Terminology

  • Activity Badge – Allows young people to learn new things and demonstrate their skills, with over 40 badges to be earned in each section ranging from Animal Carer to Writer.
  • Badge – There over 200 badges in Scouting, each with different requirements to complete. This means if a young person earns a badge then that is a definite achievement. Once earned they can be work on the uniform – check here to find diagrams of where each type goes go. See also Activity Badge, Challenge Badge, Core Badge, Staged Badge and Chief Scout’s Award.
  • Beavers – The youngest section in our group, age range 6 to 8 years.
  • Challenge Badge – Each section has 6-9 challenge badges focussing on traditional and modern Scouting skills. Completing each Challenge Badge in your section is part of the Chief Scout’s Award.
  • Chief Scout’s Award – The highest awards a young person can earn in each section – earned by completing all the Challenge Badges and a few other requirements. Beavers can earn the Bronze Award, Cub get the Silver Award and Scouts work toward their Gold Award.
  • Colony/Beaver Colony – The Beaver section
  • Core Badge – A grouping for the purple Membership Badge, the Joining In badges celebrating the number of years of membership, the Group/District/County badges, and various others.
  • County – A Scouting region consisting of several Districts. We are a member of Avon County.
  • Cubs – The middle section of our group, age range 8 to 10½ years.
  • District – A Scouting region consisting of several Groups. We are a member of Wansdyke District.
  • Event – An activity outside of the usual weekly meetings or that is provided by an external provider, eg a camp, or archery shooting. There may sometimes be costs for taking part in an event.
  • Explorer – The next step after leaving the Scout section at the age of 14. Explorers Units are independent from Groups, but we can help put you in touch when it’s time for your Scout to move up.
  • GLV – Group Lead Volunteer, the volunteer who leads the Group Management Team.
  • Group – A collection of Scouting sections working together, overseen by a Group Lead Volunteer and the Group Management Team, with oversight by the Trustee Board.
  • Group Management Team – The team who work behind the scenes to ensure the Group follows good Scouting practices and enables the Section Leadership Teams to deliver a safe but exciting programme.
  • Investiture – The joining ceremony for a new member when they become a member of the Scouting family. The member makes their promise and is presented with their necker and core badges.
  • Leader – A volunteer who is a member of the Section Leadership Team, who plan and deliver the programme for each section.
  • Lodge – A subsection the Beaver Colony. Not much used in our Group.
  • Moving Up – When a young person reaches the age to move up to the next section.
  • Necker – The neckerchief, or scarf, is part of the uniform that consists of a triangular piece of material in our Group’s colours. When rolled up it can be worn around the neck, usually held together at the neck by a woggle. Members are presented with a necker when they are invested.
  • OSM – Online Scout Manager, an online tool widely used by UK scout groups that we use to administer much of the Group’s activities.
  • Pack/Cub Pack – The Cubs section.
  • Patrol – A subsection of the Scout Troop; each Scout will be a member of one of the patrols. The patrol is led by a Patrol Leader (PL), assisted by an Assistant Patrol Leader (APL).
  • POR – Policy, Organisation and Rules. A complicated set of rules that all Scouting activities must follow.
  • Programme – The activities planned and run during the weekly meetings by the Section Leadership Team. The programme should be exciting, varied and safe.
  • Promise – Each member promised to stick by our Scout values when they are invested into the group. The wording is different for each section.
  • Scarf – See Necker
  • Scout – Depending on the context, this can refer to a member of the Scout Troop, or a member of the Scout Group
  • Scouts – The oldest section of our group, age range 10½ to 14 years.
  • Scout Law – A set of principles that describe the values that Scouts should live by.
  • Section – A unit of the Group: Beavers, Cubs or Scouts.
  • Section Leadership Team – The team of volunteers that plan and run the programme for a particular section.
  • Session – One of the weekly meetings usually consisting of activities and/or games that has been planned and delivered by the Section Leadership Team.
  • Six – A subsection of the Cub Pack; each Cub will be a member of one of the Sixes. The Six is led by a Sixer, assisted by a Seconder.
  • Staged Badge – These badges allow a young person to gain whichever badge is appropriate to the level they have reached. It is possible, for example, for a Beaver Scout who is an excellent swimmer to gain a higher level badge than a Scout who has just started swimming.
  • Squirrel – The youngest and most recently introduced Scouting section, age range 4 to 6 years. We do not currently have a Squirrel section in our group.
  • The Scout Association – The body who oversees Scouting in the UK. Among many other things, they are responsible for POR.
  • Troop/Scout Troop – The Scouts section. (Different from “Scout Group”, which includes all sections: Beavers, Cubs and Scouts.)
  • Trustee Board – A team of volunteers who meet several times a year to provide oversight on how the Group is being run and to ensure POR is being followed.
  • Uniform – A set of clothing that young people wear for Scouting activities, including weekly meetings. The uniform is different for each section, but always includes the necker.
  • Volunteer – All adults involved in running the Group are volunteers, who give their time, enthusiasm and expertise for free.
  • Woggle – Usually a loop of material that holds the necker together at the neck.
  • Young Leader (YL) – A volunteer Leader who is under the age of 18. Often a YL is volunteering with us as part of the Duke of Edinburgh programme.
  • Young People – The Beavers, Cubs and Scouts.