UM11 - Carol Singing

So, our last week of term was a trip to the local care home to sing some carols for the residents.  Our attached Brownie unit also joined us, along with our young leaders, so we had around 45 girls, plus half a dozen adults and leaders. Our District President also joined us, which was lovely.

The care home made us feel very welcome, and we set up in the lounge near the entrance way. Chairs had been placed out for the 'audience', and lots of residents came in to listen.  One of our fantastic young leaders and her UH mum had organised a backing track which we played through a bluetooth speaker, and this really worked well. They had also printed out word sheets for all the brownies and guides.

As the music started up, it was quite moving to see the energy the brownies and guides put into their singing, and the evident enjoyment of the residents and staff.  One gentleman shed tears as he listened (surely our singing wasn't *that* bad?!).  After half an hour of singing, the guides handed a home made christmas card to each resident, and we spent time chatting to our audience.   There were may tales of their own experiences in brownies, guides, or scouts, and one lady told us that her mother, born in 1903, had met Lady Agnes Baden Powell!  It was an evening that I think all the leaders and adult helpers were very proud of our young brownies, guides and young leaders. They did a wonderful job.

At the end, the girls were treated to home-made decorated gingerbread biscuits, made by the staff at the home. It really was a magical start to christmas, and I hope the residents and staff of the home enjoyed it as much as we did.

UM9 Crafts, carols, YLs, new patrols and noise

So, this week was a bit of an odd one.  I was really looking forward to this meeting; to having an evening with girls that i've got to know just that little bit better (on camp) since last week.  However, that's not really how it turned out, so i'm going to have a bit of a moan.

We had several items that we needed to get through, plus some 'fun' bits to do as well.

Our first 5 minutes was to introduce our newest patrol and present them with their Patrol Badges. Our very youngest girls had decided they wanted to break away from their (larger) existing patrols and form their own patrol together, and had chosen to be Parrots, so there were new patrol emblem badges and PL/PS badges to give out.  Unfortunately, despite this only taking  a few minutes at horseshoe time at the start of the evening, there were number of guides who didn't seem to want to listen and talked through it all; we ignored them and carried on, but (for me at least, and i suspect for the new Parrot patrol) it took a bit of the special-ness away from the occasion.

Nonetheless, we were thrilled that our new guides had decided on a new patrol, and even more so that between them, they have chosen a patrol leader and patrol second that they are all happy with.

For the main part of the evening we were doing two things.  The Young Leaders were leading some carol singing practice for when we go out carol singing to a local care home in a couple of weeks.  And while doing that, the girls were doing a simple craft with plastic baubles, ferrero rocher, and acrylic colouring pens.

Unfortunately again, this turned out to be challenging - the same few older girls continued to talk, screech and shout while the young leaders were trying to organise carols and give them instructions, and during the singing.  It ended up with the now-impatient-and-grumpy leader (me) putting my foot down and giving them a lecture on respect and behaviour.  Things settled down after that a bit, but I didn't enjoy the evening and I came home questioning why I bother - and certainly not wanting to take them all out for a pizza and panto next week.

We had an extra craft (making purses) lined up, and offered to play games too chosen by the older ones, if we had enough time - they all seemed keen on this. But when it came to tidying up, two patrols did nothing - our youngest girls tidied and put away three tables (without being asked), and we ran out of time to do anything while the older ones messed around.  And quite honestly, i was glad to see the back of them at the end of the meeting. It's the first time i've felt like that.

So, now, a few days later, and a bit of time, space and reflection, and these are my thoughts.   There were lots of good things that made me happy that evening, and I should focus on these

1. I was so impressed with how the new patrol had formed themselves.  It was lovely to see them come to their own decisions, on their own with no guidance from us  - they only had the suggestion from us that 'if you enjoy working together and decide in the future you'd like to have your own patrol, then come and ask us about it.  
2. The Young Leaders did an amazing job organising the carols. One YL did all the planning and prep, and the other two helped her implement the plans on the evening.  They realised that trying to get the 'whole group' engaged wasn't happening, with teh disruptive elements playing a large part in this.  So, they changed their tack, and got the girls singing table-by-table, with a competitive element for 'the *best/nicest* singing'.  It worked well, even the disruptive ones didn't want to be embarrassed here.
3. The crafts worked well and the girls had some lovely results to take home with them.
4. Four of our guides  had a GFI clause to finish, having missed an earlier session -in  two different patrols. They got on and did this independently (one pair with a fairly complex cooking activity) - they were organised and self-sufficient, and successfully completed their activities and were still able to also do the craft and singing.
5. We Introduced the guides to the GG North West England 'Get Away From Home' Scheme.  I was keen for the girls to record and manage their records themselves. Each guide has been given a record book to fill in and keep, and it is their responsibility to come back and see me when they think they are ready for another badge.   I don't intend to keep these records for them, so it's up to them!

