sunday.  We will be camping overnight on the domain. When: 24/10/2020 & 25/10/2020 Where: Titahi Bay Sailing Club & Ngati Toa Sea Scout Den Zone campfire When: Saturday 31 October @ 6:00 pm Where: Kuku East Road, Levin Levin Regatta When: Sunday 08 November @ 9:00 am Where: Forest Lakes, Levin Petone Regatta When: Sunday 22 November @ 9:00 am Where: Petone Foreshore Kapiti Regatta When: Sunday 6 December @ 9:00 am Where: Paraparaumu Beach Ward Island Picnic When: Sunday 20 December @ 9:30 am Where: Petone Foreshore 2021 Whakaipo Bay Camp When: Sunday 20 January til 26 January Where: Whakaipo Bay, Taupo Harbour Race When: Sunday 14 February @ 9:00 am Where: Greta Point, Evans Bay Kapiti Coast Zone Raft Race When: Sunday 21 February @ 9:00 am Where: Pauahatanui Inlet Worser Bay Regatta When: Sunday 28 February @ 9:00 am Where: Worser Bay Yacht Club Hickson Regatta When: Sunday 14 March @ 9:00 am Where: Greta Point, Evans Bay Cutty Sark Regatta When: Sunday 2 April - 4 April Where: Napier Swimming Sports When: Sunday 22 May @ 3:00 pm Where: Canons Creek Pool LNI Prize Giving When: Thursday 17 June @ 7:30 pm Where: TBA Farewell & Thanks Kate Scott, who has been a scout leader with us for many years, has decided to call it a day.   Her contribution to our scout troop has been innumerable.  Her sailing skills have helped many a scout grow their ability.  And her quiet focus on activities has meant many a group of rowdy scouts has always learnt something good that evening. She will be missed and we wish her all the best in a future endeavours.

Term 2 - 2020 - Newsletter

Hi, COVID-19 certainly put a crimp in our style when it came to scouting this term, but the "Scouting from Home" plan worked and we still managed to have a good term. Certainly there were some very different highlights and lowlights. Term 2 roundup Scouting from Home For 6 weeks of this term, plus the two weeks of the School Holidays we kept this up.  The scouts particiapting in everything we suggested (to varying levels), a definite highlight was the Kahoot! quiz at the end of the evening. The mainstay of our Scouting from Home was the Teddy's that were placed in the windows of homes.  Intended originally as a distraction when people were out walking in their bubbles, they found new and wonderful ways to be entertaining throughout the neighbourhoods, helped (I hope) by some of our scouting ideas. These included: Rope Ladders Swings Flying Foxes Boating and as Bank Robbers/Pirates Another highlight of scouting online were the food challenges.  We have some VERY talented scouts in this area! Pizzas - extremely fun and eaten very quickly after they had been made Cake decorating - Some VERY creative scouts out there who had some very good ideas Links to the pictures we collected each week below: Week 1 (Bivouacs) https://photos.app.goo.gl/yT6EJcUDgxeZaNM9A Week 2 (Teddy Challenges) https://photos.app.goo.gl/KW9ofDNZkn13XrJN6 Week 3 (Flying Foxes) https://photos.app.goo.gl/ou1hvbNot9ZkoJ3R6 Week 4 (Catapults) https://photos.app.goo.gl/umoehD5kKpVepwJw7 Week 5 (Rope Ladders) https://photos.app.goo.gl/fTg3MtQSUqv6NEFy6 Week 6 (Roundabouts) https://photos.app.goo.gl/YLVnAmnuVetG6JVd6 Week 7 (Boating) https://photos.app.goo.gl/xoCVMEikf61KxQWi9 Week 9 (Bank Robbers) https://photos.app.goo.gl/LX5bAL5rbke1fNLe8 #StandingAtDawn A definite important moment for us as leaders was seeing the number of scouts, up at dawn to listen to the Dawn Service on Anzac Day.  Esteem and respect must go to these scouts for the big effort required to acknowledge the great sacrifice made by others. Some of the pictures that were sent in to us afterwards shown below: Forest Lakes Woolshed Camp Highlight of the term though has got to be the Forest Lakes Woolshed Camp.  Warren the warden, is fantastic, teaching the kids the art of Coracle building this year.  They got off to a slow start, with little enthusiasm until the scouts started seeing them take shape and become what they were intended, little boats!  Certainly the feedback I have had is that it was a very memorable experience. The setting next to Forest Lakes was idyllic and very peaceful.  We did not have to stray anywhere to have a brilliant time.  The scouts put up their own tents, did their own cooking, and had a campfire (with some great skits), and clean it all up and packed up on Sunday.  All the time the friendly chatter and banter went unchecked. https://ngatitoaseascouts.blogspot.com/2020/06/forest-lakes-camp-2020.html Link to more pictures are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Sqy8h2SzmJ2X84vcA Individual achievements Invested Several of our new scouts were invested on the last night of term this year and are now fully fledged members of the troop.  They are: Connor Sheffield Caden Whitehouse Quinn Krishnan Isaac Bott  James Willets  Emma Bruwer Welcome to the troop and we wish you loads of scouting fun. Bronze Silver and Gold Awards Only one award was handed out this term.  Congratulations to  Ciara McCarrison - Silver Looking ahead Programme Evenings Lots has been planned for next term, with the Watch Leaders taking an active role in running some of the scouting evenings going forward.  3 of the suggestions for programme evenings came from the Watch Leaders Council. As Summer is approaching we will also be doing parts of the Boatman badge and heading to Porirua Pool to do (and redo in some cases) our Swimming badges.  If we get a good night we will also try and do a night row to Plimmerton for Fish & Chips. Winter Camp - 17th to 19th July This is a two day camp being held at Battle Hill.  This camp will focus on bushcraft and camping skills. LNI Sandford Course - 24th to 26th July An invitees only course that trains our older scouts in leadership skills Turere Tramp - 22nd to 23rd August This is an easy tramp specifically geared to getting our younger members into the excitement and fun that is tramping. Group Camp - 27 to 29th September This years theme is yet to be decided, but it will be held at Brookfield again.  This is a fantastic camp and everyones favourite, from the littlest keas to the oldest leaders, so make sure you plan to come along. We are aware that sports fixtures and other events may clash with this camp, so it is OK to attend all or just some of it. Contact us If you have any questions or queries, feel free to contact us. Yours in scouting Derrick, Vanessa, Neil, Rachel, Grant, Kym, Kate, Nick, Robin, Cath & Angus