I also realised that something else adding to the stress was the constant shouting out to me asking questions that didn't need asking, or asking for help that they didn't really need.  Again, shouting out to me, while the YLs were talking to them.   With the larger unit now, I think we need the girls to be more self-sufficient at at least try to resolve the simple questions or problems themselves before asking a leader.  I asked a few of the more sensible girls about this, and they said they have something similar in craft lessons at school.

1. First, ask your neighbour
2. Second, as your table
3. Third, ask your table leader
4. Fourth, ask your mentor
5. Fifth, ask the teacher

This fits nicely with trying to give the PL's and PS's a bit more responsibility, so I think i'll introduce this for any 'at the table' activities they do.

If you've got a question or are having problems doing something

1. Ask your neighbour, then ask your other neighbour
2. Ask the other guides in your patrol
3. Ask your Patrol Leader and Patrol Second
4. If you still can't do it, then ask a PL to ask a Leader to come over.

PLs and PSs will have responsibility for answering questions and ensuring that girls on their table have enough help.  Hopefully it will also encourage the guides not to just switch off their brains at the door!

I'll have a think about the rudeness, screeching and talking over people - I hope that was just a one-off and things will be better next time, but I think I will also have laminated copies of the unit rules to put on each table, and maybe some sweet rewards for the best behaved patrol each week.  

I will admin that still dreading taking them out next week, but fingers crossed I will be pleasantly surprised and behaviour won't be a problem.

Any suggestions welcome...

Harvest Service, new neckers and smart uniforms

This week we were invited to attend the Harvest Family Service of the church where we meet each week.  We are not a sponsored/affiliated unit, and of course, Girlguiding is not a church-related organisation, but we very much appreciate the fact that our church very generously lets us use the church hall every week of the year for a nominal fee, and supports us in whatever we are doing.  So, once in a while, when we are invited to join in church community events, we try to do so.

We were invited to attend both the service and the harvest lunch afterwards.  Five of our guides came along, and we were welcomed very warmly by everyone there - they made a big fuss of the girls, and ensured we were all involved in the service.  It was a lovely celebratory service.

Many of the Church members were very interested in the Guides' uniforms and our unit's new chosen neckers.  Everyone commented how smart and distinctive the new uniforms looked, and how our little row of Guides brightened up the front of the church.  The girls were able to explain how they had chosen the colours for the neckers themselves, and how the necker trims matched the zips and detailing on the new Guide uniform jackets.

As well as being a thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours for all of us, it also felt worthwhile as an opportunity for the girls to 'show off' and share a little about their guiding experiences and their uniforms with a very appreciative audience.

Happy Guiding, happy guides, happy leader.

UM3 - Go For Its and Patrols

Unit Meeting 3

This week, the aim was for the guides (in patrols) to choose a Go For It to work on this term, and plan which activities they wanted to do from their chosen GFI, and ensure they were happy in their new chosen patrols.

We were lucky to have two parent helpers this week, plus two of our Young Leaders, so one 'leader' to sit with each Patrol.

Go For It!

In the past, the girls have sometimes had problems deciding as a group and learning how to compromise, and also, in actually getting their plans down on paper in any sensible time frame.  It really helped to have one dedicated adult/YL sitting at each table, to help and encourage them through the process.  

I also wanted to encourage the girls to try some different GFIs, and particularly to do some that covered some aspect of Global or Community Awareness. As such, I highlighted a number of GFI's in different colours and this week said they could choose from any of the GFIs highlighted in green.  These were:

• Be The Change
• Blast from the Past
• Breaking Barriers
• Grrreeeen
• Globalistic
• Peace
• Take Action
• With a Splash

Patrols

We also re-jigged the patrols again!  I already knew there was at least one who wanted to change) asked them to come to me after the horseshoe and let me know if they wished to change - but with the limitation that patrols must have a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 8 in each.  We had 8 wanting to move!  They juggled themselves around - two patrols of 8, one patrol of 5 and one of 6.  Looking now, I like they way it has worked out. One of the 8's now has all 3 BP girls in it, and while they are working on BP activities, the patrol will have five girls (and not all young ones).  They all seemed happy with their choices.

Games

After all the choosing and planning was done, we had drinks & biscuits, and half an hour of games.  We played these games:

• Yes/No - Move Left/Right game - sitting on chairs in a circle, facing outwards.  Leader shouts out statements with yes/no answers (e.g. I have brown hair, I'm wearing a blue top, I like football, I've got a brother).  If the girl's answer is 'yes' she moves one place to the right. If the girl's answer is 'no' she moves one place to the left. Can end up with several girls sitting on one chair.  This went OK, but they prefer games with more running and shrieking.
• Changing Chairs game - sitting on chairs in a circle facing inwards, one less chair than the number of girls, and one girl in the middle. One girl in the middle shouts out a statement that is true of themselves (I have long hair, I play a musical instrument, i ate sausages today).  Anyone who also says yes, must stand up and run to another chair, and the one in the middle must try and get a chair.  Girls cannot move to a chair immediately next to them.

Other Stuff

• Handed out uniform to our four new guides (just missing a polo shirt each for KF & SM)
• Took in money and consent forms for November camp. 15 places taken so far out of 22. I suspect some may be disappointed.
• Handed out letters about challenge badges

For next week/another time

• New patrols need to agree on their PLs and PS
• Need time to talk to the BP girls and really get them started on their tasks.
• Look at YL folders with the YLs
• Use whiteboard and post-it notes to get ideas for 
• Games to play
• Craft Activities
• Other Activities
• Visitors In
• Trips Out
• Badges
• GFIs

UM1 New Term, New Guides and Patrols

Unit Meeting 1

Our first week back at Guides, and a new year for us all.  We have 4 new starters, taking us up to 28 girls in total - our largest unit size for some time.  The new girls all seemed to settle in really well.

Patrols and democratic republics
Tonight the girls re-arranged their patrols - with encouragement to keep the numbers fairly equal and an explanation of why this was to their benefit (equal time on equipment when shared equipment during patrol time, same amount of time per person to complete tasks during patrol time, etc).  They organised themselves, but I sensed that there may still be some who aren't happy with how their patrols have now changed.
The girls voted for, and chose, their new Patrol Leaders and Patrol Seconds, with Panda patrol voting to remain as the Democratic Republic of Panda.

Unit Guidelines
In their patrols, we asked the girls to come up with the unit guidelines they wanted to see, and at the end, each patrol read out their chosen guidelines.  Surprisingly, all patrols agreed on nearly all of the rules (even the ones that they aren't very good at following):

1. Listen to others; don't talk if others are speaking
2. Hands up, shut up
3. Always be fair and kind to others
4. Have biscuits and drinks everyone
5. No phones or ipods in the meeting
6. Be sensible (With the older ones adding the traditional 'No Blood on the Walls'!)
7. Have FUN and Join In!

Two patrols also added the five Cs

• Be: Caring, courteous, cooperative, considerate and commitment.

I was pretty impressed that they came up with this all themselves. Let's see if they follow them!

Feedback, self-management and choosing the programme
We used a new method of asking for the guides' suggestions for activities. Our young leader put 3 large A3 sheets around the room with the following titles:

• Badges I'd like to do
• Ideas for activities next term
• Ideas for camp activities or themes

Throughout the meeting, the guides could write their ideas for each category on post-it notes and stick them on the appropriate banner. This resulted in lots of suggestions and resolved a problem we had encountered when asking for feedback and ideas before.

Previously, guides were asked for feedback and suggestions in patrols. Several complained that only the loudest got their opinions written down, or the person holding the pen didn't write down the opinions of everyone, especially if some people in the patrol wanted 'more craft' and some wanted 'less craft' for example.  The girls wanted to each give their *own* suggestions, and not have them filtered by others in their patrol.

This seemed to work really well. We had LOADS of suggestions, all sorts of things, on all the boards.

Games

We played several silly games which both worked well

• Me too! Chairs in a circle facing in, one person in the middle. Person in the middle makes a statement about themselves. Anyone else who matches that statement shouts ME TOO! And runs to swap place with another person. The one in the middle must also try to get a chair.
• Moving Chairs - chairs in a circle facing outwards, one chair not enough, people move along chairs left or right and the one girl on the outside must try and run round to get an empty chair as everyone is moving around.